"… I'm living in Terminus City now~!" Void Heart proudly announces. "I'm technically the CEO of this new biotech firm in Terminus City! Kintsugi Biotech! We're new, but we've already done some good things, like you know, producing a cure for cyber-psychosis. Look, look! I brought the receipts!"
Void Heart reaches into her cleavage now, sticking her tongue out as she fondles herself on stage. A lot of the more prudish Dark Magical Girls in the audience look like they're on the verge of fainting from the sheer inappropriateness of what she's doing. Most of the rest of the audience though-
"…" Rania glances off to the side, noting that most of her companions are staring at Void Heart with laser focus, eyes firmly glued to her bouncing breasts. Luna, Nocturna, even Fractal Shard's staring at Void Heart's breasts because they are, in fact, that magnificent.
"… How the fuck am I the only sane one here," Rania mutters to herself. Her thought goes unheard though, blowing away like a tumbleweed in the wind.
"Ah~! There we go!" Void Heart finally fishes a slide remote out from between her breasts, and presses it. The holographic displays above her change to… Medical reports illustrating how cyberpsychosis victims have been treated. Lots of coroner's reports – A lot of people looked like they've been defenestrated.
… That's a lot of mangled bodies Void Heart had to step on to get what she wants.
Lots of property deeds. Employment contracts for more catgirl maids – Hundreds, thousands of minions, a veritable army that Void Heart's just been building up. And since she's a freaking biomancer that means an army of superhuman catgirls who could probably rip through solid steel with their bare hands.
Rania swallows, feeling a lump in her throat. Judging by how a couple other Dark Magical Girls are looking nervous, she's not the only one who's seeing the implications. God, this is what Void Heart's been getting up to ever since Cruor Hemis burnt down her base?
"Now, why am I showing you meatsacks – I mean, you people all of this?" Void Heart giggles, but this time her laughter isn't as airy and light. This time there's the cold undercurrent of maliciousness tinging her giggling, lending it a decidedly psychotic vibe. The aura of the room suddenly changes. Rania shivers, feeling gooseflesh pop up on her exposed shoulders and arms. It's like someone just turned the air conditioning down several degrees.
"Well, you see, a little birdie of mine told me that three naughty, naughty sluts decided to take a contract in Terminus City!"
… Ah, shit. She's talking about that contract. Rania closes her eyes wearily, saying a silent prayer for Sanguine Descent and Vanguard Sentinel. Those poor kids. Void Heart's going to kill them, and then defile their corpses so bad their souls will be stuck in purgatory forever. And there's not a damn thing Rania can do about it.
Rania pointedly leaves Bitter Blossom out of her prayers though. Because screw that sanctimonious bitch, in this particular instance she's getting exactly what she deserves.
"Those three decided to pick a fight with the Magical Girls living in Terminus City. I live in Terminus City. It's my territory now. And you should all know from experience that I don't appreciate it when people come into my territory without being invited. None of you are to blame, of course. You couldn't know better, and you had the good sense not to take that contract. But you should know better now~!" Void Heart coos.
Silence answers her. A few muffled coughs here and there, but nobody's really willing to stick their necks out to argue with the unhinged lunatic psycho who's too hot for her own good.
"You do know better now, don't you?" Void Heart threatens, her tone taking on a more serious tone. "I hope so. I'd really prefer not to have to do this again. So, are we clear? Terminus City is mine. And after I've finished dealing with this round of unwanted guests, if I catch a whiff – a whiff that any of you are sniffing around my territory without an invitation?"
Void Heart leans forward, and Rania finds herself unconsciously leaning back, along with most of the rest of the crowd.
"By all means, darlings, give me an excuse to make you scream," Void Heart purrs, tinging her voice with just enough deadly venom and hypnotic essence to make Rania's ears prick. And judging by how the rest of the crowd's wincing, they're not entirely unaffected as well.
"… What the fuck," Fractal Shard mumbles again.
"Ssh!" Rania and Luna hiss, even as Void Heart continues monologuing. Rania's heart pounds. Void Heart didn't – Didn't notice that interruption, right?"
