Calculated Risks

The corridors got darker the deeper Ashaki went into the palace. Tanya was running through the palace gathering soldiers, and Mao Mao and Snugglemane were retrieving large painting for a step further into the plan. Ashaki's job however, was to buy time. But time was something they were running out of; there was less than an hour until the sun would begin to peak over the horizon, and when that happened, the moon moth would be as hard headed as Minori and would refuse to move.

Ashaki stood before a large set of double doors, on the other side was the throne room, where the moon moth had decided to makes its nest. Glaring through the one inch doors, Ashaki could see that the moth was preparing its nest up in the rafters, covering all the windows in a sticky substance. But the real issue is who was on the floor beneath the moth.

Violet stood in the center of the large hall, unmoving, waiting. Her dark fur let her meld into the surrounding darkness.

Ashaki had wasted enough time as it is, placing her hands on the doors, she swung the just open enough for her slim frame to squeeze through. The pads on her feet silenced any sounds she would make as she approached Violet.

With a flick of the ears, Violet caught the sound of Ashaki's cloak caught on the slight breeze. She turned to gaze at Ashaki's general direction, her glazed over eyes sent a small shiver up Ashaki's spine. If she wasn't careful, that could be her.

Violet burst into a sprint, locking onto Ashaki, who merely produced a small emerald green orb.

Please sister, thought Ashaki. You couldn't beat me even if you had your hat. Ashaki threw the green orb onto the floor, it's light spread across the marble like a wildfire.

Violet's charge was halted, as her body began to levitate off the floor. Violet spread her arms out, trying to find some center of balance.

Your martial arts aren't worth anything if you don't have any footholds to anchor yourself, Ashaki thought to herself. The technique she used cancelled out the pull of gravity within the room. Much similar to the technique she used to levitate herself, the was a wide spread technique, so it took a bit more focus to keep it maintained.

While Violet was sent flying through the air, Ashaki was gliding through with the grace of a swan. Ashaki levitated up towards the moth, if she could hold it in place, the plan would be good as accomplished.

If only it was that easy. Shing. The sound of something metallic cutting through the stale air between the rafters, approached Ashaki and resounding speed. Quickly covering her hands in green light, she shifter her center of balance, allowing her to twirl around and clap the object between her palms. A short blade came within a hands breadth away from sticking into Ashaki's breast. Following the path of origin, taking into account the zero gravity, which would've thrown off the knife's trajectory, Ashaki glared down at Violet, who had held herself in place on one of the pillars below.

She must have a few knives up her sleeve, Ashaki assumed, sticking the knife in her hands in one of the secret pockets of her sash. Years ago, she was thankful that Violet always came prepared, always keeping spares and then some in her hat; now that preparedness just nearly ended her.

Violet repositioned herself so that the soles of her feet were on the pillar, and with a crouch, she pushed off, flying in Ashaki's direction.

In turn, the green clad Mao rolled her eyes. Holding her hand out towards her sisters, she made a little hand gun, with the tip of her claw acting as the end of the barrel. She condensed some of her chi into it, and fired.

An emerald green light leapt from Ashaki's claw, and met Violet midway. When the light touched her, there was no sound, merely the fact that she was had been sent spinning backwards once more.

Ashaki could've made it so the "chi-bullet" was fatal, but instead of striking Violet, it came across as a better idea to push her away.

Turning back to the moth, Ashaki held out her hands. In perspective the moth looked smaller than it was to Ashaki, so in cupping her hands it looked like she was about cage the moth between her fingers. Just as Ashaki was about to wrap it up, something jerked at her cloak, causing a wheezing gag to choke out of her mouth.

The pull on her cape sent her spinning across the room. Instead of fighting the fall, she leaned into it, using the mental Mao of the room in her head to perfectly time herself landing on the wall into a crouch. Casting her gaze across the room, she saw the individual who had thrown her.

