Chapter Sixty - The Queen of the Changelings
Nova groaned as she stirred, full consciousness beginning to return to her. As soon as active thought became possible again her mind stirred quickly and in a matter of seconds she was alert again. She sat up, pushing a large pile of debris off of her as she did. She could hear the sounds of battle near-by and figured it was the Demon that they'd encountered. She didn't feel like she'd been out very long.
Climbing to her feet she spotted Pug laying on the floor not far away. He didn't look injured and she could see his chest moving up and down as he breathed, so she turned from him toward the mostly missing wall to the outside. Judging by the fact she didn't see Tien, and the battle outside sounded fierce, she figured he was the one fighting the Demon and doubted the other alien would be of much use in the fight.
/At least I'm not really hurt./ she thought. She could remember the Demon tensing and suddenly unleashing a massive burst of power that had sent her sailing. She'd barely even managed to flare her ki at all to try and cushion the attack with, but apparently it had been enough to keep her from any real harm. She'd only managed that much because of quick reflexes, watchful eyes, and intuition.
Decades of looking over her shoulder for someone trying to kill her for one reason or another had honed her reflexes and taught her what to watch for when looking for attack. A sudden tensing of muscle, a look in the eye, a certain kind of smile, a tone voice, little things that many over looked. She'd also developed something of a sixth sense for picking up on danger over the years, sometimes reacting to things behind her that she couldn't even see.
Reaching the ruined wall she gazed out at the on going battle best as she could currently follow it. Both fighters were moving at speeds beyond her ability to properly follow. She could tell that, at best, the two fighters were even. It also looked as though the Human was at his maximum. At the very least he had four arms and a red aura, so he was likely close to his maximum.
/I'm not sure if I'll be any help or not./ she thought as the red plates on her body began to shift and expand as she transformed. /Just the other day I wouldn't have had a chance in a battle of this level, but after that fruit I might be able to keep up. If Hotaru is right about my power then I may be able to do more than keep up. Only one way to know for sure./
Her transformation finished and she floated out of the building and up into the air, until she felt she was far enough from the building not to damage it further with her power-up. The two fighters came to a halt in their attacks as her cries rang out over the street and her aura flared up as her power climbed. It only took a moment for her to reach her maximum power and her cries faded away. /I doubt I'm strong enough like this, so.../
"Invalesco!" she called, her normal aura vanishing into the flame like aura of her attack. The Demon's eyes widened as she stared at the Changeling and Nova took it as a good sign, quickly charging in. She lashed out with a left punch that caught Gloom in the face and knocked her flying backward through six buildings before crashing into the ground. Nova pulled to a stop, eyes wide, and looked down at her hands.
Her punch had had more effect that she'd expected. She could remember how high a power level the Human had displayed during his fight with the young Sai-jin Prince. While she knew she was stronger than Cold now she hadn't expected to be all that much stronger. Certainly not so much so that she could so easily harm an opponent that Tien was only apparently even with, even with the Invalesco. And yet, she had, she had knocked the Demon away with ease.
"Good to see you up and about again." Tien said, catching her attention.
Nova gave him a nod as she looked up from her fist. "If I'd been a little faster I wouldn't have been knocked out at all."
"I'm surprised you even managed to react. I only did because I sensed her power spike, you didn't have that advantage."
"I spent over a century constantly on the watch for someone loyal to Cold, who had somehow learned of my heritage, to come and try to kill me." she said. "I learned to pick up on subtle clues as to someone's inten..." she trailed off there as a sudden flash of red, a thundering crack, and massive explosion occurred at the location she'd knocked the Demon to, destroying several near-by buildings.
A moment later Gloom flew back up into the air, stopping at the same level as Nova and Tien, frowning. The Demon raised her arm up into the air and it began to glow black and purple. Then, suddenly, she brought it down like she was chopping something. "Darkness Fissure!" she cried. The wave of black energy charged toward the two of them and they dodged to either side around it as it cut cleanly through everything in its path.
Nova arched an eyebrow (well, the ridge, since Changelings have no hair) as she watched the attack speed by. Turning back toward Gloom she brought her right arm up and cupped her hand, a ball of spinning red ki quickly forming. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching it at the Demon. Gloom scowled, ki flowing down her right arm. As the attack reached her she let out a cry and swatted it away, off into the sky.
