Thunder rumbles in the skies above as Kaina – Infinity Princess, breathes in, then out, steadily exhaling and inhaling. Rain drizzles down, and Infinity Princess turns her face up towards the heavens, letting rivulets of water drip around the contours of her pristine white armor.
Infinity Princess stands in that clearing, an abandoned space amidst bare, concrete buildings that were never completed, as still as a temple statue, as silent as a priestess in the midst of prayer.
And, of course, all around her, Alice Takanashi's maids lie in wait. This entire area has been cordoned off by Alice's forces, and as Infinity Princess glances around she can see where they're holed up. Maids are perched within hidden alcoves, heavy anti-material rifles in hand. Armored troop carriers idle in wait behind concrete barriers.
This entire area has been transformed into a killing field. All that's left is for Infinity Princess to lay out the bait.
Which is a relatively simple affair. In fact, Infinity Princess has been doing that this entire time.
Rain falls on Infinity Princess – and the droplets sizzle into steam the instant they hit her skin, brush against her hair, grazing against her armor. Mana pours off of Infinity Princess, endless torrents of raw energy. Infinity Princess lets out a slow, low breath as she throttles her Mana Reactor, flaring her mana signature and undoubtedly setting off mana detectors across the NUSA's western seaboard.
It's quite fortunate that Maxine Steele and Luminous Libromancer are out of town for the moment. The whole thing lets Infinity Princess avoid having to answer so many awkward questions.
Still, this is the most efficient method of drawing in the target; after all, this corporate lab experiment is tailor-designed to hunt down Magical Girls.
Every Magical Girl in the city would've felt Infinity Princess flare her mana just now, and if they've been programmed to hunt down other Magical Girls, well…
There's no way they'd ignore a mana signature of that potency.
And sure enough, in the distance, Infinity Princess watches her target approach, drawn to Infinity Princess like a moth to a flame. The cybernetic magical girl unsheathes her sword as she steps out from the shadows, winking into existence as the optical camouflage embedded into her synth-skin deactivates.
The instant she appears, gunfire erupts as countless cat-eared maids pop out of their hidey-holes and open fire. Bullets ping off of concrete slabs and steel beams, heavier anti-material rounds punch through walls and floors. A torrent of firepower that would've shredded any mundane foe.
Unfortunately, the foe these maids are facing is anything but mundane.
.
The nameless magical girl dodges, darting through the withering hailstorm of gunfire with uncanny agility. Her sleek, augmented limbs move with precision as she lifts her thermal katana, and Infinity Princess feels her eyebrow raise with some modicum of surprise as she watches the cyber-ninja deflect bullets.
An autocannon mounted on the roof is rolled forward by a group of frantic maids. It unloads, cratering the ground – But fails to hit its mark as the magical cyber-ninja dodges, weaving between shots with contemptuous ease.
A handful of seconds have passed, and this girl's already almost on top of Infinity Princess.
Time slows to a crawl as Infinity Princess draws her sword and moves to intercept.
Calculate trajectory - Target approaching at high speed.
Raise sword, move to disable sword-arm.
Channel mana. Enhance limbs -
Mana signature detected. Target casting spell. Move to counter-
Error, system malfunction detected. Interference detected. Attempting to compensate-
Error, system malfunction detected. Interference detected. Attempting to compensate-
Error, error, error, error – Error -
Infinity Princess – No, Kaina Shikinami blinks with shock as the world ripples and pulses, as a wave of distortion ripples out from the cybernetic magical girl's mechanical frame. Space unfurls, time distorts, and Kaina's cognition screeches to a halt as she stumbles, nearly tripping over her armored boot in an uncoordinated mess.
Kaina reaches for her mana, tries to reactivate her mana reactor, but -
It's not there. There's no magic.
There's no magic.
Kaina swallows, even as she backpedals in an attempt to put space between herself and the deadly cybernetically-enhanced assassin charging towards her.
Attempting to re-establish connection – Error, interference detected.
Run diagnostics – Error, interference detected.