"Anyways, I've got to go soon, I've got another shindig to get to. And afterwards I'm going for a lie-down, I need to get more rest now that I'm pregnant," Void Heart whispers loudly, rubbing her tummy all the while. "Toodles~!"
And on that note, Void Heart leaves. Her bat-like wings extend, then flap catapulting her into the air. Thick pink sweet-smelling smoke billows out from Void Heart's body, and Rania fights the urge to suck in a breath as the cloud washes over her.
Fucking pheromones. At least Rania thinks these are just Void Heart's pheromones and not a toxic nerve agent or deadly virus.
The smoke dissipates, aaaaaand yeah, Void Heart's gone. Performed one of her famous vanishing acts. Great.
"… What the fuck," Fractal Shard repeats, breaking the artificial silence created by Void Heart's departure. "What in the actual fuck was that."
And just like that, the floodgates open.
"Holy shit, Void Heart's back and she's pregnant?! Alright, fuck this, I'm getting out of here," one Dark Magical Girl mutters. "One Void Heart's too much to handle, I'm not dealing with more than one-"
"Void Heart's spawning?! Who the fuck's the father?! What the fuck?!"
"I thought she was a psycho lesbian, what the hell is this-"
"It's the end times, man, game over! Game over!" One particularly panicky Dark Magical Girl wails.
"Saji, I think we need to go to the EU," Blaze Inferna states calmly, even as her shoulders twitch and she starts guzzling down wine. "… I think that's the furthest point from Terminus City. Yes, we should go home, immediately. To our underground shelter that has no windows I could be thrown out of."
"I agree, mistress."
"Fucking demon," Luna moans, looking at her drink balefully. "You think she spiked the booze with contact poison? That is something she'd do for shits and giggles…"
"If she did, we'd never know," Rania shrugs, taking a bracing sip from her drink. Fuckin' Void Heart making everyone paranoid. The worst part about this is the paranoia's justified. Shit, death by poison would be preferable to some of the sick, fucked-up things Void Heart's capable of inflicting on people. Biomancy is an absolute nightmare to combat if the biomancer's got prep time and biomass.
And Void Heart's had months to prepare, and she's clearly got an ample source of biomass set up. It'll be a nightmare to dig her out of her lair now. Not that Rania's remotely interested in going anywhere near that crazy woman. Fuck that.
"Seriously, who the fuck is Void Heart?" Fractal Shard throws up her hands, looking extremely frustrated. "And why are you all acting like it's the end of the world-"
Rania sighs. Fucking newbies. "You want an explanation? Fine. Sit your ass down, kid, and let auntie Morgana tell you a story."
"…" Fractal Shard sits mullishly, glaring at Rania. "I'm listening."
"Once upon a time, back when the corpos used to manage Magical Girls, there was this one girl in Terminus City who went off the reservation. She snapped, murdered an entire building full of people, and fled here."
"Wait," Fractal Shard's eyes narrow. "If she was around when the corpos used to manage Magical Girls, before the MGA, then-"
"Yeah, she's an old hag. But don't ever say that to her face," Luna chimes in, her ears flattening across the top of her head. "Lesson one of dealing with Void Heart, don't ever call her old-"
"Shut up, you're interrupting story time. Even if, you know, you're right," Rania shudders as she remembers what happened to the last person who tried calculating Void Heart's age. And telling her how old she was. To her face.
That day, New Vegas learned that Void Heart could get particularly inventive with her biomancy.
And that she could accelerate the way the cells in your body aged, with lovely effects like inducing crippling osteoporosis that can cause your bones snap from your own body weight.
"… Anyways, where was I?" Rania coughs.
"You're talking about how scary Void Heart actually is," Luna grumbles.
"Come on, she can't be that scary-" Fractal Shard protests.
"She's a biomancer, Fracky-wacky," Rania snaps, and Fractal Shard pauses, horror alighting on her face.
"You mean like Cruor Hemis used to be?" Fractal Shard whispers, audible horror laced through her voice.
Ah yes, Cruor Hemis. Renowned for having her clones, and engaging in horrifically unethical experiments, and on more than one occasion conducting biowarfare in the lower levels of New Vegas in order to test the horrific concoctions she was pouring out.