"This wouldn't be happening if I hadn't been created from such a poor base." Gloom said, still scowling. "The Mortal those Demons used was too weak. If it had been one of you, instead, I could probably take on even the Grand Kai. No matter, it's not like I don't have options." She closed her eyes then, tilted her head back a little, and her aura faded away. Nova and Tien glanced at each other as they watched wisps of white something, and streams of purple energy, flow from the air around them into the Demon's body. And then Gloom's power began to increase.
"What's going on?" Nova asked.
The Human shook his head. "I'm not sure what she's doing, but her power is increasing quickly."
Nova turned her focus back toward Gloom, bright up her right arm, and cupped her hand. She had no intention of just letting this Demon gain more power. She had no real idea of the difference between them and didn't want to risk the other becoming stronger than her. /And after all of this is over I've got to have someone teach me to sense powers./ she thought. /It's a very handy skill./
There was a spark of red in her hand, and then a ball of spinning red ki formed. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching it at the Demon. It crossed the distance quickly but, before it made contact, it suddenly exploded. "What?" Nova wondered, as she saw it. She hadn't seen the Demon launch any sort of counter attack. Suddenly there was a flash of red light from Gloom and the swirling white smoke and purple energy vanished. She didn't look any different to the Changeling but based on soft curse from her ally she knew she'd gotten quite a bit stronger.
"What are we up against now?" asked Nova. "How much stronger is she?"
"Her power doubled." Tien replied. "She's still not quite as strong as you but this is out of my league."
Nova nodded and, not waiting for the Demon to make a move, charged in to attack.
Tien frowned as he watched Nova go on the attack. Despite all of the power he'd gained this was still happening. He was stronger than Frieza had been, stronger than the Trunks or Sakura of the future when they'd come back and killed Frieza and his father, in fact he was nearly equal to the power Goku had, as a Super Sai-jin, back when he'd first returned from space. The difference was so small it wouldn't matter in a fight.
And yet he kept finding himself outclassed by the enemy forces. He'd only been on par with the revived Slug and Sanil, and severely outclassed after they'd fused. Even more than he was here. He'd also sensed the five Demons the others had fought at the arena, while he was helping Piccolo against Slug, and they had all been stronger than him as well. Then Cell had returned and even at full power he'd not have been any help there. And now this.
Sure, the low level Demons, the ones that made up most of the attack force, he could deal with. But the rest? He had a level of power now that, just twelve years ago, he'd never even dreamed possible. A power that, back then, would have been the greatest in the galaxy. He was one of the strongest around, and far stronger than Yamcha or Krillin, but still not much when compared to the constant threats, or the Sai-jins.
/I just can't seem to keep up with them./ he thought. /Goku's always been better than me, but at least we were close at the 22nd Budokai. Now, though... the gap between us keeps growing wider and wider. Gohan, Vegeta, Videl, and even Raditz are all growing faster than me. Hotaru, too. Their normal power is greater and they have transformations more powerful than mine, and so the gulf between us has gotten larger and larger./
He looked down at his clenched right hands as he relaxed and his body shifted back to its normal form. /I felt the limits of my power in the battle with Slug. In the current setting that power would only be effective against Piccolo or Raditz, the others are all already well beyond that. Is that level really my ultimate limit? As far as I've come, as much as I've pushed myself, is that where my growth will end? Is constantly falling further and further behind the others all that's left for me?/
He sighed as he floated down to land beside Hotaru. /I can't accept that. I wont./ he thought as his feet touched the ground. /When this is over I'll look for something more. There HAS to be something more. Some way for me to catch up, some way to close the gap, some way to increase my limit./
While Tien was musing Nova and Gloom were continuing their fight. The two had locked into a close range flurry of punches, kicks, blocks, and dodges as they each tried to land a solid blow on the other. So far in the last two minutes the closest either had gotten was Nova brushing her knuckles against the side of Gloom's head as the Demon dodged a punch. The rest had all been avoided or blocked.
/I'm having trouble fighting at this level./ Nova thought, quickly moving around a kick, a punch, and then two more kicks. She countered with a punch of her own that was blocked, slipped around another punch, and fired off a series of kicks that were dodged. She was holding her own, but so was the other, and she wasn't sure this exchange would ever see either of them succeed. She may have gotten closest so far, but only once, and not nearly as close since.