Minori's white gi came off as green in the emerald light that shone on the floor. Despite her glazed over eyes that showed she was under the moth's control, she was balancing herself in zero gravity perfectly. It only made sense. As children, Minori would never leave her alone unless she made the room zero-g so she could float. Whereas Violet's phobia made her want to avoid said room at all costs.

Ashaki clicked her tongue, this got a lot harder. Looking up at the moth, she glimpse a small contortion in the muscles on its back. Is that thing getting ready to shake its wings? Ashaki turned her attention back to Minori just before her her fist would've made contact with her face. Leaning back and to the side, Ashaki felt Minori's knuckles just graze her cheek.

Spinning away, she caught sight of something red on Minori's face. Sure enough, there was a slim river of blood dribbling from her nose. But that shouldn't have been possible, her bangles made her indestructible, she can't be bleeding.

Mao Mao had told her how they ran into Minori earlier. In the scuffle, Mao Mao had landed a hit. The blood must have come from the hit.

Ashaki was quick to formulate a theory, Minori's bangles need consciousness to be active. If so, that could mean Minori is vulnerable while she's asleep. This will require further study.

Until then, Ashaki kicked off the wall, trying to create some distance between her and Minori. Forming another hand gun, she turned back towards Minori, aiming carefully at her sister, who was giving chase. With a single shot, she hit Minori with the same amount of force they used to kick off the wall. Thanks to Newton's Law, that caused Minori to stop midair, with no grips or footholds for her to kick off of.

Violet came flying from the corner of the room, kicking Minori back into motion. Ashaki clicked her tongue again. Another thing to worry about.

Despite that they're at each other's throats, they have the best teamwork out of all the pairings between the Mao siblings, making them a deadly force to tackle alone.

Ashaki clenched her fists, guiding chi through her Solar plexus, and into her hands. Ashaki's contacts glinted, she saw Minori swinging at her with a right, and kneeing her in the ribs

Blinking, Ashaki came back to the present. Catching Minori's fist, Ashaki used her chi enhanced hand to push Minori back, launching her into Violet. The two crashed into the far wall, bouncing off in separate directions.

Ashaki turned back to the Moth, cupping her hands once more, she made the gesture once more, simulating that she was a bout catch a small insect. Placing her cupped hand together, an emerald sphere spread around the moth. This should stop it from spreading it stardust until Mao Mao and the others come to the throne room.

Minori, while Ashaki was distracted, began using her claws to keep herself onto the walls. She began to make small leaps, making sure she didn't overshoot and completely jump off the wall.

Clinging to a marble pillar, Minori shot off towards Ashaki. Minori wrapped her arms around her sister's midriff, jerking Ashaki through the air.

Thankfully, Ashaki's capture barrier, once activated, didn't need an excessive amount of focus. However, the barrier will disappear if her hands break their gesture. Minori slammed, Ashaki into the opposing wall, the whiplash throwing Ashaki's head against the wall.

Ashaki felt a burning sensation, as well as something cool trickling down the side of her face. Did she just crack her head open, if so, she'd need to heal that fast, but the problem is that she needed her hands to perform the technique.

Minori pulled herself off of Ashaki, reeling her hands back to beat down her sister. Ashaki sent her chi through the base of her spine, and kicked out. Taking away Minori's positioning, Ashaki sent her spiraling. Before pulling herself off the wall, she used her contacts to glimpse into the future again, where she saw Violet descend upon her from the rafters after she pulled her off the wall.

Ashaki quickly pulled herself off the wall and launched herself into an arial backflip, kicking Violet in the chin as she came within range. The purple clad Mao was sent spiraling backwards, crashing into Minori just as she was beginning to recover.

Ashaki's vision was beginning to blur. Between the gash in the side of her head, and her excessive use in chi, she was beginning to lose the grasp she had on consciousness.

Left. Right. Right. Straight. Tanya was just a few turns away from completing her side of the plan. In order to deal with Violet, Ashaki was going to render the with zero gravity. Sooner or later, Minori was going to get involved. According to Ashaki, zero-g won't slow down Minori like it will with Violet for whatever reason.

