12th Rebirth Moon, 908 – Skeleton Water, Sundown

The air stirred heavily as the sun dipped into the horizon. The night chills passed over the refined town of Skeleton Water, sending shivers through the bones of its occupants. Thugs gathered in the streets and buildings, aggressively waiting for the show of a lifetime.

Amadeus stood on the barren street, arms crossed behind his back and eyes focused on the town entrance. Standing off to the side bound in shackles, Amos and Evelot kept their heads high, the doubts and fears they felt the past few days running their course.

Silence overtook the town as a dark shape galloped from the desert. Weapons were drawn in preparation, but one wave from Amadeus quelled their fears. He knew exactly who was coming.

Riding into the town was Magni with Phoebe and Caractacus riding atop his back. The giant Scolipede slammed his front legs down and grinded to a halt, stirring a cloud of dust that blew down the street and dirtied Amadeus' vest. He casually brushed the dust off as Phoebe and Caractacus hopped down.

"Hmph. You actually showed up," Amadeus said. "I'm surprised, but it's a welcoming surprise."

Phoebe glared. "I promised to protect Evelot no matter what. As if you could scare me off." She reached into Magni's satchel and pulled out a harness, strapping it around her waist, then across her chest. It held her dagger to her hip and her father's broken sword across the back of her waist. She then slipped on a backpack, the contents within unknown to all but her and her party.

However…

"Where's your rifle?" Amadeus asked, eying the Aipom suspiciously. "Did you forget it?"

"That's for me to know, and you to figure out."

"Hmm." He turned his gaze over to Caractacus, who was blissfully munching on a glass filled with ice. "Don't try any funny business, MacGyver. I will have Lancaster executed if you attempt to interfere with the duel."

Caractacus wiped his metal jaw and smirked. "I'm just here to support Ms. Burkhard. I promise, no shenanigans from me will occur within the town."

"…Hmph." Though unconvinced, he returned to Phoebe and said, "As a gentleman, I am offering you one last chance to back out of this wager. If you comply, perhaps I could even send you along with Ms. Faucher back to Last Autumn. You two won't be separated, and it's not like you will be losing anything of value by your own admission."

Phoebe's eyes pointed toward the bandaged Amos, who glared back at her. However, rather than eyes filled with the usual scorn given to her, they instead reflected a firm, righteous anger, as if telling her, "You would have to be less than useless if you can't beat this guy, so don't even bother dying to save face."

A malicious way of saying…he had faith in her.

"…Heh." Phoebe glared back at Amadeus and smirked. "Sorry, but Lamecaster's too good of a punching bag to give up on. Guess we can't compromise."

Amadeus chuckled softly. "Amazing. I remember a time where you would've sacrificed everything to save yourself. Perhaps you were able to learn more on your own. You've changed a lot, Ms. Burkhard." He raised one arm forward, striking an elegant battle stance. "However, I'm afraid you've severely handicapped yourself. If long range couldn't save Lancaster, what chance do you have fighting me from close range?"

Phoebe gripped her sheathed dagger. "There's a big difference between then and now: you were my teacher."

"Hmm. Then let's see how much you've learned, child. Are you worthy of taking on the Swordsman of Lust?"

"Screw worthiness. I'm going to cut your arms off."

Caractacus took a seat on a building's porch and dumped the last of his ice into his mouth, loudly chomping on it and annoying the thugs behind him. "Let's see how an entire day's worth of scheming pays off," he proudly stated, ignoring the thugs that were trying and failing to strangle him.

Phoebe and Amadeus took their places in the street, readying themselves into stances. Amadeus crossed his arms together, playing a quick melody before saying, "As per our agreement, your friends and the location of Abel Underhill will be relinquished to you should you beat me. Failure to do so, our previous wager continues forwards along with your conditional surrender to me. Is that understood?"

Phoebe scowled. "Just start the duel already."

"I'll take that as your compliance. Very well." Amadeus took a deep breath, relaxing his muscles. "Then…let us commence with the duel!"