/I'm not used to moving nearly this fast or having this much force behind my movements. I'm throwing off my own balance with each attack as the force of the swings unexpectedly pulls me in its direction. I'm also putting too much energy and motion into my dodges, going too far out of the way and missing good striking opportunities while I correct my positioning. Luckily for me, she seems to be having the same problems, so we're balancing out. For now./
She knew it wouldn't last. Eventually one of them would either get lucky or break the current flow. An energy attack, dodging completely away from the fight, something. The only reason she had yet to do so was worry she'd over move on that as well and leave herself open to attack. She figured it likely the Demon held the same concerns. Either that or she was less interested in achieving victory than she was in just fighting. Either was possible given the situation.
/But I want, I NEED, to win./ she thought, ducking under a kick and then launching her own that was deflected. The motion threw her further off balance but she recovered from it at the same time the Demon recovered from her imbalance caused by the block and blocked the kick aimed at her head with a raised arm. Nova thrust out her other fist in an apparent punch and Gloom moved to dodge it, but then her hand opened and red energy quickly gathered and burst forth.
The blast hit the shocked Demon dead in the face and Nova quickly took advantage of the opening, lunging forward and slamming a fist into her stomach, kicking her in the side of the head, and then smashing an elbow back and down into her neck driving her toward the ground below. She was still a few feet from hitting when she suddenly vanished, fading out of sight as though disolving into the air itself.
There was a loud crack at almost the same instant as the Demon's foot impacted the back of Nova's head and drove her forward. /Teleportaton?/ the Changeling wondered as she quickly spun around and blocked an incoming punch. /Definitely too fast to be just speed, her foot hit before the image of her in front of me had even finished fading. And I felt... something odd when it happened./ She deflected a kick and countered with an energy blast launched from her mouth.
Gloom reacted faster this time and, once again, disolved away into nothing. Nova reacted quickly this time as well, having known to expect it, and sent out burst of ki behind her as soon as she noticed her enemy fading. The minor shockwave caught the Demon and pushed her back slightly, forcing her punch off course just enough it missed hitting the Changeling's back. Nova turned quickly and lashed out with a kick catching Gloom in the temple with the heel of her foot and knocking her several feet to the side.
/There was that feeling again./ Nova mused. /What is that? It's somewhere in my lower brain, I think. Some sort of tingling pull./ As she thought this she also slid in closer, pulled back her left arm, and then shot it forward slamming her fist into Gloom's stomach, doubling the woman over her arm. A moment later there was a flash of red and a loud crack as the Changeling fired a point blank blast of energy into the Demon's abdomen. The explosion knocked Gloom flying upward a few dozen yards before she suddenly dissolved again.
/And again./ Nova thought, dodging quickly to the right as soon as she felt the odd sensation in her mind. As a result Gloom's kick missed wide and the Changeling moved around behind her easily and slammed a knee into her back, driving her forward. /What is that? Should I down shift if she tries it again? Is that wise in a battle? My higher brain is far better suited to fighting than my lower, even with all the training I've done, but I might be able to figure out the feeling if I shift./
Gloom flipped around in the air and scowled. She couldn't believe she was having so much trouble, even if the other woman was slightly stronger than her still. Still, it wasn't anything she felt she couldn't handle. Thus far she'd restrained herself from using her more powerful abilities, wanting a good fight out of this. A long battle that would give her plenty of opportunity to inflict lots of instances of pain.
As that wasn't panning out as hoped it was time to change things up, go for the big attacks and inflict a lot of pain all at once. If it overloaded the Mortal's system and killed her, well that would be too bad. Gloom smirked and licked her lips. /Hopefully she has a high pain tolerance./ she thought. /So I can keep her screaming for a long time. I've yet to make anyone scream and that's no good. I must hear the screams of Mortals! Taste their delicious pain!/
She pulled both of her arms back as black and purple energy flared to life in her palms. "Come, Mortal, enough fun and games." she said. "It is time to make you scream and bleed, time for me to feed!" She thrust her arms forward, bringing her wrists together and merging the balls of energy. "Darkness Wave!" The energy balls swelled up and then a suddenly a wave of black and purple energy, fifty foot across, was suring through the sky.
Nova's eyes widened and she quickly moved to the right, but realized almost at once that the distance between them was too small. There was no way she'd get around the attack before it reached, so she stopped and curled up into a ball. The wave arrived a second later and swelled as it hit her and continued on for a few more moments, before Gloom finally let up. The Demon was scowling as she ended the attack, however.
