Chapter 16 – Faust’s Fantasmagoria

Thatti turned around to see a 35 story tall red and blue beast, a glowing aura surrounding its neon-pulsing skin. Pearlescent plates and spikes were grafted around what looked like flesh made of magma, four arms with long-claws and a giant tail swishing with enough force to uproot trees. Its head appeared reptilian, but caged within glowing armor and bolts of light which glowed over its face, illuminating its cyan eyes. Its mouth extended into a second mouth, four rows of teeth with the bottom-most jaw tightly braced in a bracer around its neck. From its jaw, a roaring sound rang out that could be heard from miles away. Thatti took a step back, and slowly pulled out Headhunter. “Becca, we’ve got a situation… Becca” She shook her a bit. The wand wasn’t responsive.

“BECCA, WAKEUP!” The girl shouted.

“Huh? Uggh, sorry was sleeping. How’d the hoofy-sis thing go?”

 

“We’ve got abit of a situation.” She turned Becca around. “O-oh. Big boy.”

Headhunter transformed into a sniper rifle, Thatti looking through the scope and zooming in. Sitting atop the gigantic monster, was Hyde. “That’s, a Nephilim!” She shouted.

“A Nephilim?” Becca said.

“Yeah, remember from demonology class? It’s an engineered Angel-Demon hybrid, a celestial war machine. How did he bring it here?“

The creature roared again, a new sound coming from the monster’s head, a series of rapid crackles and booms. Suddenly as the sound came from its mouth, a bolt of electricity raced through the kaiju and up into the sky, Thatti’s hands nearly dropping the sniper rifle. “What’s that?” “Seems like a plasma casted discharge, a 10000 kv laser.” Said Lazuli from behind, Pyra and Maisma behind her. The electricity appeared to be coming from a pair of numb-chucks.

Thatti looked through the scope again. “Jetti!” The magical girl appeared to be fighting the beast, stunning it for a time.

Pyra folded her arms.” Hyde has his claws in that one, so.. we’ve been bought abit of time. I predicted this, and I called Her.”

Petal soon appeared. “Oh geez, not Her..”

 

The Nephilim’s eyes flashed from cyan to purple, and it let out an ear-shattering roar. From its chest, a beam shot out, trying to trace and hit Jetti flying through the air. Lazuli’s hands went to her ears. “Holy shit!” She yelled.

Thatti turned the sniper around, trying to find a good spot to shoot it. The scope’s crosshairs stopped on Hyde’s head, her finger twitching. Headhunter reappeared in Thatti’s hand. “We’ve gotta atleast do what we can, c’mon!” The two switched and Becca casted herself wings, flying with aim through the air. Petal, Maisma and Pyra nodded, Petal and Maisma holding hands, the two began to dance. Their light consumed them, the two bodies becoming one, rising higher and higher. With light-purple skin, 4 arms, a long white ponytail and cyan dress draping down, they became a 10m figure with a wide arching-bow. ‘Opal’ started to leap ahead, flanking the Nephilim with arrows.

Jetti’s head popped out from the Nephilim’s mouth, her wings barely giving her enough mana to charge. Becca flew forward and aimed at its jaw. “Code 1: Shockblaster deluxe” The splash of color was enough to dislodge its jaw and set Jetti free. “You!” She yelled accusingly.

“Yes, me. Nice to see you too Jetson or whatever.” She huffed. “Gonna need your help on this one, you wanna keep all the people at that Con safe right?” She said, speaking to the numchucks. “I’m not taking this down on my own, I know that. You can continue your pissing contest at me later.”

“I’m a-almost at full capacity! Jetti charges the longer we fight, but at this size it’ll only be enough to stun them for 5, maybe 10 minutes tops.” The Nephilim swung a giant-fist at Opal, but she dodged. With the Nephilim’s jaw wide open, Jetti shot towards it, arrows slamming the Nephilim in the face. It opened its mouth and began charging a massive output of energy, unleashing a beam of hellfire. Becca landed next to Jetti, trying to shield her from the beam, but with her hands, she pulled out two glowing spheres and threw them at the Nephilim, they expanded in mid-air and collided with it, creating a burst of purple light as a purple wall of light shielded the girls from the attacks. The beam crashed into the shield, causing it to waiver, eventually exploding and knocking both girls into the woods below.

