186 183 Interlude: Elizabeth, Queen of Swords
It's never a good day when one has to work with a Villain, least of all when said Villain is o reminiscent of that woman.
But Mr Scripcaru seems to favour this Tear's chances against The Blasphemies more than he does the actual Heroes that came here to help.
But for all her bravado or faith in both her abilities and that of her fellows, Elizabeth can't deny the beads of sweat that fell down her face when the woman's crimson orbs locked onto her as she delivered her warning about not interfering.
So when the explosion went off, she decided to heed the warning and alongside the other more combat oriented Heroes, she ran after the rising smoke, intending to watch and hopefully keep any collateral to a minimum, or in the worst case, intervene in the event of Tear's defeat.
The fact that the sight that greeted them all when they arrived was that of the Blasphemies standing strong in the sky with Tear buried in the remains of a building nearby didn't exactly fill her with much hope.
their arrival only made the Blasphemies attention turn to them, and Elizabeth reacted the fastest, creating dozens of lines of light that each connect to a fellow Hero before extending those lines in front of her and raising her gun, shooting a bullet through the resulting diagram just in time to meet a ray of plasma and cancel it out.
But before anyone can counter-attack, a car appears in front of the Blasphemies, crashing into them with the speed of a bullet and immediately being torn in half, unable to even move the three sisters.
Immediately following this, Tear appears again, her wings unfurled and making her seem far more demonic than angelic as she throws a strong right hook, only for her arm to snap in two on impact.
They watch as another beam of plasma melts a hole through her gut following which a pulse of directed and compressed sound shoots from the middle sister and launches Tear's body back to the ground.
This time however, the Blasphemies continue, the snarling one raising an arm in their direction and causing a wall of translucent smoke to appear before them, and from past experience they all know not to touch it if they value their lives.
At the same time, the sisters turn to where Tear's body was launched, seemingly waiting.
"Heh, I get it now," comes Tear's voice as she climbs out of the rubble, "kinetic energy reflection? Plasma beams and whatever that smoke is.~ you've got a lot of tricks Huey, Dewey, And Louie, but I've got a few of my own.~"
Her words bring a moment of confusion upon Elizabeth, not for the strange reference, but because they imply that Tear does not know of the Blasphemies' well documented abilities.
But that doesn't make any sense. She's been specifically hired to fight the Blasphemies, why would she not do even a little bit of research?
Elizabeth gets no opportunity to question things any further as Tear blurs out of sight, and she barely moves her eyes fast enough to see her in the air above and behind the Blasphemies, fist raised high and glowing with a faint layer of blue light.
The smiling Blasphemy turns around only fast enough for Tear's fist to strike right on her face, and with a boom, the smiling Blasphemy is launched into the ground, digging up a crater all the way to the next street with her body.
Almost in the same instant, Tear spins around, her now broken arm fixing itself mid-spin and allowing her to land a strong backhand against the frowning sister before the snarling one finally manages to react and launches a beam of plasma from both hands at the woman who simply pirouettes out of the way with a flap of her wings to keep her from falling.
Hovering up and down in the air with each flap of her wings, Tear faces the three sisters, the snarling one in front of her in the air, and the other two to her sides and she gives them each a smile.
"Well, I sure do hope you have more tricks, because if this is everything you've got, then I'll be disappointed.~"
Elizabeth is entirely unsurprised when the three sisters respond to Tear's taunt by raising an arm each, pointed to the same spot in the sky, and before she can even really think about what she's doing, Elizabeth manipulated the mosaic of light before her and raises her gun for the spot their hands are pointed to, experienced enough with the three to know that it's best to avoid letting them use that ability.
Only, right before she pulls the trigger, a shiver runs down her spine and she freezes in place, ice in her veins as an invisible weight seems to push down on her shoulders.
With a shaky breath and sweaty palms, Elizabeth robotically turns her head to face the barrier of fog, only to almost stumble back at the sight that greets her.
Tear is there, her body slouched forward as her wings hold her up, scarlet eyes glaring through the fog like an angry Devil, and when she speaks, though her words sound playful, her tone is dead and level. "Don't interfere now sweetheart, or I'll eat ya.~"
It's all Elizabeth can do to force herself to nod, subconsciously taking a step back from the Monster, more relieved than she's ever been when it seems to lose interest in her and turn back to her foe.
She shares a glance with her fellow Heroes, most of whom were clearly preparing to use their powers, and they all come to a silent agreement to just watch for now.
They can always interfere if it seems necessary.
At the same time, the three didn't pause in their efforts as a beam of silvery-white light shoots out from each of their hands, meeting together at a point hundreds of metres into the sky where they explode into a concentrated blast of the same colour, fifty metres wide.
Except, as they all watch the new orb of light in the sky, it slowly starts to leak a pure black substance that almost immediately crystallises into an almost completely transparent and colourless material.
"Heh. Hahaha, I get it!~" Tear exclaims at the same moment that the nearly invisible crystals multiply and launch down upon the woman like a rain of unseeable daggers.
But Tear merely raises her wings above her head, gliding to the ground as the crystalline rain turns her wings into a pincushion, scoring small wounds on her skin that almost seem imaginary with how soon they heal, blood returning to her body as is she was never cut in the first place.
"So what'll it be, oh Witches Three?!~" Tear shouts out, once her feet touch the ground, her voice filled with insane joy as she immediately launches herself back up at the snarling sister, "In thunder, lightning, or in rain?!~ Hahahaha!~"
Before Tear can reach her however, each of the sisters start to emit the same translucent fog that is blocking the Heroes from the battle, but Tear doesn't seem deterred at all, continuing until she reaches the Blasphemy and raising a leg high up to deliver a spinning kick right into their neck, sending it crashing into the ground with a boom.
