A murky afternoon in Paris. Downtown. Dozens, hundreds of people going about their daily lives, shopping, going on dates, enjoying themselves. Young love blossoming, and occasionally wilting on the vine. All of them unaware of two very important facts. First, one of those among them is not, in fact, of the human species. In fact, she’s not even among the supergroup of beings which descend from the Creation. And secondly, they all, every one of them, had only seconds left to live.Ashley is walking through various stores, browsing candles, among other things. She decides not to actually spend any money this day due to the expensiveness of all of them. She exits the door out to the plaza, crossing the street.
Nearly a mile away, another child of the void sits upon the edge of a brick building, watching her go about her life, a wicked grin plastered across her face.
“Little dolly, why are you playing pretend? You know you’re not them, but you don’t want to be what you are? Well then, I suppose we should have a bit of a game, just between the two of me~” She lies back, her spine arching a little as her arms warp and shift, splitting in the middle to form an extra pair, all cradling a single weapon, an anti-material rifle, of such a length that it extends from her breasts to just over the edge of the roof, well past her feet. She giggles.
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, my bullet punishes all without distinction~!” She grins, squeezing the trigger of her weapon.
None of them even felt it coming but Ashley, not a one of them knowing it as a shard of mordite as long as a forearm and as thick as a quarter erupts from the rifle, screaming as it embeds itself in the ground. Ashley would feel it coming, just as she feels her own void constructions, but not fast enough to make any practical difference other than to shield herself from the blast that claims the lives of all the hundreds of parisians and tourists around her in a single moment of all-consuming nothingness.
The hairs on the back of Ashley’s neck stand at attention. Her arms instinctively cross each other over her face. The shard explodes as it hits the ground, causing a giant pulse of void energy to obliterate the buildings in the vicinity, and eating at the hundreds of pedestrians slowly. The second wave was large bits of shrapnel flying into buildings and up into the air. The plaza looked as if an entire war just happened in less than a second.
Ashley screamed as it happened, the inside of her body feeling as cold as ice. An emptiness settled in her stomach, yearning her to just lay there and die. She looks at the devastation, her body becoming even colder. The only heat she was was in her fingers. She had only just noticed that she was clutching her Fatigue Blade. Her gaze moves towards the direction of the stranger.
She wouldn’t be looking for long before the space in front of her screams, letting out an ear-piercing screech as it’s rent asunder, cracks in space and time racing out from it before a figure steps out of it. Bare legs up to the knees, and above that only covered by a tattered green garment not unlike a cloak, the hood pulled up to cover her hair and all of her face above a pair of blank white eyes, glaring at her, that ecstatic grin still plastered over her face.
“Isn’t that just the best feeling? All that power, all that death? That raw, unfettered emotion, terror, pain, all in one instant? the sheer, overwhelming finality of it all?” She laughs, head rolling back, hood falling off to reveal bone-white hair that pools down to her ankles, like a waterfall of marrow.
“Come on, cat got your tongue~?” She stalks forward until she’s right up against Ashley, licking her lips.
“You know why all of them died now, don’t you? Simple answer, really~. Because you won’t keep the balance of void and creation~!”Ashley’s arms tremble in anger as the figure appears. As it approaches, she holds out her sword forwards.
“Who the bloody fuck do you think you are?” Her stare staying on the white eyes sternly.
The girl laughs, advancing right into the sword, its blade piercing through her stomach and out her back, the blade that should be sapping her strength with every moment seeming to have no effect whatsoever… Then she changes, shifting, just as her nose taps against the Voidwalker’s, becoming a perfect mirror of her own expression, her body changing to perfectly mirror hers down to the clothes she chose to wear that day.
“Ehehe… Just who the hell do you THINK I am, deary~?”Ashley glances up and down the stranger’s body, her expression going to that of surprise.
“No… No, not you. It can’t be…” The temperature of Ashley’s body lowered as both her fear, and disbelief that this was actually happening, filled her gut. Her greatest fear had just presented itself right on a golden platter.