"Bitch, she's the one who killed Cruor Hemis. She's everything Cruor Hemis wished she could be," Rania snaps. "Cruor Hemis was a poser compared to Void Heart, everybody knew that."
"… You mean Void Heart's the one who-"
"The one who staked Cruor Hemis out in the plaza along with the torture Virtusims of what she did to her, yeah," Rania sighs. God, those films were graphic. Rania didn't think that the human body could hold that much blood. Or that souls screamed when they got pulled out of their host body. "Along with a bunch of other stuff. She really did throw Blaze out of that window. Made the news, and Blaze got put in traction for weeks because of that incident."
It's a minor miracle Blaze Inferna managed to survive, considering Void Heart punted her off of the very top of the New Vegas arcology. The kilometer-high New Vegas arcology. From what Rania's heard, Blaze practically had to be scraped off the pavement.
"… B - But she's just a dumb-looking bimbo-" Fractal Shard stutters, looking very frightened. Good. She should be scared.
"And if you keep thinking like that around Void Heart, she'll brainwash you and – And turn you into one of her little pets," Rania hisses, jerking a thumb at an innocent-looking catgirl. "Like those fucking maids over there. It's what she does. Void Heart's a deviant sicko who gets off on collecting 'cute girls' and turning them into her playthings."
"… Honestly, you should listen to the pedo on this one," Luna mutters. "She's not a normal Dark Magical Girl. She's a demon from the bleakest hells who's come here to steal our souls and leave behind empty bodies."
"… If she's so scary then why haven't any of you teamed up to kill her?"
Rania laughs. "Fracky-wacky, people have tried. All of them failed. It's not because of power -Void Heart isn't the strongest Dark Magical Girl in existence. She's not the fastest, or even the smartest. That ditzy succubus act she puts on isn't actually an act, that's actually how she is."
"So then-"
"That's just one of her facets though. Void Heart is conniving, and she absolutely doesn't fight fair. And that's before you consider she's a biomancer who's entirely capable of drowning you with tentacle monsters and other minions. You know, if she doesn't just lace your drinks with flesh-eating bacteria."
"… Oh," Fractal Shard pales. "… That's happened?"
"Oh yeah. Void Heart's a card-carrying member of the warcrimes club. She doesn't fuck around. It's why nobody goes after her. Maybe, maybe we actually manage to take her out – But we're guaranteed to die horrific deaths from the collateral. Why bother when it's far easier to live and let live?" Rania shrugs. "Say what you will about Void Heart, but she doesn't fuck with you if you don't get in her way. And apparently she can be nice if you get on her good side. At least that's what Nocturna says…
Rania trails off, turning to see where Nocturna went, only to find that the veteran Dark Magical Girl's gone missing.
"… Where'd Nocturna go?"
"Does it really matter?" Luna grunts. "We've got bigger things to worry about. Like the fact Void Heart's reproducing. She's pregnant. Which means…"
All the Dark Magical Girls present take a moment to consider the fact that someone was foolish enough to knock up Void Heart. To let Void Heart procreate and make tinier versions of herself, probably as deadly as she is.
"… Right, well, guess I'm skipping MAGI-CON this year," Rania snatches a bottle from a nearby catgirl maid and starts chugging down hard liquor. "Fuck going to Terminus City. Void Heart can have the fucking place. Her and her kids."
"Yep. Fuck that," Luna grouses. "I don't want to be anywhere near her when she spawns. I bet her spawn will come out with horns and wings and forked tongues, just like Void Heart."
Fractal Shard eyes her drink suspiciously. "… If she's a biomancer is it really safe to-"
"If Void Heart wanted to kill us she'd have released aerosolized neurotoxin or some other horrifically deadly pathogen. Do you remember that cloud that she released when she left?" Rania says dully.
"Yeah?"
"It's a biological modification she's made to herself. Some kinda freaky phermone cloud she produces from her pores. Effective too, for anyone who isn't a Magical Girl, one whiff's enough to get you to start panting like a bitch in heat and forget about anything else," Rania grouses. "It's chemical warfare, and it's the least impressive thing she's done to herself."
