Summary: This is a day that never dawned, a night that never came to be. Or, to be more exact, this is a day not many want to acknowledge. It was a time when one Servant said too much in the midst of Summer fun at Las Vegas, and in response, had to watch the Chaldean Master brutally shut her down to the tune of boss battle music.

Note: Let it be said I hate the feeling that comes with frustration. It makes me feel horrible, like I'm the one in the wrong for wanting to scream into the uncaring void for feeling the way I do. More so when said feeling comes from thinking about friends I truly cared about.

So, here we go. I need to get some shit off my chest, and this is as good of a time as any. Was also friendly-encouraged by Carim to process things this way, so please thank them in regards for having this chapter in the first place.

Also, for that one FFN bloke who saw the Olympus chapter and commented it as "excuses" in the face of the upcoming Lostbelt 7 two-parter for NA in two years as of May 2023? Who went on to saying "I'll look forward to you eating your words?" Stop. Just. Fuck. Off. You're permanently on my blacklist for being rude. LB7 is its own mess and when we get there, we'll get there. And I have words for Daybit and ORT.

The theme for this Lost Day is the Black 2/White 2 Champion version of Cynthia's Theme from Pokémon, officially known as Battle! Champion Sinnoh. Because there's nothing better than good boss music. For an alternative, I'll point you to I Burn (Remix) from RWBY; as well as Red Like Roses Part II. Because I'm pissed.

Here we fucking go. With explicit violence and all.

Lost Day 4: Frustration

"BIG SISTER BEAM!"

A bright pink light akin to the attacks from a magical girl show emerged from Jeanne Archer's hands, and normally anyone who was washed in said beam would've fallen for her charms right then and there, becoming part of the so-called "family." That was how it was supposed to go.

Jeanne's "happily ever after" should've started without any issue.

But all Vy did was step away from Robin's side, carefully cracking her knuckles with one raised brow. "So." The word was punctuated with quiet disdain, the golden bracelets on both her wrists glowing in the spotlight of the casino's stage as she clenched her hands into tight fists. When did she start wearing those? "That's how you want this to go down? Brainwashing?"

Huh? That's not right. That's not—

Jeanne lurched back. From Vy's side, she could see Mash and the others step back too, Robin being the only one looking close to unfazed as mana started to trickle off of Vy in sizable waves. "H-Huh?" Jeanne made the signature heart shape of her Big Sister Beam with her fingers, aiming again. "That didn't work… BIG SISTER BEAM!"

Another wash of pink flooded the Cirque de Requin stage, but all Vy did was extend the bracelets on her wrists into full-on gauntlets with one flick of her arms, carefully handing Mash her sunhat along the way. "You want power?" Without hesitation, Vy threw her sundress off, revealing a modestly frilly yellow and orange swimsuit set of a tank top and shorts as loud clinking noises echoed in the air. Wait. Clinking? "Then I'll give you power, Not-My-Big-Sister. Prototypes be damned now, I need a test run and you're a big enough bitch to be the target."

Lambda nearby barely had enough time to catch Vy's sundress from the air before the Chaldean Master was rushing past her and all the other Servants, a single thrust of her right arm being all it took for a bullet to be discharged from the right gauntlet and promptly hitting Jeanne Alter Berserker in the head. Jeanne Archer could do nothing but watch in horror as Berserker fell back with a loud curse, music pointedly different from their stage routine starting to blare from the speakers above as Vy advanced. Disco-like music too.

Bullet — condensed mana, Jeanne gathered through the shock, jumping back in retreat as she could barely make out Vy mouthing a soft, "I'm sorry," to the stumbling Alter while slowly turning to face Lily. Smoke was emerging from the head of her right gauntlet, marking where the bullet had been fired from, and—

There was a whole row of shotgun shells in there. One row per gauntlet. When did Vy start using shotgun gauntlets? And… and—

Is she planning to go through this fight all by herself?

Lily was gaping, barely having the strength to lift her flag-tipped Christmas spear before Vy was suddenly in her face with two more explosive bullets behind her (did she use her gauntlets to propel forward?!), matching the song belting out, "Come at me and you'll see," as she raised one fist. All Jeanne could do was watch in a mix of awe and shock as one bullet was all it took for Lily to be blasted backward from the next blow, the bullet exploding from coming into contact with Lily's stomach as the girl screamed. The pink light of Jeanne's Big Sister Beam was quickly fading from Lily's Spirit Origin once she flew across the stage, her back immediately hitting one of the stands for Patchwork London and knocking it over.

