Chapter 16
Boss Fight: Finale
(the bitter end)
Sayaka fell back, white cape fluttering as she leapt away from the darting fangs. She bought herself the few precious seconds for her sword-arm to re-knit itself, the wound fading but leaving a gaping hole in the forearm of the tight blue compression sleeve that ran from her wrists to her bicep.
A maroon pair of eyes were otherwise occupied, the veteran noting Sayaka's predicament in her hawk-like peripheral vision. The bizarre, bloated Witch head was advancing, propelled by the long, wriggling tentacles that had seemed to grow after the head had begun expanding, reaching out with lashing menace.
Overhead, beyond the rising tiers of black stone, immense finger-like structures that arose from the tower's peak were curled, threatening to come crashing down on the stadium it seemed to hold in the palm of its hand.
She'd felt something was wrong as the blunette had cut through the Witch's neck, while it had been briefly pinned by her spears. Kyoko had interposed herself-several of herselves-between Sayaka and the incoming Witch. Shadowy, grasping tentacles had struck several of her illusions, forcing them into the dripping, fanged orifice that dominated the center of the increasingly massive figure. Sayaka had a bite taken out of her from the attacking hydra familiar, and although she'd reduced its five heads to three, it was still in pursuit of her caped partner. Different number of heads. Wonder what that means...
Ropes of darkness seemed to snap around her head, bringing to mind the crack of a whip. An absurdly-timed image of blonde corkscrew ponytails flashed through her head, but she cleared the distraction from her mind as she crouched, her powerful calves straining through her boots as she took to the air with a generous boost of magic.
One of the tentacles clipped her foot. Rather than send her spinning, she felt an intense, painful cold wash over her leg, pins-and-needles seeming to stab with brutal force. Kyoko felt her partner's concerned attention, focused on the wave of pain she must have picked up on. I'm fine. Watch yourself! she projected through frustration and anger.
The red-clad Magical Girl began to descend back towards the whipping mass of black tentacles that surrounded the immense head-four green glowing eyes staring up at her in hunger. The circular lamprey maw seemed to convulse, row after row of hooked teeth rippling, thick, viscous fluid drooling.
Kyoko was disgusted by the sight, but not distracted. She concentrated, and the air around her shimmered, four huge spears slowly materializing. The tip of each, a massive meter-long triangular spike, glowed fiery orange like molten metal.
A quick glance at her friend revealed the girl cutting down what seemed to be the last of the hydra's heads. The first one, at least. Nice kill, she thought.
Thanks, other one's almost here, came the slightly shaky response, half a second before Kyoko slammed into the Witch.
Her outfit had drained some of her inertia, allowing the four glowing spears to impact first. The writhing tentacles were cut, some disappearing into nothingness, others reforming almost instantly, much to her consternation. More worrying, the engorged head seemed to melt and flow around the attacks, and Kyoko changed tactics an instant before impact, bringing her spear around in an arc, letting it separate into chain-linked sections before continuing the motion, whirling the chain-spear in circles before her.
She watched the spiraling blade and razored chains cut into more of the tentacles, catching those that extended to engulf her in a steel cyclone. Get over here, now! she thought, teeth clenched and a look of concentrated hatred upon her face.
Drawing some of the heat burning within the Soul Gem into herself, Kyoko readied her next attack, waiting for Sayaka to get in position. She felt the blunette approaching, a pure, gleaming spark of power in the nightmarish stadium. A spark from a gentle gloved hand on her shoulder unleashed the built up energy, the red-head stumbling back, confused, frightened, and a little bit awed.
Sayaka had pulled out of her dash, skidding to a stop next to her partner, glancing back at the still-approaching familiar, its six dinosaur heads chomping in impatience. She placed a hand on Kyoko's shoulder, trying to quickly heal whatever damage had been done to her limb. She had immediately sensed that there had been no damage at all, no physical damage anyway, but the connection was broken as Kyoko stumbled back, uttering a flamboyant curse.
Her eyes took in the expanding sphere of spinning chains. Glowing spikes flowed like sharks through the air, dragging a spiraling trail of massive chains. She looked at her friend, the burning intensity of the flowing weapons she was staring intently at reflected in crimson eyes. Bright crimson eyes, Sayaka thought... almost glowing...