No, it isn't that Kaina doesn't have magic anymore. Kaina's still transformed, she's still holding her sword…
Kaina banishes these thoughts as the cybernetic magical girl swings her thermal katana, aiming for Kaina's neck. Kaina reflexively reaches out to block, but she's – She's too slow, without her mana. Her arm's too sluggish, her muscles are too weak to lift a sword that's suddenly become too heavy for Kaina's delicate frame -
The thermal katana's glowing edge hisses as Kaina just manages to deflect its trajectory. The sheer force behind the impact still leaves Kaina's arms numb, and Kaina winces as the thermal katana's edge grazes against her face and a sudden stinging, searing pain rips through her cheek.
This is – Pain.
Pain.
Kaina ripostes, kicks the cyberninja away from her with her flagging strength and backpedals. A droplet of blood oozes out of the gash on her face, dripping down her face just like the droplets of cold rain that Kaina can suddenly feel.
… No magic. No enhanced speed, no enhanced strength, and no invulnerability. No – No magic.
A sudden chill runs up Kaina's spine as she realizes just how… How fragile she feels. Weak, mortal, powerless, and staring down a superior enemy. It's just like when Mitsuko died -
The cyberninja's sword comes down again, and Kaina grits her teeth as she just barely manages to dodge. The blade's searing edge hisses as it whistles by Kaina's ear, and Kaina clenches her teeth. It's frustrating, infuriating that Kaina's weak limbs are refusing to cooperate with her reflexes, with the years of battle-experience Kaina's accumulated. It's -
It's frightening, because suddenly Kaina's genuinely having to fight for her life, and that prospect chills Kaina as much as the rain is. Not because Kaina's afraid of death, of course. But because if Kaina dies -
If Kaina dies, Alice will be left alone…
… And that's unacceptable. Kaina's swings her sword, ignoring how her limbs ache, bares her teeth in a feral snarl as her blade sparks off her opponent's armor, scoring a gash through her armor plating.
All the while, Kaina's mind works furiously, attempting to analyze this fight.
The lack of mana is extremely problematic – It's either a mana-drain aura or an anti-magic aura considering the spell Kaina detected just before her magic turned off. The spell's unlikely to be a mana-drain aura, considering how much mana Kaina emits on a regular basis, she'd have overloaded her opponent already. Most mana-draining abilities have a cap, and Kaina knows she can exceed those caps with ease.
So. An anti-magic field. Some kind of field that turns off mana and mana-based effects. A horribly frustrating, novel ability and one Kaina will admit she was completely unprepared for.
Because it's unheard of. In all the decades since Magical Girls first began to Pact, there has never been a recorded instance where a Magical Girl pacted with the ability to turn off magic.
Kaina jerks as her opponent lashes out, moving her head out of the path of the thermal katana about to stab right through her forehead. Instead, the heated blade stabs through Kaina's shoulder, poking a hole straight through her armor, and Kaina's fingers go slack as she nearly loses her grip on her sword. Throbbing, searing pain radiates out from Kaina's arm-
Pain she ruthlessly suppresses as she switches to a one-handed grip and slices up. Sparks fly as she forces the cyberninja back, carving another gouge into the armored plating lining her limbs, and both Magical Girls step back to eye one another warily.
Kaina breathes out heavily, one of her arms limp and useless, and the other trembling to hold up a deadly weapon that's far, far too heavy for her to be carrying. Blood streams down Kaina's cheek, oozes out of the half-cauterized wound in Kaina's shoulder, staining her pristine white armor pinkish-red.
Meanwhile, Kaina's foe regards her with a blank, emotionless stare. Kaina stares at her opponent, taking in the damage she's managed to inflict – Even without magic, even without her invulnerability and her strength and speed, Kaina's managed to trade blows with an opponent who should be superior to her. Kaina's reflexes are intact, and her years of experience and training are intact.
But Kaina knows, deep in her bones, that this isn't going to be enough to let her win against someone who's truly superhuman.
And that's… More than a little problematic.
That's actually very problematic.
Gunfire rings out as Alice's maids attempt to provide covering fire, and Kaina takes that moment to backpedal in an attempt to put distance, to make a tactical retreat. There are pre-prepared positions, additional killzones, mines, explosives-
"Void Heart, I could use your assistance, I'm down an arm and the target's emitting an anti-magic field-" Kaina says, praying that her communicator's still working, but those are the only words she's able to get out because soon, soon, the cyberninja's on top of her again, and it's all Kaina can do to stay alive.
--