She grins, reaching down and gently wrapping her hands around the hilt of the sword currently impaling her, sighing as she twists it, then yanks it free, tossing it to the side where it skitters along what’s left of the path.
“Oh, but it can… And it is. It’s me~ Or rather, it’s you, the real you~” She reaches out, running a fingertip along Ashley’s arm not unlike how a lover caresses their bride.
“Search your feelings, you know it to be true~”“No. You are NOT the real me, dammit! How are you even still alive!?” Ashley shoves Not!Ashley off.
“I swore we killed you in Riyadh!” Her anger was settling in, but a slight trembling was in her arms.
She laughs, the sort of manic, uncontrolled laughter that one finds in only the most carefree of people and those who have lost their senses entirely. She grins, eyes latching onto her progenitors.
“Killed me? Killed me? You know as well as I do that we don’t play by the same rules as these… things. Death, bind us? No no no, that would be too simple, too mundane~! The Void is in us… In more than one way, if you know what I mean… and we’re in it… as long as you live, I’ll be here. Haunting you… stalking you…” She grins. “Because we can’t die until you allow it… so as long as you live, so. Will. I.”“How? You were just a part of my mind. A glued soul onto mine… You shouldn’t even exist physically at this point… but here you are, breaking the rules that don’t apply to us…” Ashley’s arms are visibly trembling uncontrollably at this point, either from anger or just pure fear.
She chuckles darkly, starting to circle her like a shark hunting its prey, eyes locked on her.
“Hit the nail on the head, there… A soul, entering into your being… ehehe… poor girl didn’t stand a chance… you consumed her a long time ago… made her a part of you, completely. So I’m not just her. I’m her, yes… but I’m also every dark corner of your heart, every death wish, every hatred, every grudge, every dark use of our power that you’ve shunned in your fear… All the darkness of that pretty little heart of yours, and cut off from all that pesky decency and kindness that you have dragging you down.”“I have decency and kindness towards those that do not deserve my anger. To those that should not see me as an enemy. Though for you… there is only a few answers for you…” Ashley’s head lowers, her gaze meeting the ground. Here she stood, her darkness circling and looming over. She only had a few options.
“And unfortunately for you, that calls for your death. Void-being or not, you must fall. Here.”She shakes like a leaf, arms moving up over her head.
“Oh! No! Not the stern language~!” She laughs again, actually falling over this time, kicking her legs against the ground.
“ehehe… what are you going to do, tire me to death~?” She rolls backward, hand springing to her feet by Ashley’s sword, kicking it up into her hands and spinning it about herself before throwing it like a javelin, the tip of it piercing about a foot into the ground before coming to a stop just in front of Ashley.
“Come on, then, I’m waiting~ You can’t kill me, I’m you, you dummy, just without all of the things that hold you back from your true potential~”Ashley sprints at Not!Ashley, blinking into the void, right behind her. She presses fingers on her back, hopefully causing pain and muscle tension. It was a poor effort, but it was all she could really do for now. She proceeds to climb onto Not!Ashley’s shoulders, wrapping her legs around her neck and slamming her body towards the ground through brute force.
The mirror image doesn't seem to react as Ashley’s fingers jab into where the nerve cluster would be, only beginning to fall as Ashley leaps onto it, attempting to bear her down. Of course, that would be boring, and she screams in delight as they fall through a pit of blackest abyss that appears in front of them, down into the emptiness of the void.
She tumbles in the air, dark ribbons following behind her as she descends, seeming to float to the ground as it rises up under her, broken pieces of buildings and the broken bodies of those she’d killed floating in equal measure around them.
“Ooh, I like this place.” She grins, but her body is already changing, shrinking, her skin becoming paler, hair lengthening until it swirls around her ankles once more, locks still black as a raven’s plumage, eyes becoming as red as a murder victim’s blood. Now, her voice is calm, emotionless as she twists her hand, a long, curved blade like a shard of midnight glinting in it.