The twisting orb of blade and chain began to contract, twisting in on itself. Kyoko continued to stare, so Sayaka gave her a quick poke on the shoulder-or would have, if the red head hadn't chosen that moment to twist around, her eyes wide with... amazement? As she turned, Sayaka's finger missed the shoulder, continuing on until-
Kyoko blinked. Shaking her head, she spared a split second to give her blunette companion the evil eye. Then she turned back to the now-tangled mass of chains that encased the bloated, lamprey-mouthed Witch. It was so much more than she'd expected... she'd reflect on this later. Rushing the web of chains that held the straining Witch, she ordered Now! Attack!
Sayaka began summoning a series of strangely forward-curving blades, thick-tipped and spinning as they were hurled forward. Sending one after another toward the trapped Witch, each one thrumming as if plucking a bass guitar, watching them penetrate the chained Witch, who twisted in fury, unleashing a hissing groan. She rushed to join her friend, her sword vibrating in her hand. Delicious ripples of eagerness bubbled through her, excited by the fight, relishing the agonized moaning coming from their trapped opponent.
She unconsciously wiped a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth, assuming her favorite get-ready-to-run position. Her blue hair whipped back, giving her a clear field of view, catching the metallic sheen of the hydra familiar closing in from the corner of her eye. She gripped her sword two-handed, low and ready to thrust. The blade had grown longer, losing its curve and taking on a tapered, stiletto shape. It hummed, something like a small electric current running up her arms, filling her chest with a burst of sheer joy as she slammed into the entangled Witch at the same instant as Kyoko landed.
Red ponytail trailing behind her like the tail of a comet, the veteran brought her spear down, stabbing into the Witch through a gap in the chains. Once half of its two meter length was imbedded in the monster, Kyoko allowed it to unwind, spinning it with a powerful twist of her straining arms and a steady flow of magic from her gem. A powerful shudder ran through the spherical web of chains.
The chains collapsed, disappearing, both girls falling at the sudden absence of the enemy they'd been stabbing with all their might. From high above, a flash of red light filled the sky, reflecting off the unseen clouds hovering above.
Landing face down in her friends lap, Sayaka quickly pushed herself up-digging her hand into a red-stockinged thigh. Flushing furiously, she turned away from the bemused crimson eyes, noticing movement-
What the-Look out Kyoko!
Snapping dinosaur jaws chomped down on the red-head's shoulder, blood blossoming from its fanged, reptilian smile.
It was supposed to disappear! Why are we still here?
From high above, a keening chuckle began to reverberate throughout the arena, the hideous sound seeming to bounce off the black stone.
The Witch approached, once again bristling with spider legs, long black claws reaching out as four red eyes stared, promising bloody murder. The head had shrunk again, the gaping circular hole of its mouth still more than adequate to bite a girl in half. It hurtled downward, striking out at the staggering figure in the red dress.
It looks just like it did at the beginning, Sayaka thought in dismay.
Sayaka threw up her hands, sword dissolving. A bubble appeared, centered around her friend, quickly expanding. The fiendish hydra, heads nipping at the Kyoko's back, were the first to hit the barrier, and were pulled halfway through. The bubble continued expanding, taking the familiar along with it, held halfway in and out. Sayaka frowned, concentrating, as the surface hit the Witch, struggling to hold the thrashing demon.
The blunette pushed, stopping the descent of their enemy, shadowy limbs continuing to squirm and thrust against the surface of the bubble which entrapped it. Rushing over to her red-haired companion, she stuck a hand under her arm and dragged her away, Soul Gem dimming slightly as she poured energy into her friend's crushed chest. White, splintered rib vanished, the hideous pumping motion her bared chest cavity revealed quickly hidden by reformed flesh. Sayaka didn't have time to be amazed, but she was nevertheless impressed by the rapid healing of the horrible wound.
Then the Witch was upon them again, Kyoko not yet fully recovered. Still holding on to the older girl's inner arm, Sayaka leveled an open hand at the oncoming monster, red eyes burning with inhuman desire. Raising it, bringing it down, the blunette poured her heart into the thrumming, organ-like melody that echoed through the vast bowl of black stone.