Nova uncurled from her defensive position and let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure her hastily errected ki barrier would hold against the attack, but it had. Keeping it up had tired her some but she'd escaped any physical harm, and figured that was more than good enough given the situation. The attack could have easily left her badly injured, especially considering the strain it had placed on her ki field.
Down on the ground Tien and Hotaru were watching the fight closely. "She's good." Hotaru said as Nova blocked Gloom's Darkness Wave attack.
Tien nodded. "Yeah, but I hate not being any help. I could hit her with a full powered Tri-beam, probably kill her with it, but that's only if she didn't teleport out of the way..."
"At least you're in shape to help." Hotaru said, frowning. She'd felt some of her strength return since they'd arrived on scene but knew it wasn't nearly enough. It had been quite a while since using the Genkai Toppa and still she hadn't recovered. /Looks like that move truly is a last resort./ she thought. /The recovery time is too severe. If it doesn't defeat the opponent it'll defeat you instead./
Up in the air Gloom's scowl faded. /Fine./ she thought. /If normal attacks wont work, I've got others./ She brought her arms up in front of her and crossed them over her chest, clenching her hands into fists, and began to quickly chant words in a language unknown to the Changeling. She didn't need to know the words, however, to realize the Demon was going to use magic, and to know that that was bad. Magic had its own rules set apart from those of ki. The Demon could easily injure, or kill, her with the right spell.
As such she quickly thrust her right arm foward, hand open. "Flamma!" she cried as red energy flared in front of her hand and then a stream of it surged toward the Demon. The energy beam only went a few feet before the air around it ignited into a blue-white inferno surging toward its target. It missed, however, as Gloom suddenly dissolved and vanished. Nova once again felt that odd sensation but pushed it aside as she looked around for some sign of her opponent. She spotted her a second later floating off to her right, still in the same position, and still chanting.
/She's just going to dodge anything I throw at her with that odd teleportation of hers./ Nova thought. /I'll try the downshift, then. Maybe it'll give me some edge when she does it./ With that she shot in at the Demon in a burst of multi-colored ki. As she charged she felt the sensation start and quickly pulled to a stop and shifted control of her body from her higher mind to her lower.
As she did so the dissolving Demon re-solidified and she saw her move out of the position she'd taken for casting the spell and fly off toward another location. /What is this?/ Nova wondered. /Is she not teleporting? If not, then what is it she's been.../ Her thoughts trailed off as she spotted one of the SDF recruits standing down on the street and not moving. Glancing over at Tien and Hotaru showed that they, too, were motionless. /What the...?/
She felt the sensation fading again and shifted her higher mind back into control as she turned to face Gloom who was, once again, motionless and chanting. /This is bizarre. What is going on? Is she some how freezing everything around her? I remember hearing Guldo could stop time.../ She shook her head. /No, it can't be time she's stopping, shifting minds wouldn't... That's it!/
The Changeling smiled as the realization came to her. She charged toward her opponent again, pulling back a fist to attack with. Once more the sensation started, but this time she didn't stop in her charge, just shifted to her lower mind. Gloom shifted out of her casting stance and started to turn away, but then noticed something unexpected. Her opponent was still surging toward her! Her eyes widened in shock a second before Nova's fist slammed into her face.
"What the...!" Hotaru cried, eyes widening. Nova had just dissolved right along with Gloom, and then both of them appeared with a thunderous crack as the Demon went surging toward one of the few buildings still standing in the area. "Did... she just use the same teleportation technique?"
"I'm not sure..." Tien said as Gloom pulled to a stop only inches from hitting the building. The Demon blurred and dissolved again, and so did Nova. At the same instant there was a loud bang from off to their left and looking that way they found Gloom blocking a kick from Nova that had been aimed at her head.
"That's not going to help you against me anymore." Nova said, smiling.
"This is impossible!" Gloom growled. "How are you able to move!"
"I caught on to your little trick." she said, as the two drifted away from each other once more. "So now it wont work on me, I can counter it."
"It's impossible not to be affected!" Gloom cried.
"Let me give you a little biology lesson. Changelings have two separate, distinct, minds. A higher mind, where our consciousness resides, and a lower base mind that is instinct driven. We have the ability to switch control of our bodies between the two, and I have trained both of my minds to the extent I can put my lower mind in command and still use some of my higher mind functions, filtered through it.
"In other words, when you use whatever you use to suppress the consciousnesses around you I can shift control of my body to my lower mind, use it to filter my higher thoughts, and, in so doing, shield my consciousness from your efforts. Which means that move is now worthless. Even if you use it on me I can still keep fighting.