With one swift movement, he erected a wall of sound from himself, surrounding the whole of Skeleton Water in an aura of music. Musical notes danced above the buildings, carrying the familiar ominous tones that once cut down Amos. Those within range of his song…would be cut down swiftly.

Phoebe didn't make any sudden movements. Instead, she turned on her heels and walked along the street, keeping her eyes set on the Kricketune. This wasn't going to be an easy battle for her. She had every disadvantage lay out against her.

But she wasn't a fighter. She was a tricker first and foremost.

"How will you respond, Ms. Burkhard?" Amadeus asked as he played his song.

Watching Amos' fight gave her a fresh perspective of the danger ahead. Amadeus' technique made it so that anyone who listened to his song would be subjected to nearly unavoidable slashing attacks. Because the sound was projecting over the entire town, there wasn't anywhere for her to hide. She couldn't outrun his attack either, and any attempt to shoot him had she brought her rifle would've been a wasted effort even with empowered bullets.

But seeing his technique as an audience member allowed her to better see its tiny flaws.

Taking a deep breath, Phoebe dropped to all fours and sprinted headlong into the musical cricket.

"Big mistake. Soul Sonata!" Amadeus swung his arm and projected an invisible blade straight at the monkey.

Please let this work!

Before she made her charge toward the cricket, Phoebe started humming to herself, just low enough to be unheard. Right as Amadeus moved to attack, she sidestepped out of the way. The slashing attack sliced through the earth where she was once running, completely missing her.

Amadeus glared. It missed?

With the lord distracted, Phoebe lunged at him with her heated dagger drawn. She went for his shoulder, but he pivoted on his heel and dodged her swing. He continued the song and tried to strike her again, but she once again avoided the attack, letting it slice into a nearby building instead.

Amadeus focused on Phoebe as she landed back on the street and ran circles around him. He caught a glimpse of the blue glow reflecting off her eyes, and he could've sworn he heard her humming something. Realization clicked instantly. "So that's what you're doing…"

Caractacus smirked once he noticed Amadeus catching on. Phoebe gave some useful information about how your technique works. She can dampen the effects of your song if she hums the melody at the right time. On top of that, when layered with Detect, it allows her to automatically dodge it without thinking about it. As long as she times her usages wisely, she could go this whole duel without a single scratch.

Phoebe skipped around the street, moving in rapid succession, and lunged at Amadeus from behind. He scraped his arms together, projecting a wave of music at her. She activated Detect again and barely managed to avoid the slashing attacks as they sliced across the ground. Getting low to the ground, she went for his legs with her dagger.

"Soul Concerto!" Amadeus changed up his playing, wrapping the musical aura around himself and blocking Phoebe's dagger in a wall of slashes. "Crescendo!" He focused the aura around his arm and swung down.

Phoebe backflipped out of the way, feeling the air slicing across the soles of her feet. She landed, skipping back on her heels before darting into the crowd. The thugs gasped and jumped out of her way as she dove through the tavern.

Amadeus scraped his arms together again, casting his Soul Sonata over the town again. "You can't hide from my song, Phoebe. No matter how far you run, so long as you stand inside this town, my music will reach your soul."

Phoebe knocked over tables and chairs and lunged for the bar counter. She quickly gathered bottles and stuffed them inside her bag, trying to ignore the music that started playing around her. I just need to buy some time.

Her ears pricked up as the melody began to play. She quickly hummed the tune to herself and focused on Amadeus' playing. After a moment, she heard the change in rhythm and jumped out of the way, avoiding a surprise slashing attack that cleaved through the counter. Several more slashes appeared across the counter, chasing the monkey down as she flipped to the far end. She sprung off the corner, landed against the wall, and kicked off into the wooden chandelier hanging over her.

Several cuts appeared on the chain holding the light fixture up, forcing Phoebe to jump off before it crashed down onto the tables below. As she fell, she pulled a bottle of liquor out from her bag, cloth, and a flint and steel. She tumbled and rolled upon hitting the floor, stuffing the cloth into the bottle.