Eyes wide with a feeling of wonder, she let go and enveloped Kyoko with her cloak, wrapping her arms tightly across her newly-healed torso, pressing against her broad, muscular shoulders. Sayaka watched the fleet of crystalline swords, a hovering armada of sapphire glass, hurtle toward the ground, enveloping the Witch in a storm of translucent blades.
So many, she thought, wonderingly. Adrenaline? Like when a mother somehow lifts up a car that has pinned her child? She didn't know if those stories were true, but she did feel pretty amped up.
The blades cut through the Witch's spidery legs. They severed tentacles, tore through arms, pierced torso-the body began to dissolve, small chains of lightning running between the impaled weapons. The Witch's head blossomed into an expanded mockery of an immense spider, as the blades hummed and thrummed, hovering in midair.
Sayaka made two fists, feeling an almost physical resistance as she squeezed. She remained clenching her friend in a tight embrace, ignoring the older girl's squirming. Sayaka felt the shrapnel hit her, reminding her of a beach wind blowing sand across her skin. She kept her eyes open, wanting to see...
The bloated Witch head was sliced apart, ribbon-like strips of shadow flensed from the creature, until it disappeared entirely.
Grey-blue eyes looked around, wary, drawn upward... Kyoko muscled her way out of the blunette's grip, huffing and red-faced. The veteran knew Sayaka was only trying to protect her, but... she rubbed her chest.
A flash of gold seemed to come from the altar high above. A sound like a chain rattling. And a hideous, high-pitched laughter, maniacal. The Witch appeared at the edge, four glowing yellow orbs gazing down in utter hatred.
Sayaka's shoulders slumped. Noticing, the red-head took the opportunity to flip up the white cloth attached to her battle-bra, exposing her midriff and a very dark Soul Gem. Sayaka let out an involuntary squawk of protest.
"Now's the time, Sayababy. I'll distract the thing, you go get your Grief Seed." Her crimson eyes gazed into the younger girl's briefly, a kind of desperate hope flashing between the pair.
Blue hair twitched as the girl nodded once, taking a long leap away from the area below the altar. That last attack had taken a lot out of her, and she felt completely drained. Reaching her hand behind her, pushing against her cloak, her fingers found what they sought, and she touched the black, spiked orb to her belly, watching the dual transfer of inky blackness.
She didn't have time to shudder as the memories abruptly overwhelmed her.
o0O-(-(12.-.1.-.2.-.33.-.14.-.10.-.22.-.22.-.10)-) -O0o
The accident. Smoke. Burning. The scars. Her tears.
Others' faces, grotesque with revulsion. Scars on the surface, scars underneath.
The fox had offered her the one thing she wanted more than anything else in the world.
The only thing that would make life worth living.
The obnoxious, manipulative bully. Green with envy. The annoying, chubby sycophant. Yellow with cowardice. It wasn't long before she bored of their presence. She had the attention of much more interesting people, anyway. Being a Magical Girl was only part of life; Witches could wait until after the weekend.
The call came. The Witch was strong, different. Her body, decapitated like the shorter, rounder remains of the hanger-on, had failed her. Energy low, unable to regenerate the damage, reduced to a pinpoint of awareness, she had felt her comrade, the self-appointed leader, approach.
Not to save. She had so much to live for now! The eater would not allow her happiness. It was jealous. It envied the attention, the friends, the invitations...
The eater was a green-eyed monster.
She had let it know of her fear. Her hatred. The flames still haunted her, just as the manipulator was still ashamed of what it ate. It burned her, hurt her, made her feel the agony of that night, relive the blistering, skin-peeling torture, the excruciating feel of her flesh melting-
Then she felt it eat her. Felt her limbs being picked up, fed into the pit. The darkness gave way to a brilliant green sun, a massive jewel of a star that reached inside her, pulling at the last remnant of her consciousness, forcing her to-
No one could defeat the eater. That had been her wish.
Marveling at her beauty, she gazed adoringly at herself. She was perfect. The other two were here, but she wasn't interested in them. Sometimes she did what the eater wanted. Sometimes she had to.
But mostly she was content to stare at the mirror, admiring.
With a narrowed, electric blue gaze, Sayaka stood up, quickly recovering from the rush of memories and feelings she'd just subjected herself to. She felt energized. Overflowing with the desire to return to the fight, help her friend out.