"I'm not sure how you do it but I suppose it doesn't really matter." she said as she reached up and pressed a hand against the side of her neck, tilted her head, and popped her spine, relieving some of the built up tension. Her body was starting to feel the effects of her prolonged use of the Invalesco.
Gloom scowled. /These Mortals are beginning to annoy me. She's stronger and faster than I am, and now she can counter the one edge I had. There's no way she'll give me the time to use one of my stronger spells. I guess that leaves me only one choice, but first I have to make an opening. I'm open to attack in the first few moments and I know from using Soul Absorption that she'll not wait./
The scowl vanished from her face and she smirked. /And then, at last, I will make her scream in agony, and I shall feast upon her pain, blood, and fear!/ With that thought she lunged toward Nova, pulling back her right arm as she flew. The Changeling Queen decided to do like wise, and charged in as well, pulling back her own right arm. The two met a moment later, fists impacting with each other in a thunderous bang.
Gloom quickly turned on the spot, her tail lashing out and catching Nova by surprise, slamming into her side and knocking her away. With her opponent momentarily dealt with the Demon brought her arms up in front of her and placed her palms together. Hotaru's eyes widened as she saw the position, it was one she recognized from earlier in the day. As the wind suddenly picked up and the black wisps of smoke started in toward Gloom Hotaru turned her focus toward the Changeling Queen.
"Nova!" she called up as the woman pulled herself to a stop again and looked down. "You have to stop her, she's going to increase her power again! This is the same thing Angel did that made her stronger than Vegeta!"
Nova frowned and scowled as she turned her focus back toward Gloom. /I heard about that battle. From just over Gohan's level to well over the Sai-jin King's power. An increase like that in this battle would be... unpleasant./ She shook that off and quickly charged twin balls of red energy in each hand, and then pitched them toward the Demon, who was now hidden inside a swirling black and purple twister. The energy never got closer than about two feet, the raging winds in the area caught hold and pitched them into different directions.
/It's all I can do not to get sucked into that thing./ Nova thought. /It's probably way too dangerous to attack physically... and energy attacks can't get through. I guess I have no choice but to hope I can deal with whatever power she gains from this./
XXX
Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Piccolo's Group
Piccolo stood on a small rock outcropping near the summit of a small, steep, mountain. The three Changelings with him stood behind him scanning the area around them with their eyes. Piccolo doubted they'd spot anything notable, not when his senses couldn't find anything. The four of them tore through a good twenty groups of Demons, somewhere near two hundred individual Demons in total, since arriving up here.
About five minutes ago he'd noticed the power that first Tien, and then Nova, was fighting against had started to increase. As he noticed that he also noticed several of the near-by Demon powers vanish. He hadn't been sure what exactly had been happening, but he knew he hadn't liked it. So he started working his way back toward the city with his team, just to be safe.
The closer they'd gotten to the city the fewer and fewer Demons they met, even though it had been thick with them on the way out. It seemed that whatever had happened to some of the Demons out where he had been had happened to a lot more of them in closer to the city. He could still sense plenty of them in and around the city limits, though none were within six miles of the small mountain he and the others were on.
He'd decided to stop here for a little while to give the Changelings a chance to rest. He hadn't told them as much, as he figured they'd complain, but he could tell they needed it. While they'd been getting their strength back he'd checked out things more thorughly in the area and the city. Nova's opponent was, by far, the strongest enemy left now. Getting back to the city from his current location would only take about twenty minutes, and he was tempted to do so to help the Changeling Queen deal with the threat.
She was the stronger of the two but, by the feel of it, the battle was fairly even just the same. He figured she could likely win, and even if she didn't Tien was still alive and close-by. She'd at least wear the opponent down considerably in the fight, giving the Human the chance to finish things. So he wasn't needed, which was the only reason he wasn't rushing off.
There still remained plenty of Demons, at least a thousand he could sense, in the area his group was to search. The Demon in the city had its hands full dealing with the Changeling Queen so it wasn't a threat to the average person. The ones out here, however, were free to hunt down those who had fled from the city after the invasion began. They'd already located a few such groups while hunting down the Demons. Apparently not all Demons had gone into hiding, some were still trying to kill those on the planet that they could.
The powerful Namek sighed and started to turn away from the distant city. He'd have to leave the fight up to Nov... "What!" he cried, turning his gaze back that way again. The Demon's power had just started increasing again. In the distance he could faintly see what looked like a dark purple glow, right about where he sensed the Demon.