"Eat this!" She struck the flint and steel together, igniting the cloth, and threw it out the window.

CRASH!

A flaming bottle flew over the heads of the thugs and shattered over the street, spreading a field of glass and fire. The thugs backed away as more bottles came flying out of the tavern, smashing all over and even hitting a couple of thugs in the face.

Amadeus calmly watched the volley of flaming bottles, cutting down any that flew in his direction. He ignored the screams of his flaming underlings, focusing his attention on tracking Phoebe's movements. Not a single one of his slashes reached her.

She really has learned. She's playing the melody back to herself, disrupting the song's reach over her. There's a brief lag, just enough for her to dodge. Clever girl.

Amadeus crossed his arms together, tightening his muscles.

"Soul Sonata: Allegro!"

Phoebe's eyes widened as a pillar of sound came bursting through the tavern walls. She fell on her back, barely avoiding the sonic blast as it punched into the far wall behind her and destroyed the shelves of alcohol. Even having avoided the attack, she could still feel the wind lightly scraping across her face.

She rolled back onto her feet and took off to the back of the tavern as more sound pillars punched through the front wall, lacerating paths through the building. The sound echoed off each other, spreading throughout the building like an echo chamber. Phoebe covered her ears, the sound becoming too intense for her.

She reached the backdoor, kicking it open before the entire back of the tavern exploded open in a wave of cutting sound. Debris rained on top of her head, but she navigated her way to safety before ducking into the alleys of the tightly packed buildings.

More slashing attacks rained down around her, dicing up waste receptacles, crates, and the like. Though the attacks were still homing on her, she could tell Amadeus was increasing the range of their reach, hoping one of them would still hit her even if she dodged.

"Time for some blind luck!" She extended a digit on her tail and activated Metronome. "Come on, lucky move! Lucky move!" Her tail's digit flashed, and a soft colorful aura engulfed her tail. "That works!"

She jumped, scaling her way to the rooftops, and ran along them until she was in view of Amadeus. She jumped high up, reared her tail back, and fired a colorful laser from her tail.

"Aurora Beam!"

Amadeus effortlessly cut the beam in two, letting it sail past him and hit one of the goons that was set aflame earlier. The cooling light of Aurora Beam extinguished the flames and knocked the poor grunt unconscious.

Phoebe rolled another Metronome and engulfed herself into a blazing purple aura. "Stealth Dash: Giga Impact Mode!" She kicked off the roof and launched herself at Amadeus.

"Soul Concerto!" Amadeus once against surrounded himself in his musical aura and blocked the Aipom's dive kick. The collision between them caused the street to shatter and rumble, knocking over the audience of goons. Some even sank into the cracks, getting their feet trapped inside.

Amos and Evelot held onto each other as cracks opened up under them. "I-I've never seen Phoebe get this serious before!" Evelot cried.

Amos glared. "Let's hope that translate into a victory."

Caractacus laughed even as the thugs around him scattered away. "That's the spirit, Burkhard! Show them what for!"

Magni glared. "Pushing herself…too hard."

"Heh. Maybe, but if that's how she's going to win…" Caractacus narrowed his eyes. "After all, someone like her never had to fight for something so precious and dear, right?"

Year 900

Setting out on her own, Phoebe didn't have a plan for where she would end up. Nowhere in the Outlands was a safe haven, but her quest to find salvation from the beast rumbling inside of her took precedence over shelter. To find herself and find peace with the demon she was cursed as, she had to settle disputes on her own.

Unfortunately, the journey into the great unknowns left her with a crippling hunger. Her rations dwindled over the days, and for some reason her map wasn't leading her where she needed to go. There's no other explanation for how she got so turned around. It was definitely the map's fault. She was reading it exactly, after all.

To quell both problems, she ended up eating the map for sustenance.

…She regretted that decision three hours later.