“It’s gaining on them!” Lazuli shouted.

 

Pyra turned to her. “Keep it busy. Lazuli, do what you can with him”

 

Flying up and looking around, Kaz spotted a huge lake far in the distance. She went by it, began concentrating and slowly picked up the entire body of water as one massive bubble. Dragging it with difficulty through the sky, she began to partially freeze it into slush, then slung it overhead and let it drop atop Hyde and his beast. With a flow of arctic energy, the drenched beast began to freeze.

Opal pulled the strings of her bow, an arrow shot off, smashing the Nephilim in the back, causing it to roar and slam its tail at her. She fell back. The arrows hit numerous cracks and began to shatter its plates. “Now! Its armor is down!” Opal, in a synthesis of Petal and Maisma’s voice shouted. Spirit and Becca flew above it, Spirit’s aura glowing bright and she raised her sword and slashed. “Flareblade!” Her num-chuks sent a crimson energy slash down its shoulder. “Code 30: Grievous strike! Overnova!” Becca charged a massive golden sphere that compressed into a shot a gleamful drilling projectile through the opposite shoulder, going down deep enough to dislocate its limb. The sword and blast of light collided in midair, a

gigantic explosion that rattled the entire woods, and caused a few trees to fall in response. The Nephilim had fallen and lay motionless on the ground, smoke rising off of its body.

“YOU!” Becca shouted as Hyde’s face was visible, her face turning dark green from her anger. “What the fuck is your problem, you let loose a gigantic demon on the world just to get me away from her?” Hyde folded his arms. “I warned her, I’d do whatever it takes to keep her safe.”

She yelled. “Are we done here?”

 

Hyde stood in front of it. “What? Done so soon? It can’t die. Haha.” The Nephilim roared again and a series of cracks began to form on its body, the ground quaking. Jetti and Becca gasped, the two girls barely dodging the massive landslide. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” With all the plates and armor gone, it began to shed its previous hard skin and glow a brilliant white aura, holy power mixed with the energies of Bedlam as it morphed in shape, growing longer and more slithery, its neck and limbs expanding in an awkward gait as tendrils of light left its back, a dozen red-back eyes appearing in front of it. Four additional arms grew out its front, long blades along the back of the wrists. “I gave her the option to surrender peacefully. Fine, suffer a bit more.”

When the monster finally stood up at a 45-degree angle, a halo appeared over its head, gigantic curved dagger-like horns growing up and thru the hole. Spirit Chaser bit her tongue. “Code 7:

Flareblade!” “Spirit!” Opal cried out, Spirit holding up her weapon and ready to cut it. “It’s growing stronger! We can’t risk it regenerating!” “Don’t worry, it can’t regenerate without a

body. Gotta keep it down for a bit.” She said, attempting to slash down. The creature’s tail, now a duo of them swiped at her quickly and knocked her far away before she could deliver a blow along its spine. It thrashed about, no longer armored, lumbering and sluggish, having the ferocity of a wild snake everywhere it moved.

Hyde looked down at Opal. “So in the end, you all decided to betray me. For what, to try to fight against fate?” Lazuli had collected water from the atmosphere, turning it into a hundred spiked

shards the size of lamp posts. The Nephilim leapt off the ground and began to tear away at Kaz in seconds, its swift lanky limbs reaching her and nearly dissecting her midsection. Becca had arrived milliseconds before and blocked the strike with Headhunter as a shield, both going

flying back towards the convention’s entrance. The laid hurt on the ground, Pyra walking towards them. “Ugh, what now? We need a plan.”