Kyoko was fighting a guerrilla battle, leaping just out of reach, her chain-spear whipping out to cleave a leg, or behead one of the hydra's darting heads-the familiar! She must have lost consciousness or something, the bubble barrier disappearing, leaving Kyoko to fight two opponents on her own.
She rushed forward, bursting with the desire to commit violence.
Kyoko felt her comrade returning to the battle, relieved despite herself. The lightning fast attacks of the Witch and the insistent harassing of the multiheaded familiar had led to some tight scrapes in the two minutes or so that Sayaka had been gone. The older girl had been burning through her energy quickly, but as the blunette approached she felt, somehow, stronger. She hopped toward Sayaka, opening a gap between her and the chasing monsters.
"Do you trust me?"
"Don't be melodramatic," Kyoko muttered, annoyed, eyes bouncing between the oncoming enemies. "What do I have to do?"
"Get inside it. We need it to swallow us."
"..."
"So, Kyoko... do you trust me?"
Leaping into the gaping, circular orifice dominating the engorged head of the Witch was one of the most difficult things Kyoko had ever done. The hideous, lamprey-fanged tunnel glistened with slime, black tentacles reaching out to pull them in, draining their heat, their life, leaving only their empty Soul Gems behind... it was almost too much.
Even though the mouth absolutely horrified her in some primal, instinctual part of her mind, she was Sakura Kyoko, the most bad ass Magical Girl alive. That, and she had a beautiful girl to look after.
The freezing tentacles gripped the girls, who hurtled towards the mouth face-first, arms locked together, weapon's held at their sides. A burst of blue light flashed through Kyoko's momentarily closed eyelids, and the icy chill dissipated, leaving behind a kindling warmth. Sayaka continued to neutralize the cold as they were drawn into the quivering, dripping orifice under the hateful yellow-eyed glare.
Inside, the world seemed to constrict, the girls' bodies pressed together.
"You're sh-sure about this?" Kyoko asked, heart pumping so fast she didn't notice the crack in her voice.
"Yes, it will be here... A little late for second thoughts."
A ripple, constricting further. A feeling of movement, sliding... Kyoko looked around wildly, her Soul Gem's illumination masked by the skin of Sayaka's chest, the girls pressed together almost face-to-face.
A widening, followed by a dropping sensation-what exactly was going on inside this thing? Kyoko wondered in horrified curiosity. Then, she noticed the glow.
"Yellow," Sayaka said. In her vision, it had been green.
Kyoko didn't take time to contemplate her actions; she thrust out with her spear, Sayaka following suit, crimson and sapphire energy coursing through the dark, wet, fleshy chamber, impacting upon the intensely glowing yellow gem that was imbedded in the top, surrounded by moving, jiggling stalactites of flesh.
The crystal broke, white mist disappearing as it poured out for a brief moment.
The world shifted, hazy.
Electric blue eyes met burning crimson, sharing a significant look. Sayaka bit her lip, wincing.
The vast, black stone arena disappeared, the altar fading to leave behind a few falling objects. The finger-like pillars hanging over the stadium dissolved.
The girls looked around, inching together until their shoulders were pressed into one another, comforting solidity of the other giving courage to both.
They were surrounded by skyscrapers, staring up at a massive, asymmetric building, almost shockingly modern. It seemed to twist, spiraling into the sky... and towers rising behind the building gave the appearance of fingers of a hand, reaching up toward the heavens. Everything about the scene was unfamiliar, except the unnerving parallel of the two towers.
Sayaka swallowed. "We're not in Mitakihara."
Thanks for the feedback about Homura-san, greatly appreciated as always. Wasn't able to find too much about her backstory, hopefully it meshed ok.
Compression sleeves? No idea what to call those armwarmer things Sayaka and Kyoko both wear. Compression sleeves are used by athletes, i guess, to make them... better somehow? Sounded better than arm-sleeve, shoulderless sleeve, or anything else I could think of.
I am absolutely tickled by the Homura is WRONG! responses. And the resigned fatalism (kind of redundant I guess) that comes with being an aficionado of the series. Gen Uroboros is an evil, hope eating dragon.