Now, deep into the harsh blazing heat of the Outlands, the Aipom was reaching her limit. Her knees buckled under her weight, and the delirium and exhaustion were taking its toll on her. Her steps became heavier and heavier until she started dragging her feet. Eventually, she started dragging herself by the knees. Then she started crawling. Then limping.

…And that was all she could give.

She collapsed face first in the sand, lying motionless for a moment to catch her breath. She turned onto her back and gazed up at the afternoon sun, wincing from the intense light baking her alive. Her skin itched all over from being out in the sun for days without shade. Even her fur couldn't prevent the sunburn from crawling across her skin.

"So…this is how I die," she groaned. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright. Whatever. Fine by me, I guess. Kill me now. Make it quick. Actually, no. Make it slow and painful. Yeah, that'll do it. Turn me into a lovely meal for the other Freaks." She groaned. "Good grief, why is dying so boring?"

She tried to relax herself as she awaited the slow, painful demise via burning alive. She wondered if there was an afterlife she would go to. No, she would probably go to Hell or something. She didn't mind. It would be ten times more pleasant than the Outlands, probably.

Anything to get away from the rest of the world, right?

"Well, you've wandered quite a bit from home, haven't you?"

Phoebe felt shade looming over her face. Cracking her eyes open, she came face to face with some Pokémon wearing a ragged cloak around his shoulders. She couldn't make much out of his appearance beyond the sinister flash of purple reflecting off his eyes. She could see he was armed with a serrated dagger, though he held it in a defensive manner. He wasn't aiming to kill her…yet.

"What brings you all the way to Knife's Edge?" he asked.

"…Whaaaaat?" She groaned. "That stupid map. I was supposed to go west, not east. How did I get this far out?"

He smirked. "You poor thing. You're going to die out here."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"You have no idea where you are, do you?"

"You just told me, but technically yes."

"That's not what I mean." He crossed his arms and sighed. "I could just leave you to rot out here, though Eve's not going to be too keen on me leaving a corpse on her family's front lawn."

"…" Phoebe closed her eyes and sighed. "If you're done muttering about nothing, I'd like to get back to dying."

"Yeeeeeeah, no can do." He reached down and picked her up by the scruff.

"Ugh. Let me go." She weakly slapped her with her tail, which felt like the equivalent of beating a man to death with a cotton swab.

He laughed. "Come on, you grumpy monkey. Let's get you inside."

"Uggggh…" With no other choice, she let herself be carried away by the strange creature.

"Oh, and I will kill you if you try to pull anything during your stay."

"Yayyyyy…"

With her Giga Impact losing steam, Phoebe dismounted from the collision and flipped over the street, narrowly avoiding a volley of slashes that sliced through the buildings behind her. After landing, she turned on her heels and bolted to an undamaged building.

"Soul Sonata!" Amadeus projected his music across the town again and resumed the gentle, somber melody. "You can't run and hide forever, Ms. Burkhard. Sooner or later, you must face me with all your soul!" He scraped his arms together.

Phoebe continued humming aloud and dodged the sound slashes as they sliced up the ground under her. She leapt through the building as the door was torn to shreds behind her and made a beeline up the first flight of stairs she saw. The sound blades kept track of her, dicing up the steps bit by bit until she reached the top.

Stumbling her way onto the second floor, she bolted down the hallway with gnarly slashes splitting along the walls, chasing her down. As they started to gain on her, she felt her energy returning after the use of Giga Impact.

"Stealth Dash!" Eyes shining in blue, she suddenly flickered out of the hallway, narrowly avoiding an X-shaped slash across the floor.

She sped into a nearby room covered in dust and storage crates before immediately covering her ears, drowning out Amadeus' music. She panted softly and kept calm, feeling the vibrations of Amadeus' Soul Sonata attempting to locate her. So long as she couldn't hear the music, she had a moment to breathe.

"This…is harder than I thought," she huffed.

"Makes you wish you had someone to back you up." Phoebe glanced over her shoulder, spotting a vanity mirror leaning between the crates. Within it, she saw her alternate self staring back at her, though not with the same gleeful malice she once possessed. She seemed colder than usual. And…sad, even.