“That was the plan. Buy time.” Pyra said, “And now.. Leave it to She.”

 

The two looked up, a broom finally flying overhead. On it, the white catsuited woman leapt off. “Becca.” White Nebula said. Becca got up, Lazuli landing near her, looking back. “Yeah, I know.”

Thatti shimmered in Becca’s grasp. “Becca, we have to use Gold Morning! It’s the only spell that can-“

“Are you nuts? That thing is way too close, we’ll burn up the entire convention behind us and everyone in it. We don’t have a precise enough spell with the power to even harm that thing.”

“You won’t be able to hold your ground like that, sparkplug.” White said. She turned her attention to Becca. “The Nephilim’s holy power is beyond this. There’s no stopping it now. All I can do is to slow it down.”

Becca was furious. “The hell? You’re shitting me, you don’t have anything that can down that

thing?”

 

White Nebula shrugged. “On my own? I could get rid of it easily, but the price would be too high for you. However, bleeding-edge technology CORSA from the Highfleet might… A Cascade Oscillator Rail-Satellite Artillery has the output to do it, but it’d crack the planet like an egg when fired from above. Those things are world-killing weapons. Besides, last operating one is on the other side of the galaxy… and operations in Xi right now aren’t, optimal. Lotta incidents right now would make transport impossible.”

“Really, just because I’m out of ideas is a reason to just do nothing?” Becca asked, “You’re some kind of warrior witch, scientist person, you’re supposed to have solutions!” She was a bit too forceful.

“I’m sorry, there’s no other way around it. You’re outmatched. A Celestial war machine cannot be fought with any conventional ground weapons.” White insisted.

Becca turned around. “What, you’re not gonna help me?” White gave a pensive look. “That creature can’t be killed, but it can be beaten. I have an idea, but to pull it off would require.. Well, you.” White looked down at Headhunter in a bit of a cold way. “Me.” Thatti said.

“Precisely.” White continued. “Only if you let me go all the way. I’ve got a way to kill it, but it’s

gonna be painful.”

 

Thatti, hearing this conversation understood. “Oh.” She rattled in Becca’s hand to get her attention. “I know what she’s referring to. ‘I’ can take it out, although, it’ll take everything we have. Our body could be really hurt in the process.”

The lumbering leviathan marched ever closer, its holy aura bright enough that the party had to shield their eyes from it. With each step, the world shook and wind bellowed like a storm. “I’m the reason that Hyde is doing this, so all the consequences of those people fall on me. Whatever happens, I need to take responsibility and stop him.” She said. White nodded and handed her a digital tablet. “Are these… all the CORSA schematics?” Thatti asked.

“Are.” A curt reply.

 

Thatti understood, memorized everything quickly, as conceptually as she could and began to hand the tablet. “Well, how do I do that?” “That depends on you. It’s up to you.” White said.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I do this, but if I overdo it, you gotta get up and take over for me for awhile. I’ve never tried taking the form of a weapon this… extreme.” Thatti

concentrated, Headhunter beginning to grow in a bathe of light. "It'll take a minute to warm up, so aim carefully!"

The Nephilim roared at them, its eyes glowing with a blue hue as it charged forward. Becca was taken by surprise when her weapon slithered around her in a latexy suit full of circuits and had become a gigantic satellite-shaped cannon. Its sleek, gunmetal form hummed with power, the runes on it now glowing yellow, almost as if they were breathing with electricity. The air around the cannon shimmered with contained energy as if it held something in a bubble, ready to burst. The swirling vortex condensed, solidifying into a colossal machine, twenty feet tall and crafted from pure, shimmering magic. Becca could barely hold her up, she felt every gear turn, every circuit hum, the raw power coursing through the machine like her own blood. From within the satellite's core, Thatti's consciousness blazed, undimmed and absolutely determined.

"Hyde's smirk grew in the distance, looking at the weapon. “You’re not even afraid to give up your life. I admire that. You’re stronger than I thought, but your weapon, what is it? What do you call it?” He yelled out.