At the same time, the other two sisters launch a pair of plasma beams into the air at Tear, who's attacking leg has been reduced to muscle and bone as if suffering an intense case of necrosis, but she dodges the incredibly fast beams with insulting ease, all the while watching her leg regenerate with apparent interest.
"What an interesting sensation.~ Mmm, that's got to be the second most painful thing I've ever felt.~" The Monster's words are casual, but the insanity within them is clear as day to everyone listening.
However the Blasphemies have never been much for words, so instead they take the moment that she is talking to herself to regroup, and Tear only snaps out of her daze by the time that they are standing side by side once more.
Without a word, as if on some hidden signal, both sides burst into motion at the same moment, Tear launching a barrage of her own at the sisters even as the rain continues to pelt her form, cutting her clothes to shreds but leaving her body unharmed for how quickly she heals.
While opposite her, the three sisters start releasing a growing cloud of fog that rapidly fills half the space between the two of them. Every projectile of Tear's that enters the fog is almost immediately rotted away into ash, and the sisters go on to push the fog outwards, surrounding themselves in it like a ring of protection, reducing the surrounding buildings to ash as they enlarge the sphere.
Everyone is forced to back away to avoid it, Tear included, until it stops growing, several blocks large in every direction with the sisters in the centre, staring intently at Tear outside, who's reaction is... unexpected.
She laughs.
Returning to the air, she slowly hovers forward through the fog, her skin rotting and healing in the same breath, making for a truly horrid sight of blackened flesh burning organs as she opens her mouth to speak.
Her voice is both solemn and haunting, as her throat rots and heals in concert with her words, her shoulders shaking from repressed laughter all the while. "'Hover through the fog and filthy air.'~"
Is... is she quoting Macbeth?
Elizabeth can't even continue that thought before having to move as six beams of plasma pierce through Tear, who doesn't even try to dodge, and Elizabeth is forced to use her power to once again cancel out the shots, managing to get two herself while the others dealt with the remaining four before they could continue into the city.
Booom boom!
Her attention is forced to snap back to the battle just in time to see the smiling and snarling sisters get launched away as Tear, with a broken arm and leg, jumps at the frowning one, wrapping her rotting legs around her waist and bringing her teeth down on the back of her neck, biting through it without any resistance and ripping the Blasphemy's head off in one move.
But apparently that wasn't enough for her, as she then reaches into the now clearly mechanical body through the new neck hole and rips it in half with her bare hands.
"WOOOO!!~ Let's go baby!~ Man am I feeling it now haha!~" She screams out, her eyes wide open and face full of madness as she searches for the other sisters.
She isn't left looking for long as the snarling face launches itself at her, firing twin beams of plasma and bringing with it a wall of heavy fog, even as the raining crystals concentrate even harder on Tear.
Yet, none of it seems to matter, as even with half of her body rotten away into horrid blackened flesh, Tear still moves with the strength of a high end Brute, clashing against the approaching figure with a fist full of glowing energy.
Once more, her gaunt arm snaps like a twig and the Blasphemy is launched away, but Tear's wings extend after the figure, grabbing onto it's ankles and swinging it right back to the Monster, who pounces on it like a hunting predator, burying her teeth in it's neck as they crash into the ground.
With the death of the second Blasphemy, the orb in the sky dissipates, stopping the rain just as the fog fades away into nothing until a sudden stillness takes over the area, making for a jarring contrast from the intense situation before.
Sitting up from where she is atop the snarling corpse, Tear glances around in confusion. "...Huh? Wasn't there supposed to be another one?" She mutters to herself, scratching at her head.
Taking a deep breath of her own, Elizabeth ensures that her power is ready and available to her, pointed at the Monster, just in case, as she speaks up, doing her best to project confidence that she doesn't feel. "The Blasphemies are semi-immortal. So long as one of them lives, the others will come back... eventually."
The Monster's eyes lock with her own and it's all Elizabeth can do to keep her knees from failing her as those eyes, even from so far away, fill her with an instinctual feeling of that she is prey facing a predator.
"...Interesting. I can use that," Tear whispers to herself, but due to the distance, Elizabeth only hears what she says after, "Welp! Guess they live another day then eh?~ Shame that.~ Now, do any of you have a spare set of clothes?~ I think I forgot to get dressed this morning ehe!~"
Her eyes fade from glaring red to a simple, almost glowing green as she send the gathered Heroes a goofy expression, completely uncaring for her nude body and the men who are ogling it despite themselves.
And all of a sudden, the predator is gone. All Elizabeth can see when she looks at her is a simple, friendly and harmless young woman, even with the knowledge of who she truly is.
And that. That terrifies her more than anything else.
=================
A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!
I wonder if any of you will even get the reference...
Edit: I decided to add a line explicitly stating the reference being of Macbeth, but in case you don't know Macbeth, there were 3 witches who could see the future and the first lines of the whole play is one of the witches saying,
"When shall we three meet again,
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"
and another thing they say is,
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air."
I was writing the chapter when I realised how closely the Blasphemies I was creating could match with the Macbeth witches and added the rain-like power to make it all come together, and then all of this because I feel like most of y'all don't understand the amount of nuance that goes into my writing.
Another thing, I spent nearly an hour researching science so that I could have an explanation for how the raining power works, because I don't like writing things that I can't explain at least somewhat, so if you're curious, the three beams were concentrated radiation that was coded with some extra small nanobots inside of them that kept the reaction stable in the air and helped facilitate the turning of the resultant Helium-3 that came from the radioactive decay happening in the orb and burning it up so that it can fuse to make Carbon, which was then superheated and compressed into nearly pure diamond which were then thrown at Tear.
...Fuck chemistry. :<
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