Phoebe scoffed. "I don't have time to be dealing with you."

Cracked Phoebe glared. "It's always the same thing. You keep ignoring me. You keep pushing me down deeper and deeper, but you will never forget me. You can't deny this part of yourself. I'm still here because you long for the freedom to go wild."

"I made my choice just so I could protect Evelot from the horrors of this land. What good would you accomplish?"

Cracked Phoebe looked aside and sighed. "…I don't know. We don't know. Ever since Mother died, you've relied on me to suppress the pain. Now it feels like you don't need me anymore. So distant from each other that we've become two separate entities. Was our time together really so bad that you'd rather wish I was nothing?"

"…" Phoebe closed her eyes. "I don't want to be viewed as a monster. What else can I do? Accepting that side of myself again? I don't want to be alone again…"

"But would you rather we both die alone?"

"…I don't—"

SHINNNNG!

Her eyes widened as slashes appeared across the wall, shredding it to pieces. She stumbled over her heels and accidentally uncovered her ears, letting the music flow through once more. Right as she fell, she stretched her arms over herself and backflipped off the floor just before several slashes came down on her position.

"He's getting serious!" Phoebe gasped.

She hopped along crates as more and more slashes diced up the room, cutting everything in perfect slices. More and more of the room became decorated in a pattern of crossed slashes, the entirety of the building splitting itself apart.

"Soul Sonata: Arpeggio!"

With a grand flair of musical talent, Amadeus cast upon a wonderful rain of slashing attacks through Phoebe's hiding place, dicing the entire building into a cyclone of debris growing smaller and smaller the more slashes he rained down upon it.

In the center of the slicing maelstrom, Phoebe hopped along the debris before they or herself were caught up in another torrent of slashes. Everything around her was slowly being chipped away, atomized before her very eyes. She winced as a few cuts appeared on her cheek, shoulders, and legs, but she managed to reach the perimeter of the storm and leapt out to safety.

Amadeus ceased his attack and focused on the flying Aipom. "Soul Sonata: Cadenza!" He reared her arm back and swung with great heft.

Phoebe barely managed to twist her body enough, dodging the heavy slashing attack that cut across the air. She watched a few of her hairs being shaved off from how close the attack was. She landed on the building opposite to the atomized one and perched on the edge to catch her breath.

"Soul Sonata—" Her eyes widened as Amadeus wound up another attack. She jumped out of the way as a single slash cut through the entire middle of the building under her. "Cadenza!"

She landed back on the street and rushed him down with her heated dagger. She went for the legs, but Amadeus immediately switched up his playing and caught her attack with his armor of slashing aura.

"Soul Concerto." Amadeus swung his blade-like arm at Phoebe's neck, but she skipped backwards and barely evaded his strike, feeling more hairs flying off her face. She stumbled over herself and collapsed onto her rear, shuffling back as Amadeus approached her. "Let us end this foolish duel, Ms. Burkhard. You have no chance of beating me in your current state."

Phoebe gnashed her teeth together. "If I wanted to bail out so quickly, I would've just snapped my neck by now." She reached for another bottle of liquor and threw it at the Kricketune before running.

The bottle shattered across his musical aura, displacing the liquid away from himself. He sighed. "You still have much to learn, Ms. Burkhard. Soul Sonata: Cadenza!" He brought his arm down, splitting the street ahead down the middle.

Phoebe activated her Detect and jumped out of the way. The wind slashed in front of her face, nearly shaving a millimeter of skin off. "Whoa!"

"Soul Sonata!" Amadeus intensified his playing, casting down a myriad of slashing attacks across the airspace.

With Detect still active, Phoebe dodged her away through the bombardment of invisible slashes, moving through the ruined street like a Hitmontop performing ballet. She tried to pull out another bottle of liquor, but it was lacerated out of her hand, splashing its contents over herself.

"GAH!" She jumped out of the raining slashes before her Detect wore out and took off running into the crowd.

"What the?!"