Becca hung one middle-finger up. "Headhunter charge: CORSA Limit Breaker." She replied.

 

The Nephilim stared at the humming machine, its head rotating on its neck as if trying to figure out how to fight it. It seemed confused for a few seconds before finally slowly charging.

"Becca, we only have one shot! Remember you have to hit at a 60 degree angle upwards, any lower and you'll raze the planet."

Becca looked at it. “Well, how am I supposed to shoot it, it's too frickin fast.” "Think." She said.

"I've gotchu'." White said, taking out a trigger in her hands. "I setup some traps a few minutes ago." With a press of a button, hundreds of traps emerged from the earth, covering a 3000m

wide square on the ground below, each one a tripwire with electrical-stun explosives. It was grounded, only its upper-torso and neck able to flail around defiantly.

"Code 18: Silent-Static Sea! Giga Voltage!" Spirit yelled, Jetti unleashing a massive lightning spear at the Nephilim, hitting it square in its lower face and turning the spear into a sparking field wrapped around it, causing a massive jolt of electricity to run through it. It roared in anger and flung its arms and tail up, unleashing a colossal explosion of plasma as it slammed its claws down into the ground, causing the entire area to shake as it attempted to break free from the lightning. The Nephilim, despite feeling stunned was able to free itself and was back on its feet. "Code 23: Sapphire Shockwave!" Spirit said, putting her numchucks to its neck and neck, striking it like a drum and sending a continuous stream of shocks along the whole Nephilim's body, sapphire spikes erupting out of it until it was immobilized.

"Charging complete!" Thatti said. "Let's go!" Thatti shouted. She looked at the Nephilim. "You're going down." Becca smirked, releasing her finger off the charger. It was a massive laser of light, a brilliant red brightness with an inner-pulse of dark energy emanating in the core of the ray. The Nephilim looked up at it, its eyes blinded by a rave of Cascade-powered distortion weaponized in a single fired line. Typically fired from satellites, Thatti's laser bore through the Nephilim and out of its skull. From the Nephilim's head, a series of blue sparks flew into the sky, the rest of the Nephilim turned purple and a glowing aura enveloped it before it began to expand. Its body seemed to ripple through the air, stretching out even further, tearing apart and exploding within, shaking mountains around it in the implosion, these bursts extending and engulfing its entire frame until it fell apart completely. The Nephilim let out a long wail and crumbled into particles, like glittering stardust in the night.

"Threat nullified." White said. Slowly Headhunter resumed its original state, a wand.

Becca, found herself immediately switching with Thatti, she fell to the ground as Thatti collapsed.

"Girl! What have you done?"

 

“I’ve destroyed the N-nephilim!” Thatti shouted, unable to even stand, her body feeling like buttered jelly melted underneath a hot star. She couldn't cast another spell for days, her eyes closing slowly with every sore joint in her body aching from the pain.

"No, you've destroyed yourself!" Hyde said, holding a hand to his head. He shook, sped towards them and walked near her. Petal and Maisma, now separated pointed their weapons at him. "You're not coming near her." Petal shouted.

He waved his hand, a burst of hellish red energy emanated from the ground and knocked the two down, their bodies unable to move from the blast. "Traitors. If I had known you'd side with her, I wouldn't have entrusted this to any of you. Neither of you can beat me." His hand reached for Headhunter, White picking it up instead.

"How about me? Wanna try your luck?" White said. “C’mon, gem boy. I’ve tangoed with demons and gems before, how’s mommy red? Been awhile since I’ve talked with her. Would she proud to know her son was shattered by a Nebula?” She said.

He gave an annoyed sigh.

Jetti nearby, looked at White holding the weapon and slowly backed away.

 

"Well whatever. Plan B I suppose. I completed my real mission. A diversion." He said, pulling out the red tablet from his pocket. He flipped the tablet around and a hologram appeared.