"What is it?" one of the Changelings asked.
"The Demon's power is increasing again... and it's exceeded that of Nova's." He cast his gaze around the area, and his senses too. None of the Demons between here and the city would be a threat to the Changelings with him. "Listen up, I'm heading back at full speed. Nova was only fighting evenly with her before this power-up, I think she's going to need the help. You can either stay here and keep looking for Demons with your eyes or make your way back to the city as well."
"What about the one with the Queen?" asked another. "I heard she was the strongest here."
"Hotaru." Piccolo said, nodding. "She is, but her power is down at the moment from over exerting herself earlier." He shook his head. "It doesn't feel like she'd be any help at all right now. Anyway, decide what you're doing and do it. I'll find you again after I deal with this." With that he lifted into the air, his green aura flared to life around him, and he shot off toward the city.
XXX
Shinkai, Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Outside the Store
Nova flew back several more feet from the swirling twister of black and purple to try and get outside its pull a little more. At the moment she was really wishing she had some sort of scou... Her eyes widened and she turned her gaze back toward the store this had all started in. In a flash of color she charged toward the building and through the open wall. It only took a moment for her to locate the downed alien she sought, still unconscious.
Moving over to him she removed the scouter he had on. He and the former Sai-jin King had explained the basics of the new technology to her and she figured she could use it. She quickly put it on, having to fight with the position of the holding bands some to better fit the shape of her head and ear. She heard the rush of wind end just as she got the eye piece lined up with her eye and knew the Demon was done with its power-up.
Activating the device she stepped up to the open wall and gazed up at the Demon again, and her eyes widened even before the numbers appeared. Gloom's appearance had changed considerably. The Demon was now only four foot tall, at best, no longer had a tail, and her face was more rat than bat like. She also now had glistening black scales covering every visible inch of her body, and solid red eyes.
As Nova took in the new appearance numbers suddenly appeared in her vision, floating directly over the other woman's head. /Shit./ she thought, hands clenching into fists. /Just over 82 million. What's my reading at?/ She made a few adjustments to the device and a new number appeared, down in the bottom right corner of her vision, and she blinked.
/Almost 76 and a half million?/ she thought in shock. She'd not expected her own level to be nearly that great, even with the Invalesco increasing her natural power by five fold. Now that she had the readings to compare them she wasn't as worried as she had been. The Demon was stronger than her, certainly, but not insurmountably so. And what's more, she wasn't skilled at these high level battles either. So that could help to even things a little.
/At the very least, I still have a decent chance at wining./ she thought as she set the scouter to read just the Demon's level again and floated out into the air and then up to eye level with Gloom.
"Your advantage in our fight is at an end." Gloom said, smiling. "I am now stronger and faster than you and..." she smirked, her lips pulling back to reveal sharp black fangs. "I have gained some new abilities. Soon I will have you writhing on the ground, screaming in delicious agony!" And with that last cry she lunged in at Nova.
The Changeling dodged to the left, noting that Gloom had been right about the speed advantage as she barely avoided the fist that had been aimed at her face. Even so, it wasn't the speed increase, or even the power increase, that now had her concerned. Gloom's abilities prior to this transformation had been problematic enough. She didn't even want to think about what new powers the Demon had acquired now, or how much trouble they might cause her.
/I've got to try and end this quickly./ she thought, just blocking a spinning kick aimed toward her head, then ducking under a punch. She retaliated with an elbow toward the Demon's stomach but Gloom slid back away from it and then lashed out with her left leg. Nova wasn't fast enough this time and the kick caught her in the jaw, snapping her head up and back. Before she had recovered from the kick Gloom slammed both open palms into her stomach, driving her back.
The Changeling Queen quickly came to a stop as she thrust an arm out and fired off a blast of energy that hit the Demon dead in the face. /This scouter is going to make a world of difference now./ she mused. She'd only known where to attack just then because of the scouter tracking the Demon's energy. This new model was impressive indeed, it was now feeding a three dimensional map into the bottom left corner of her vision showing her location relative to the power it was tracking.
/Much more useful than the indicator arrows of the previous models. Left, right, up, or down don't tell you a whole lot, you still have to turn and spot them. With this it takes less than half a second to note exactly where she is from my current position. Nice./ She turned around and lashed out with a kick as Gloom attempted to fly around behind her. The blow connected with a loud crack and knocked the Demon back.