Those bullets were made to fight with Servants. When did Da Vinci have the time to—

"Wh-What the hell—?" Alter was thankfully standing up, shaking blood from her white hair, and Jeanne felt herself exhale a breath she didn't need as the Berserker put a hand to one of her katana pommels. A pink outline around her knuckles was enough for Jeanne to relax a little. "Where was this firepower earlier—?!"

"Call it a hard lesson from Ruler Martha and Arjuna Alter," was all Vy gave on the matter with one mighty click of a gauntlet, brushing some dust off her knees. As she straightened her back, the slight (apologetic) toss of her head in Lily's direction (who was left groaning in the mess of Patchwork London's stagework) behind her was all Jeanne needed to know that the kind Vy was still there somewhere. Even with her new swimsuit and weaponry, with the — the rage shining in those bespectacled brown eyes. "Because I can't just hide behind Big Robin and ask him to fire off 'Yew Bow' all the time to call it a day forever."

Judging by Robin standing in a (currently) untouched corner of the stage with crossed arms and a raised brow, though, he clearly looked like he wanted the contrary statement to be true.

Alter was still smirking, extending a blade from one of the sheaths hanging from the belt around her waist with confidence. "I wish I got to see this back in Luluhawa then!" Alter's katana, even with its flimsy metal, seemed bright against the spotlights up above as she brandished it in a stance that was nothing but adorable to Jeanne's eye. "Would've made that purple eggplant back down faster!"

"Meh, she's already locked behind bars with XX and Beni-Enma on watch duty," Vy allowed, and that was all she said before she put her hands behind her back and charged with two fired bullets, flying through the air with the added power to punch at Alter's katana blade. Even with Alter blocking just in time, she was still knocked back by Vy's advance, smoke and hints of pink being all Jeanne got for hope as the women fought. More smoke began to billow out onto the stage that Jeanne knew wasn't from stage effects, Vy exchanging blows as quickly as Alter brought up her katanas to try to attack. One blade sweep here, more bullets-packed punches, kicks, and explosions there. "And right now, you need to wake up, Alter."

"What do you mean by—" Jeanne couldn't even reach out to Alter before Vy was ducking down to sweep Alter's legs out from underneath the reach of her swords, raising one fist to promptly deck the Berserker in the gut like she did with Lily. Alter choked, spitting out a mix of saliva and blood as she was thrown back, and Jeanne could do nothing but watch in growing dread as another part of Patchwork London fell apart from Alter's flying body weight, the pink light of her Big Sister Beam fading with the impact.

"…That's two down," was all Vy had to say once Alter made no move showing she would get up from the growing rubble, straightening her back and turning her head to look at Jeanne with — with clear, undeniable rage shining in her brown eyes. If Jeanne didn't know any better, it was as if those brown irises were flashing red past her glasses as she cocked both gauntlets with audible clicks. "One left."

Oh no.

Jeanne raised both hands in the air, because oh god. "V-Vy, we can talk about this—"

Instead of a verbal answer, all Vy did was empty her shotgun gauntlets of all the bullets within their chambers, the empty bullet shells making eerie metallic clinking noises against the stage floor as everyone — Jeanne, the other Servants, and the audience of Cirque de Requin — watched. "There's nothing to talk about." She then reached into the pockets of her shorts, pulling out two long chains of red shotgun bullets to load into the gauntlets with pointed clicks before taking a fighting stance again. A boxing stance. "My only big sister figures in Chaldea are Shiki-san, Fujino, Mata Hari, Marie, and Medea. Besides, you've made this personal, Jeanne."

One sandal pressing against the floor was all Vy needed, and then Jeanne was stumbling back once more smoke erupted onto the stage thanks to another bullet being shot and Vy flying through the air in her direction. This set of bullets — it was more powerful — and it took all of Jeanne's energy to scream out, "REECE!"

As expected, her shark friend emerged from backstage without hesitation, soaring through the air to her rescue with his usual deadpan, "Let's play!" His large rough body came between Vy's advance and Jeanne's retreat, fins wiggling behind him as he opened his maw. "Let's play!"

It should've been safe. After all, with an opponent like Reece, the past Vy would've stepped back from the incoming threat.