"… So you mean she really-"
"She really could have released some nerve agent and we'd all be choking on our own breath," Rania confirms glumly. "So she probably hasn't poisoned our drinks."
"Probably?!"
"Wouldn't put it past the fucking demon to poison us all for the shits and giggles," Luna grunts. "Her motives are incomprehensible. Why the fuck is she even claiming Terminus City in the first place? Sure it's prime real estate, but Infinity Princess lives there."
"True, that is a good point," Rania muses. "If it were any other person I'd say Infinity Princess would stomp her, but this is Void Heart we're talking about. Who the hell knows what kind of sick plans she's got cooked up in her diseased little brain? I shudder to think what a monster like her is thinking of right now..."
Whee~!
You giggle, spinning around in your comfy chair and humming gaily to yourself. Ah, spinny chairs! Truly one of the greatest inventions the filthy garbage people ever created. So much fun to play with. Especially when they're backed by rich, crinkly leather like this chair is!
"… Are you done?"
"Almost," you do a few more revolutions before kicking your leg out and coming to a stop, bringing you face to face with some of the more relevant movers and shakers in New Vegas. You're having a party within a party! A meeting within a meeting!
That's business as usual for New Vegas. That announcement down below? That was to put the small fry on notice. There might have been some cute girls among them, but most of them weren't super important. They just like to pretend they're important.
"Hey, hey~!" You wink, affecting a cutesy pose. "How are you all doing today?"
"Void Heart," the demon named Lucy, who certainly isn't Lucifer greets you, nodding her head.
"Hey Lucy~!" You cheer, flicking the owner of the Heavenly Imperial Club a quick v-for-victory sign. "What's up?"
New Vegas' premier fixer shrugs. "The usual. Tending bar, managing contracts. How have you been?"
"Couldn't be better! Hey Nocturna~!"
"… Void Heart. It's good to see you again," Nocturna Eden says, a soft smile creasing her lips. "I've missed you."
"Aw, I've missed you too~!" You giggle. "Brunch later so we can catch up?"
"… Yes, I'd like that," Nocturna blushes. So pretty~! It's such a shame the two of you never wound up working out. And that you're currently spoken for, and you've got no intentions of leaving Kaina, Max, or Mia for greener pastures.
Your loves are your greener pastures~!
"Void Heart," Exemplar greets you.
"Emerald Exemplar! Hi, hi!" You cheer, reaching out to energetically pump your fellow veteran's hand up and down. "Your master whispering any more forbidden secrets into your ear?"
"You could say something like that, yes," Emerald Exemplar nods. "He didn't tell me of your return, though. What brings you back to New Vegas?"
"You mean besides telling the kids to get off my lawn?" You lean back in your chair, steepling your fingers over your chest and drumming them together. "Did you like the show? I thought I was appropriately scary. So many new faces though. How large has the city become?"
"Void Heart," Nocturna chides, and you sigh.
"Alright, fine. I want back in on the Hexenzirkel," you grimace as the German comes out of your mouth. Ick. So edgy. So chuuni.
"You want your Coven seat back?" Emerald Exemplar raises her eyebrows.
"A Coven seat comes with assurances that I'm not going to be disturbed in the near future. I didn't need those before, but I've got people to worry about now," your hand goes to your tummy again, right above your womb. Absentmindedly, you use your powers to track the growth of the fetus growing in your belly. Still a mass of undifferentiated cells, still growing away in your uterus, but it's life. Life you and Kaina made…
"With Terminus City as your fief?" Emerald Exemplar prods, and you nod.
"Yep. That's what I want from you two," you point at Emerald Exemplar and Nocturna Eden. "I'm cashing in my favors, I want you two to vouch for me next Walpurgisnacht. And you, Lucy-"
"Yeeees?" The demon bartender drawls, swirling her glass of red wine. "What is it, darling?"