"Darkness Fissure!"
Nova's eyes widened as she caught sight of a black and purple glow form around Gloom's left arm just as she brought the arm up and then down again in a chopping motion. An instant later a wave of black energy surged passed her slicing through everything in its path, missing the Changeling by only a few inches. She quickly moved the left around a second, then to the right to avoid a third, and right again to dodge a fourth.
As she moved to the left around a fifth one she brought her right arm up, cupped the hand, and quickly charged the spinning ball of ki. "Lacero!" she cried, pitching the attack as she dodged a sixth attack. To Nova's surprise the Demon didn't attempt to avoid the incoming attack. Instead she thrust out her left arm and pulled her right back. A second later the Lacero hit Gloom's arm and vanished in a burst of black.
Nova was still recovering from her surprise when she noticed that the attack had reformed in Gloom's other hand and the Demon was now throwing it at her. She moved quickly, flying to the left to get around it while preparing a counter attack... and then noticed that the redirected Lacero was altering course to follow her. She instantly shifted directions, heading down and to her right, but once again the attack changed course to continue pursuit.
Gloom laughed. "It's no use!" she cried. "No matter how much you try and dodge it'll still follow you, it's locked onto your ki. It knows it instinctively, tracking the energy that matches it. It was your attack, after all. So, what do you think, like it? It's one of my new abilities."
Nova scowled as she just managed to avoid being hit by the bladded energy ball. Already it was turning around to come back at her again. /I need to find some way of getting rid of this thing. I can't just trick it into hitting something else, it'll tear right through anything I try to plough it into and just come back for me again./ Her eyes widened as she noted Gloom's location on the mini map was moving toward her again.
She ducked down under the incoming punch at the last second and then thrust her elbow back into the Demon's stomach. /Should have known she wouldn't just let me alone while I tried to avoid this thing. But how do I fight her while still trying to avoid my usurped attack?/ she wondered, blocking a kick and then ducking her head down as the Lacero sped by again.
Then, as she deflected an energy blast away, she got an idea. There was a flash of color as she shot backwards, rapidly moving away from the Demon while also quickly charging a powerful mass of energy between her hands. Her eyes darted around for the pursuing attack again, having lost it momentarily while deflecting Gloom's attack. She spotted it a moment later just finishing its turn and starting back toward her again.
/Alright, this should be enough./ Nova thought thrusting her arms out and firing the attack toward Gloom. At the same instant that she attacked she let the Invalesco fade and mentally crossed her fingers as she followed the spinning energy sphere out of the corner of her eye. And then smirked as the sphere turned and began to chase the blast she'd just launched instead.
Ahead of her Gloom had just caught the energy blast she'd launched and was pushing it, trying to deflect it into the sky. She'd just managed to do so when she caught sight of the rotating ki ball. Her reaction time wasn't quite fast enough in her dodge, however, and the ball grazed her side as it turned to continue following the energy blast off into the depths of space.
"What was that!" Gloom cried, watching the two attacks speed out of sight.
Nova smirked where she floated. "You said it yourself, it instinctively tracks the energy it originated from. I took a bit of a gamble that it would follow only the highest power like itself, pushed a lot of energy into one attack, and then dropped my own power below that. It worked and my redirected attack changed targets. It probably helps that my energy pattern when using the Invalesco is slightly different than my normal pattern, too, so my own output doesn't currently exactly match that of the attack I launched."
Gloom frowned as she turned her gaze back toward Nova. "You are annoying and I am tired of these games." she said. "I want blood, I want pain, I want suffering and screaming! No more holding back, no more trying not to kill you, no more toying around!" she cried out, clenching her hands into fists. Nova raised an eyebrow and readied herself for whatever the Demon was up to next as a black aura flared up around the Demon. "Darkness Torment!" Gloom yelled, thrusting her arms forward and firing off a large orb of black energy.
"Damn!" Nova cried, surging to the left to try and get around the large ball of energy. It was at least a hundred yards across and moving incredibly fast. She knew almost at once that she wasn't going to be able to get out of its path and, after going only a few feet, pulled to a stop and curled into a defensive ball. The attack hit and engulfed her a second later, and then her screams sounded, echoing for blocks through the nearly empty streets of the city.
Gloom smiled. "Yes, scream!" she cried, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "Let me feel your pain! Let me hear your agony! Fill me with your suffering!"