“Come, and don’t hold back. It’d be a shame for you to die without even a decent struggle.”Ashley stares at the bodies, the coldness returning to her gut.
“How could you be so… monstrous…” She summons her Mordite sword, its blade shimmering with what little light there is. “Though if you want my all… you’ve got it.” A shadow casts over Ashley’s eyes as she charges forward once more, striking with her sword.
As Ashley's blade strikes, the pale girl’s sword moves faster, flicking contemptuously across its path to move it away from her body, this parry followed by a series of swift strikes, her blade buzzing as it cuts what passes for air, fast as the wind and sharp as a razor, its edge so fine that even if it hit her, she would not feel the wounds until her blood began to seep out of them. She presses the attack, just fast enough to let her respond, but not so much that there are any illusions about who was in control of this fight.
Ashley dodges a couple of the strikes narrowly, a few others striking across her body. One across the cheek, another cut along her stomach, and at last, one on her side. The pain is non-existent for Ashley, luckily enough. She tackles Not!Ashley, bringing them back into the realm of Creation.
Upon their return to Creation, Ashley hacks at Not!Ashley swiftly and fluently. She is seen with several cuts with blood running out of them, flowing until it hit her clothing, where it dampened her coat.
Rather than be borne ungracefully through the border of the worlds, she simply takes a step backward and vanishes, her feet touching down lightly in the grass of the plaza, blade moving smoothly into place to intercept Ashley’s.
“Come now. Your muscles are no more muscle than your essence is Creation. They are an extension of your will. You only move as slowly as you do because you believe you do. Allow me to show you.” She simply… vanishes, and is next seen in the air, hovering some six feet above the ground. She languidly slashes with her sword, and a crescent of pure destructive energy blossoms from it, tearing up the air between them as it charges toward her.
Ashley dives off to the side, dodging the strike. Her eyes are narrowed, jaw clenched in focus. She wills her reflexes to become faster, as with her speed. As Ashley charges at Not!Ashley again, she moves out of focus. She strikes so swiftly, he sword is a blur. Though, right before contact, she teleports behind Not!Ashley and slashes her back.
The blade makes contact, just barely, as the shadow-form drops, feet lightly touching the ground, a line of black blood crossing her back, staining her dark outfit even darker.
“You begin to learn.” She moves again, her form blurring and shifting, her blade like a stroke of black lightning as it seeks Ashley’s heart, a thrust that carries her all the way from her standing position to her target in the blink of an eye.
Non!Ashley sword pierces right below the heart, right through Ashley’s body. She hesitates, then forces her Mordite blade into Not!Ashley’s chest, and up into her neck. Ashley knew this wouldn’t stop her, but it would give her a bit of a break. Maybe.
A low gurgling sound as the blade pierces her body, those passive eyes widening slightly for the first time. She stumbles back, the blades coming free unless Ashley presses forward, before falling to a knee. Immediately, her wounds begin to close, flesh bubbling and seething as it flows back together, eventually leaving not even a scar to show she was damaged.
“You are getting better.”Ashley’s wounds as well, were closing. She kept Not!Ashley’s blade in her though. All of her anger from the past few months built up inside of her, causing her to practically go berserk. She pulls her blade out of Not!Ashley, and proceeds to continually stab her in the gut as she drags them into the void.
They appear in the hallway in the middle of a maze. The walls made of pure darkness and the floor of marble. Balls of energy float above them, lighting the hallway. Ashley is still stabbing Not!Ashley furiously in the gut multiple times, over and over again.
They pierce the veil, and she crashes to the ground, the hardened lengths of mordite piercing her again and again, black blood flying from her wounds, spraying from her mouth as she coughs, back arching in terrible agony. this continues until Ashley finally either calms down or just stops, at which point the girl’s hand rises, caressing her cheek.