"I'm opening up a contract. If someone comes to you for a job in Terminus City? I want you to let me know. I'll pay a million credits every time this happens," you say. "And if someone's dumb enough to put a bounty on the heads of Infinity Princess, or Steel Maxima, or Luminous Libromancer? Ten million credits to the person who offs them as a counter-bounty. Another five million as a bonus if they're able to put in that special touch to make an example out of them."
Lucy's eyebrows have been climbing up her forehead the entire time you've been talking. "I'm surprised you're not asking for immunity."
"Oh, I don't care if people take jobs on my lawn," you dismiss Lucy's concerns. "By all means, offer jobs in Terminus City to your clientele. No, this is just about getting advanced warning when someone's stupid enough to touch what's mine. Like those three idiots I'm going to have to deal with when I get back home."
"Duly noted," Lucy nods, a bloodthirsty smile creasing her lips. "I always did like you, Void Heart."
"Aw, I like you too Lucy~!"
"Although I think you're biting off more than you can chew, claiming Terminus City as your fief," the demon bartender says, leaning forward to stare intently into your eyes. "You do realize that's where Infinity Princess lives, yes? I'm a bit amazed she hasn't decapitated you yet. She's certainly done a number on the rest of my kinsmen."
Ooh. Ooh! You have an answer to that! A great answer that you've been bursting to share!
"Lemme show you my vacay pics~!" You pull up your phone and start flicking through your photos. More specifically, photos you took during your beach date with Kaina. The Dark Magical Girls (and one demon) around you lean forward to look at your phone as you scroll from picture to picture. There's Kaina building a sandcastle. There's Kaina tanning herself. And – Ooh! A candid of Kaina showering, then snoozing in bed, and then a selfie with the two of you together-
"Oh my," Emerald Exemplar titters, holding up her hand to cover her mouth. "Is that…"
"That's Infinity Princess in her civilian guise?" Nocturna says numbly. "Which means…"
"Infinity Princess isn't a problem. We're dating. And she's the one who impregnated me~!" You giggle. "She's like, so cute it's unbelievable. Her gap moe's insane. How can a girl be so cool and cute, and she does this thing with her hands and her mouth, and it's so adorable how she gets so possessive and needy. It's just been the best!"
Lucy starts laughing. Genuine, earnest laughter. Perfectly natural too, like a normal person instead of some nameless demon from the literal hells. "I always knew I liked you, Void Heart. This just cinches it. And Infinity Princess knows? That you're-"
"Yep, she knows who I am," you admit shamelessly.
"And she didn't cut your head off? Fascinating," Lucy leans closer, eyes fixed on your stomach now. "And she's the one who put a bun in your oven? However did that occur."
"Oh yeah," you sigh happily. "It was magical. She got her genetic material all over my defenseless egg. 10/10, best sex of my life. Infinity Princess is a machine in bed, she molested me all night to the point where she wore me out~!"
"I think that's a little too much information, Void Heart," Exemplar grimaces, and you hold up your hands placatingly.
"Fair, sorry, sorry. It goes without saying, by the way, that I only want Coven members to know about this. The regular Dark Magical Girls? They don't need to know a single thing," you say bluntly. "I don't trust them not to be complete idiots like the three stooges who waltzed onto my lawn to try to kill my girlfriend. Once I've put some heads on spikes I'll think about telling the masses, but until then?"
"Secrecy would be for the best, yes," Nocturna says. "… Also, congratulations, Void Heart. Can I expect an invitation to the marriage?"
Ooh~! "I'll think about it!" You promise Nocturna. "Still a little iffy on the actual date, and I absolutely need to get a ring, but I'll definitely think about inviting you all!
This is fun. This really has been a productive visit. You've managed to put the New Vegas on notice, you've laid down the law and made it clear that Terminus City is your turf, and the more influential Dark Magical Girls have been informed that you've got a one-woman army on your side. Because she's dating you, and she put a child in you~!
Oh, speaking of children…!
"We also made another child together!" You pull out another gallery of photos on your phone, showing them to the rest of your friends proudly. "This is Mika! Isn't she the cutest?"
Hmm, hmm~! You do enjoy bragging about your adorable daughter~! So much so, it's what you wind up doing for the rest of the evening.