"Hey!"

"Oh gods!"

Amadeus projected his attacks through the crowd. Ordinarily, the thugs had no fear of being cut down due to the precise tracking of his technique. However, because Phoebe was causing his attacks to lag when homing in on her, they would miss their mark just enough to affect the area around her. Thus, as she ducked through the crowd, several thugs were ripped apart with shallow, yet painful cutting attacks none of them were prepared to brace for. Blood flew over Phoebe's head and rained across her back.

Once Amadeus stopped attacking, Phoebe pickpocketed a gun off someone and fired through a Persian's side. The surprise shot didn't fool the cricket, who easily cut the bullet down before it reached him. Phoebe continued blindly firing through the crowd like the meat shields they were until she ran out of bullets.

"Stealth Dash!" She blitzed through the crowd with great speed, robbing them of two revolvers and a knife. She jumped back onto the street behind Amadeus and emptied the chambers of both revolvers.

Amadeus turned toward her as sparks of ember ignited around him from the lacerated bullets pinging against his slashing aura. "Soul Sonata: Arpeggio!" He waved his arms down, creating a crisscross of slashes through the road.

Phoebe backflipped and landed in a spot where the cuts didn't meet. "Improvised Technique!" She twirled the stolen dagger in her tail upon activating Metronome. Upon completion, electricity engulfed the blade. "Zing Zap!" She tossed the dagger straight ahead.

Amadeus raised his arm and diced the dagger into pieces. "If you thought bringing a gun was going to be ineffective, what effort will throwing miscellaneous items in my direction accomplish?"

Phoebe smirked. "Try everything, right?" Bouncing on her toes, she rushed down the cricket with great vigor. With her tail, she reached for the short sword sheathed to her waist. "See if you can stop this!"

Amadeus sighed. "Soul Concerto." He compressed his slashing aura around himself and struck a defensive stature. "Haven't we already attempted this, Ms. Burkhard?"

"Not YET! Take this!" Phoebe unsheathed the sword and swung.

Amadeus almost felt bad for what he was going to do next. The second his aura caught the blade, he will have to end Phoebe in one shot. Not enough to kill her, even if it pained him having to take custody of her under such horrific circumstances. Still, his duty as a Deadly Seven took priority over all else. He couldn't risk his reputation over pity—

SHINNNNG!

His eyes widened as a gnarly cut opened up across his chest, spraying blood into the air. With his eyes shaking in confusion, they frantically darted down to the Aipom, revealing the broken sword in her hand. The blade, which was half its intended length, didn't look like it even reached his body. In fact, it most certainly grinded against the surface of his slashing aura.

That's when he noticed the opaque stream of silver-blue wind gliding off the jagged end of the blade. It had passed through the seemingly impenetrable aura of slashes and reached his body. The full force of the attack was minimized, but not neutralized.

Amadeus staggered away while Phoebe backflipped a couple meters back. He looked upon his bleeding chest, shocked yet curious. "How…?"

Phoebe raised her broken sword at him and smirked. "Didn't I warn you, Lord Rimmer? I'm going to chop your arms off."

Year 900 – Knife's Edge

Phoebe wasn't sure when or where she passed out, but she slowly came to after her unexpected dip into slumberland. Cracking her eyes open, she rolled herself onto her side, finding that she was tucked under some blankets and laying on a ragged couch. Lantern lights flickered above her, illuminating the dingy room she was brought to.

"Whaaaaaa…?" She groaned and rolled onto her back, massaging her temples. "What happened?"

"Eep!" Her eyes widened. Turning her head again, her eyes readjusted to the low light and found a potted plant in the furthest corner of the room. She saw a pair of ears sticking out in the open, shivering.

"…" Phoebe glared. "Who…?"

The figure whimpered, ducking deeper behind the plant.

Phoebe massaged her head again and groaned. "Whoever you are, come out now. I'm not playing this shitty game with you."