When Tanya bursts through the doors of the throne room, the palace guards will follow her in, and begin flying about aimlessly. They will act as obstacles for Minori to have to go through first.

The large door came into sight, left slightly ajar, an emerald light was leaking out into the corridor from the throne room. If Tanya hadn't known that the light was from Ashaki, she would've been overcome with an ominous feeling. But now Tanya charged in, dauntless.

Just for the hell of it, when the door was a few strides away, Tanya launched herself into jump kick, sending the large doors swinging on their hinges. The moment she crossed the threshold, Tanya's momentum carried her through the air, all the way to the other side of the room. Tanya was overwhelmed by the sudden set of weightlessness. The immediate change was nauseating.

Tanya choked back the stomach acid that was trying to work its way up her throat. Taking in her surroundings, Tanya cursed under her breath. Yes, the fifty something guards she was able to gather were beginning to fill the air, but she saw Ashaki floating not to far off, her hands clamped together. She wasn't looking too good, just barely visible through the green light, a trail of red was dripping down her head and staining her cloak.

Tanya jumped from the wall, onto a nearby guard, and vaulted towards Ashaki. The smell of copper stung her nose as Tanya grabbed Ashaki by the shoulders. The woman's eyes were half lidded, and she seemed to have a hard time trying to keep them open.

"Hey, we need you to stay awake," Tanya's first thought was to shake her. But that probably wasn't the best idea, considering the damage to Ashaki's head.

Ashaki opened her mouth. A soft rasp layered her voice, contrasting to the cold and calculating tone she was using earlier. "C-cover... I n-need... cover."

Tanya nodded. Pulling out one of the few leaves she had, she conjured a plume of smoke, shrouding the two. As it cleared, it revealed that the two of them were cocooned inside of a sphere of translucent plastic.

Once inside, Ashaki broke the seal her hands had been making; therefore breaking the barrier around the moth. Bringing her hands to the gash on her hand, they became cloaked in emerald light. Ashaki gently placed her hands on her injury. It would take a few minutes for the wound to close, and when this was over, there will probably be some scarring. That'll be difficult to explain, Ashaki thought to herself.

"What happened?" Tanya asked, taking a closer look at her surroundings. Minori attempted a jump at them, only for a guard to float into her path for a midair collision. In any other situation, Tanya would've had a chuckle at that.

Ashaki took some time to gather her thoughts before answering Tanya's question. "Minori got involved earlier than expected."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I just need some time," Ashaki felt her blood flow begin to increase as her wound closed. Bracing herself against the wall of the sphere, she steadily raised herself onto her feet.

Tanya looked between the floating guards, watching the moon moth. The giant creature seemed to be making its nest. However, it appeared to have slowed down, making slight jerking movements here and there. The fifty something mind controlled zombies spun through the air, bumping into each other and off the walls. "Is the moth connected the people it controls?"

"Of course," Ashaki answered. "It communicates via a two way system. It works like a kind of pseudo telepathy using the stardust as a catalyst."

Now Tanya was beginning to grasp the bigger picture. Now all that was left was for Mao Mao and Snugglemane to come as fast as they could.

"Okay," Ashaki said, "I'm good to go."

"Are you sure?"

Ashaki glared at Tanya out from the corner of her eye. "You just need to make sure that Violet doesn't get her hat back," Ashaki gestured to the straw hat that hung from Tanya's neck. "If she gets access to her weapons again... I don't even want to think of how hard this will be."

Tanya pulled at the thin string that weighed against her neck. Tanya beat Violet once, she could do it again... right? Plus there's Minori...

"Good gracious!" The high pitched scream brought Tanya and Ashaki's attention toward the door that they had come through.

Mao Mao and the king stood on top of the painting they walked in with, which now hovered in the air. They were expecting the zero gravity, but there was no preparation for the real thing.

"Think we got a shot?" Tanya asked.

Ashaki thought for a moment. "Our chances aren't zero."