Broadcasted, was Caleb tied up. “Do you want to watch your friend slowly be tortured? When she wakes up, remember to tell her I have her little colleague." He turned around and began to walk away, the group watching before he disappeared out of sight.

“Mhmm. You’re not gonna do anything to stop him now are you?” White said to the wand, putting it in Lazuli’s hands.

Becca looked up, laying in White’s hand still until she was given to Petal. "Uggh. Look that guys a dork but.. he, he's someone Thatti really cares about! We have to save him."

White shook her head. "I did this as a favor for Pyra. Not my deal to save human boys." She got on her broom.

"Wait, you're just leaving us?" Lazuli said.

 

"Yep, cya." And White took off in a vroom into the red sunset.

 

 

 

 

Hyde looked at the monitor within his palace. Two screens showed distinct prisons, one where Caleb now sat, tied up. Jack tightened the straps around his arms and giggled, breathing pink smoke in his face. “Time for a little you-time. Don’t be scared, your outburst back at that con was adorable. It was so easy to snatch you up! All you do is scream and scream! I’m sure your girly will be here to swoop you up with nursery rhymes and spells in no time, if I don’t make you mine first.” Her fingers traced along his cheeks, and he shuddered. “Aww, so sensitive.” “You look like a fucking nightmare to me,” Caleb replied. “Fuck off with that.”

“Oh, what if I looked like..” She began to morph from the top down, growing into the appearance of the same pigtailed girl he recognized. The one that had cut down Lumina. The girl she now appeared as had large breasts, exposed, she squeezed them together with gloved hands. Her black lipstick and white-highlights in her raven-black hair appeared positively gothic. “This?

How about now, cutestuff? Do you want to give me a hand?” Her hands slid down Caleb’s cheeks to play with his tits, making him yelp. Jack laughed. She pulled him closer, and he groaned as her fingers massaged Caleb. Jack made a show of unbuttoning his shirt, revealing his body, smooth and pale. “And you thought I was a freak?”Caleb gulped. “You know, you might just die. Want a little smooch’ums before you bite it? Maybe a blowjob?”

“F-fuck off,” Caleb retorted, unable to deny he was getting aroused. He flinched as Jack punched him, grinning. “Come on.” Her hand slid along his chest, rubbing him as she began to slowly reach his fingers towards his crotch. “I’m here for the long haul, you can’t hide.” “Shut the fuck up. Jack… Jack, if you don’t let me go right fucking now… I’ll..” He could barely believe how turned on this was making him. “So dramatic. I knew you were special.” She teased, eager to jerk him off. Right before he reached Caleb’s slit, a noise stopped her.

The intercom broke up their session with Hyde’s voice blaring through. “That’s enough.”

She turned around pouting. but when the intercom crackled back up to life, Hyde’s face was filled with rage. “Seriously! Get your hands off him!” Caleb’s mind raced as he heard Jack giggle. “Oh my gosh, but he’s hot.” She took her fingers off his cock and stepped back.

“You’re crazy,” Caleb gasped.

 

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it.” She winked. “Cya soon Cally boy.” And she left, navigating the

 

brimstone and brick of Hyde’s abode, hallway after long spiraling staircase. Within a few

minutes she was up in the monitoring room with him, hopping onto a rotating chair. “What the fuck,” Hyde began, “Was that? We need him for our plan. But don’t go molesting our hostages.” He said. “Cocktease.” Jack laughed.

“You’re a psychopath,” Hyde responded. “Maybe.” Jack laughed, making a mocking, childish face as she spun in the chair. “Well, we have the guy we want after all.” He looked at the second prison cell setup, a chair and strange runes on the walls. “Why did you prepare a second cell?

We’re not keeping Thatti hostage, we just need to take her wand.”

“Oh I know.” She grabbed his neck. Jack slowly took out handle from her umbrella, morphing it and holding a crowbar high overhead, eyes beginning to flash with neon malice.

“Shall I tell you a bedtime story?” Jack grinned.