“What did we tell you… your darkness is your strength… we are your strength… And you can’t kill us, not unless you kill yourself… Or give in to your darkness, and become us…” She smiles, reaching up and tearing the blades from her flesh, black blood running in rivers onto the ground. The blood flows onto the blades, coating them, thickening and clotting upon their black blades. Ashley would be borne back by a wave white as it overtakes her, shrouding her form as she takes on a new body.
A white dress shrouds her form, a pale mockery of a bridal gown. Blood splatters across it like petals from a wilted rose, staining the pristine surface a deep red in places. In one hand, she holds a gargantuan blade, deep crimson in color, deep grooves and whorls carved into its blade. its handle was the stalk of a rose, thorns piercing her hand, black blood flowing down the length of the blade constantly where it pierces her, and from the guard the flower’s bud grows, petals opening wide. Her other hands holds a much grimmer weapon, a combat knife so large it could only be described as a sword, its design obviously for the ending of life, the hewing of flesh from bone and sinew.She glides forward like a ghost, her massive left-hand blade slashing at her, its immense weight as light as a feather in her hand. Should she dodge it, she’d find the massive knife already moving, its tip moving with grace that belies its savage design to bury itself in her gut, impaling her completely.
Ashley dodges, only to find the combat knife inside of her stomach. For some reason, it hurt… a lot. She winces and pulls it out, blood seeping out of her wound rather fast. Ashley’s form blurs, and she becomes Inyana, who strikes Not!Ashley back in retaliation with a fresh blade. Her strike too fast for her to dodge, as it meets her neck.
She tilts her head as the blade pierces it, and then her hand is removed from the knife, lifting to catch her forearm in a steel-tight grip. She frowns, looking down at her.
“Know your place, parasite. Begone.” She lashes out, her greatsword joining the knife in her counterpart’s body, though this one is so massive that it splits her in two almost from her neck to the join of her legs. She rushes forward until she reaches a wall, body twisting to ram the sword through her and into said wall, driving into it and pinning her like a butterfly in some mad collection.
Inyana gasps, her body going limp as she gets practically cut in half, the only two things keeping her together begin the wrapping and the sliver of flesh at the very top and bottom of her torso. She mutters something in Japanese, bringing the two back into Creation.
Inyana is pinned upon a wall of one of the few standing buildings left in this plaza. She curses at Not!Ashley before shifting back over to Ashley, who is now standing on top of the blade. Her wounds have healed, mostly. She charges then jumps, kicking down on Not!Ashley’s head, the sheer force bringing her to the ground, with Ashley having one foot keeping her face to the ground.
The bloody bride is knocked to the ground, but she seems to simply… drift backward, rising up to her full height again, dress shifting and bubbling under Ashleys weight as the swords that had impaled her extract themselves from the wall, racing toward her to be caught easily in each hand. She flows forward once more, blades scything left and right, in lazy cutting motions now, though even a single strike would be enough to cut the poor girl in two.
Ashley ducks, dodging the blades, and sweeping at Not!Ashley’s legs. Her foot presumably gets stuck in the goop that is the bloody bride’s ‘legs.’ She panics and teleports into the void.
They appear in Void’s living room. They float several feet above his couch, and fall onto it, breaking it in half, right down the middle. Ashley’s foot is still stuck in Not!Ashley’s sludge.
The sludge rears up, tendrils of its matter twining around her legs, pulling her down to the ground and holding her there, then travelling up her body and across her arms, holding them in place. the Bride moves in closer, staring down at her.
“I think we’re done playing for now… We’ll be back later… and to make sure you’ll remember it…” With a speed like lightning, the blades flash out, and Ashley would feel an intense, unbearable agony in her shoulders… and then nothing, as her arms are cleanly severed, one by each blade, both at the same time. She’d likely pass out, not knowing as the Bride scoops them up, absorbing them into her mass before disappearing through another Rift, pausing before passing through it.
"Toodaloo~" 
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Topic: Rise of the Magic Girls v2 IC Thread: Antimagic and gods and souls oh my (Read 2842339 times)