The creature whimpered again, slowly shuffling into view. Phoebe squinted at it, discovering the creature was a young Mimikyu. Possibly a few years younger than her. The head of her costume stuck out into view while the rest of the body remained hidden away.

"H-H-Hi," the Mimikyu squeaked. "M-M-My bodyguard, um…b-brought you inside. S-Said you n-n-needed rest."

Phoebe glared. "Bodyguard?" She groaned. "Good grief, did I get picked up by some rich kid?"

"S-Sorry…"

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"I…I just wanted to make sure you were o-okay."

"Every inch of my body is covered in sunburnt blisters."

"…Sorry."

"Where the fuck am I?"

"That's…not a nice word."

"I don't fucking care."

"…" The Mimikyu gulped. "Um, y-you're in my family's hideout. P-Please don't tell anyone where it is, please! It's supposed to be super-secret."

"Whatever." Phoebe glared. "Secret hideout? Where am I?"

"Um, my family…runs it. My parents, at least. Um, this is…the Broken Glass Alchemical Company. We do some odd jobs here and there for Outlanders."

Phoebe squinted. "I've heard that name around. You guys are famous around these parts or something."

"Mmm."

She sighed. "You done?"

"…Do you need anything?"

"Sleep."

"Oh. Okay." The Mimikyu started shuffling toward the door.

"…" Phoebe sighed. "Can I…have a glass of water? Please?"

The Mimikyu perked up. "Oh! Yes, of course. I'll get that for you!"

"…Phoebe. My name's Phoebe."

The Mimikyu squealed. "Hi, Phoebe! My name is Evelot. Um, I'll get that water now!" She dashed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Phoebe turned onto her side with a huff. "Weirdo."

"Let's see who's on the defensive now!" Phoebe shouted, swinging her sword at the Kricketune.

Amadeus projected a slash forward, but recoiled as the nearly invisible wind slash sliced across his shoulder. He opened his wings and flew back as Phoebe continued firing off slashes, though with less grace than the swordsman himself. Ducking and weaving through the street, the slashes missed Amadeus and struck down the onlookers, causing the uninjured to scatter for their own safety.

Amos and Evelot kept their heads down as the crowd dispersed around them. "What the?!" Evelot gasped.

Amos glared. "When did she have a sword like that?"

"She…doesn't? I never made that for her, and I don't remember stashing any Rainbow back in the carriage."

Everyone took off running from the Aipom's wild slashing spree. All but Caractacus, who laughed as the attacks were absorbed into his Negative Space. Though Phoebe lacked any sort of training with a sword, the sheer danger she posed just by swinging it proved more than enough.

What brilliance we've concocted, Burkhard. By using the Rainbow formula on that broken sword and adding the power of Air Slash to it, it creates a jagged wind that can cut into anything. Though Lord Rimmer is adept at cutting apart flame and the like, he's never had to contend with the broken fangs of the wind quite like this.

Faster and faster, Phoebe flailed her tail and unleashed a flurry of wind slashes everywhere she could. Amadeus amplified his Soul Concerto, minimizing as much of the slashing attacks as he could, but the sheer volume of wind slashes meant that some of them were getting through and scraping him little by little.

It wasn't that he couldn't disrupt the slashes. It was the fact that they still carried some of their serrated edge even after being slashed apart. It meant that if he didn't properly cut down the entire attack, a lingering fragment of the wind blade would turn into a wind needle with a higher chance of getting through his cutting aura.

What a brilliant show of resourcefulness.

Phoebe pulled her heated dagger out and spun. "Hey Rimmer! Cut this!" She clanged both blades together and swung, releasing a heated wind slash that was nearly as transparent as the rest.

Amadeus opened his carapace and leapt into the air, dodging the attack. He hovered for a moment until Phoebe started launching more slashes at him. He dove back onto the street and projected his Soul Sonata once more.

"Cadenza!" Upon landing, he slammed his arm down and projected a powerful cutting wave straight forward.

Phoebe spun on her heel and slashed the air, cutting into the invisible slash just enough to part it around herself. Buildings on opposite sides of the street were dealt a gnarly gash across their sides.