But the song playing in the background was changing, matching the current Vy, with her swimsuit and shotgun gauntlets, merely murmuring, "Play, huh? Fine by me." And then jumped right into the shark's mouth before he could close it. Jeanne could do nothing but gape just as the other Servants started to yell out Vy's name, the Chaldean Master being thrown back for the first time as she held up Reece's mouth with her full body weight on her arms and feet. From what little Jeanne could see past Reece's large body, the shark was trying to close his mouth to take a bite, but Vy's left hand was starting to bleed from the force past her gauntlets as she wrestled with holding him up by the literal skin of his teeth, raising her right hand to aim.

Wait. Vy had just reloaded her gauntlets. Then that meant—

"I! HOPE! YOU'RE! HUNGRY!" The young woman screamed in time with the speakers above roaring, "I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute — Couldn't bear another day without you in it," using her raised right hand to shoot three whole punches' worth of mana-bullet-powered explosions into Reece's open mouth. The shark was screeching, enough for Vy to jump out before she could crash into Patchwork London's remaining stage set like Alter and Lily before her, duck-rolling onto a different part of the stage. Robin rushed over to catch her, but Vy merely raised one bloody hand in the air to stop him in his place. "I have a lot to say to you too, sharkie, but for now, enjoy bullet trash. Should be better than the shit Jeanne was giving you."

"Let's… play…" Reece groaned, interrupting the song adding, "To have you in my life was all I ever wanted — But now without you, I'm a soul forever haunted," mournfully to rock music as the shark tried to flop its way out of the London rubble. "Let's play… with… Jeanne…"

In response, Vy stood up onto shaky feet, blood starting to run down her fingers and dripping to the floor as she cocked her gauntlets again. "…When you're not brainwashed and safely back in the ocean, then sure," is all the woman gives to the animal, shaking her head. "For now, you need to go back to being a regular shark who's not taking cues from Steven Spielberg and an outdated novel that the author took his entire life trying to apologize for. So this is gonna hurt and I'm not gonna apologize for it."

One last thrust of her arm is all it takes for a bullet to fly and hit Reece right in the head with another aptly themed explosion, leaving the shark nothing else to do but fall limp against the rubble.

"V-Vy, that—" Jeanne was choking, the "Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single f'ing day" coming from the speakers seemingly mocking her now as her inner tube started feeling very very cold against her fingers. "That's not how this is—"

This isn't how this is supposed to go!

No one was coming. The loudspeakers were starting to reach their fever pitch now, once they started echoing, "I'm the one left to win this fight."

"It's not, huh?" Vy tossed her head back to glare at Jeanne, a few stray hairs falling out of her bun to reveal mismatched cuts along the strands as she closed her eyes. "You should've thought about that before trying to brainwash me into thinking you're someone who's already gone. Someone you can't replace."

"But that's—" I wasn't meaning to—

One more explosion was all Jeanne got as an answer before Vy was in Jeanne's face, brown eyes cold and unforgiving as more clinks echoed in Jeanne's ears. "Doesn't matter anymore. You're not my big sister, Jeanne D'Arc. You never will be. The only person I ever saw that way before Chaldea was my Chị Bo, and she's gone with the rest of my family thanks to the Foreign God. You." One step. "Will." Two. Jeanne was falling. "Never." Vy was standing over her and raising one bloody fist, the shotgun gauntlet barrel shining past all the yellow metal as she aimed. "Be." She cocked the gauntlet. "Her."

The inside of the gauntlet barrel shooting off a red bullet was all Jeanne saw before darkness overtook her. The last thing her ears caught as she fell was a loud thud of someone falling beside her and the loudspeakers ending with, "Red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me always closer… To the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you!"

"I-It seems the sudden improvised p-performance is done, so gotta clean up! S-Sorry everyone, Mephy's gotta announce that the rest of Circe de Requin's show today is canceled until further notice! P-Please stand by as we're experiencing technical difficulties!"

"Difficulties to hell, someone get bandages! Vy's bleeding!"

"That prototype is fucked up, we're not letting her use it again!"

Jeanne couldn't bother anyone anymore.

Note: For anyone who was wondering how this event went down in Summer 4, here you go. The RWBY references were here for a reason. Otherwise, I'm gonna sleep this remaining rage off because I hate being angry at friends and the world.

Good night.