Amadeus glared. I see. The more momentum she builds up, the greater the slashing. It follows the same principle as her bullets. They gain power through acceleration.

Phoebe laughed snidely as she juggled both her weapons between her hands and tail. "So, like what you see? Not bad for a wild animal, right?"

Amadeus' mustache curled up as he laughed. "Most impressive, Ms. Burkhard, but you would be wise to quell that cockiness."

"I can't help it. I did what Lamecaster couldn't: make you bleed." She caught her sword in her tail and spun it around. "Let's spice things up!" She activated Metronome, infusing light green energy through the blade and turning the wind circulating around it the same color. "Maelstrom Cleave: Pollen Puff!"

Spinning on her heel while still spinning the sword, she built up the wind around herself before slashing the air, projecting a blade of wind coated in a heavy mist of pollen.

Amadeus extended his Soul Sonata and created a slashing field around himself, targeting into the wind slash and parting it around himself as much as he could. Those who were foolish enough to stay and watch were cut up by the wind needles, though that was the least to come.

Amos gasped and, fighting against his injuries, jumped on top of Evelot. "Get down!"

Before Evelot could get a chance to squeak, all who were cut up by the wind suddenly exploded around them. The explosive Pollen Puffs laced with the wind triggered a chain of incendiary blasts, ripping open flesh from minor cuts or even setting someone's entire skull ablaze. The added effects of the wind stoked the explosions, causing even violenter explosions than what was normally seen from a Pollen Puff.

Amadeus ignored his dying men and sent forth cutting waves at Phoebe. She danced around him with her Detect and started up another attack. "Maelstrom Cleave: Substitute!" She slashed the air again, causing it to transform into a transparent, sharp looking Aipom.

Amadeus delivered a flurry of slashes upon the wind clone, but its arm managed to get through and stab him in the chest. Fortunately, the cut was shallow and dissipated the instant it made contact.

"Maelstrom Cleave: Charge Beam!" Phoebe wound up her sword again and fired a wind slash that pierced the air like a laser.

Amadeus raised his arm and slashed down the middle, causing the laser-like wind slash to part around him and cut into the street instead. He breathed a sigh of relief and watched as Phoebe danced through the street like a lunatic, laughing and mocking the Kricketune with a click of her heels.

"I can keep this up all day, buster!" she taunted. "Swordsman of Lust?! More like Swordsman of Lost! You're getting your butt kicked by some second-rate swordsman! Nah, third-rate!" She threw her head back and laughed.

Though her taunting was annoying, Amadeus maintained his composure. He smoothed out his bloodied vest and straightened himself up. Contrary to what Phoebe might've thought, Amadeus was getting invested in the joy she was taking from the battle. He could feel the music of her soul singing along to her chaotic dance.

He just needed to push her a little further.

"…You've cobbled together quite the little scheme, my friend," Amadeus said. "I may die here on this day after all." He narrowed his eyes, which glimmered with a spark of delight and mischief. "But I will not leave this world…until I've played my masterpiece for these rubes to hear."

Phoebe stopped dancing and looked upon the Kricketune in confusion. "Wazzat?"

Amadeus took a deep breath and stretched his arms out. "I acknowledge you as a worthy opponent, Phoebe Burkhard. For that, I shall play from the very depths of my soul. Every ounce of strength within my body and soul shall be put on display for a stunning performance!"

Her eyes widened. "Oh fuck, he's taking me seriously…"

"Oh crap, he's taking her seriously," Caractacus mumbled. He got up and quickly ran over to Amos and Evelot. Fortunately, it seemed Amadeus was no longer paying attention to him.

Amadeus opened his wings and started beating them, creating a high-pitched sound around himself. He tensed his muscles as the sound visibly distorted around him, shaking the ground under him. Phoebe nervously clutched her sword between both hands, putting her weight back on her heels and biting her lip worriedly.

This…isn't going to end well.

"Come! Let my performance move all to tears! My masterpiece! Soul Opera!"