CHAPTER TWO
BATTLE COMMENCE
A ring of energy radiated out from MR Tower, blowing newspapers and other ground rubbish all the way to the walls. Coryn stepped in front of the Lewd-tan group, generating a pale blue force field to prevent the blast from getting in anyone’s eyes or soiling his perfectly good lab coat. “That’s our signal!” he shouted over the wind, a wild smile stretching his face.
“See you all at the tower then,” Lego called, bolting with team Ecchi down their designated course.
“Not if you get your ass handed to you!” Coryn taunted back.
With that, team Lewd started on their own path, spearheaded by Coryn, flanked by Mahlua and Byron on either side. The empty streets passed them by, until the dreaded boxing glove missiles started spraying from an alley.
“Mahlua, can you Phasebolt and disable them?” the mad scientist asked, keeping quick pace as the missiles honed from behind. The ginger nodded and drew her khopesh, turning to face the projectiles before leaping into the air.
A spark of electricity fizzled the air, and the raider dematerialized into pure lightning, zipping through the missiles with her blade, slicing them in half, leaving a firework of explosives in her wake. She rematerialized on the ground, crouching, and then phased again to bolt back next to the others, keeping up.
Byron whistled. “You’re going to have to tell me how that works sometime.”
“Yeah, but for now, the tower,” the elemental grunted.
As they crossed the next corner, the ground began to quake. Parts of the road lifted from the asphalt, flying like the demonic pots in Legend of Zelda games. Coryn dispelled them with his force field pulse, Byron foresaw their path and simply dodged, and Mahlua shoved her khopesh back into her belt in time to draw a short battle hammer to crush them before they crushed her bones. The plates created a treacherous path, but the raider trio overcame in a flurry of light blue, swift footwork, and shattering earth. By the end of that stretch of road, they had worked up a sweat and were breathing deeply, but at the juncture that crossed the paths between MR Tower and the Science Division, everything stopped.
“Looks like you were right, Philos,” Coryn smiled, giving a nod to the raider. Byron shrugged.
“Well, of course. As you predicted, they focused on paths leading to the administration tower, so their energy is focused there. Now that we’re closer, if you give me a moment, I can try to see below and test those tunnels you mentioned more clearly,” he replied, closing his eyes and dropping to a squat, planting his palm on the ground.
Mahlua twirled the battle hammer for a moment before putting it back in its place on her belt and pulled the respirator down to breathe in the crisp, cold air. “I just hope team Ecchi is doing all right,” she said, turning her eyes skyward to relax a moment, feeling the soft plushes of snow tickling her face.
“If Lego can rival my scientific prowess, or so he tries, then I’m sure he’s doing fine,” Coryn chuckled, shaking his head.
---
On the other side of the city, Lego commanded Team Ecchi through the winding streets, using the map Byron helped create in order to bypass known trap locations and make it directly to the tower. The mod adjusted a new gauntlet fresh off the Ethical Science Division’s conveyor belts, sweeping away lingering threats with bursts of flame.
“All right, men!” he roused, drawing his sidearm and holding it high and proudly, “Remember that these girls have a bite like no other, but it is well worth the fight!”
Behind him, the entirety of Team Ecchi screamed and raved in approval and agreement, despite the many more obstacles they faced. Their roars reverberated and caused another small quake, throwing many raiders off balance. All others drew their weapons.
About a block down from them, what appeared to be a shop began to crumble and rearrange its parts, rising to a massive three stories high. It took a hefty step forward, causing faint tremors to rattle the ground.
Lego’s eyes grew wide in horror, but then narrowed in determination. “So they’ve developed a golem-type beast to try to stall us. It will be nothing to us, raiders. Advance and do not engage! Focus on finding a way around!” he bellowed, slashing twice with his sword with his gauntlet hand, sending waves of fire at the knees of the colossus.
It wavered from the force of the blast, but held fast. It was just enough for a large portion of the raiders to cross under it and make it to the other block. The department leader of the Ethical Science Division beamed proudly, taking his blade into both hands for a strong cut at the monster’s ankle as he crossed over as well.
The shop golem fell to one knee, shattering the ground beneath it. Taking the opportunity, the moderator leapt high, going in for the kill. He landed on the beast’s back and ran to the nearest opening on the exterior armor, placing his palm over it. Flames burst from the gauntlet and filled the hollow spaces, sending spurts of fire curling from every orifice. Work finished, the legendary raider gracefully backflipped onto the streets, watching the brick and mortar crumble, unleashing a massive dust cloud.
Satisfied, he sheathed his weapon and regrouped with the rest of Team Ecchi, which halted before the last turn to MR Tower.
---
“I don’t sense anything out of the ordinary underground,” Byron finally spoke up, opening his eyes. He went to stand up, but swayed slightly. Coryn put his hands on his shoulders to steady him.
“Hey, man, don’t wear yourself out too much,” he said, giving the perceiver a firm pat on the back. “Let’s head on inside and I’ll unlock the secret stairwell to the tunnels.”
With that, Team Lewd made their way into the unlit Science Building and their ears met with an eerie silence. “I take it everyone’s still off work, or they’ve all gone home already?” Mahlua asked cautiously, hand itching for one of her weapons. The scientist only hummed in response.
They took a long corridor to the left, and then turned right. Coryn abruptly stopped at a janitor’s closet and opened it. In the quiet, the creak of the door felt deafening.
“Something’s not right,” Byron whispered. “I don’t sense anything wrong, but the air is too thick here.”
The mod quirked an eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s not the sanitization in the air?” he asked, pushing aside some brooms and uncovering what looked like an electric panel.
“No,” the ginger said sternly, “because I feel it too.”
The trio stood quietly for a moment as Coryn fumbled for his keys.
“You know,” Byron started, causing the scientist to almost drop the keys in a flinch, “It’s possible that something they put down there can suppress its energy, and that’d be why I can’t see anything.”
Next to him, Mahlua stiffened, biting her lower lip anxiously. “That takes a lot of skill…If that’s the case, then we’re either going to find nothing, or we’re going to find hell.”
When the mod finally unlocked the panel, it pulled away to reveal a handle, which he turned, revealing a sliding door and a dark stairwell. “Guess we’ll find out,” he said, failing to hide a gulp.
---
Taking in a cool, deep breath of a winter breeze, Lego called out to his men once more. “Take your battle positions!” he ordered, “While Ecchi-tan seems sweet, we have lost to her every year thus far. Do not underestimate her!”
Team Ecchi rounded the corner, catching the sight of their select tan waiting for them at the building’s entrance, bokken already drawn and at her side.
“Glad you could make it,” she smiled, turning her head charmingly to one side.
Incredulously, the mod scanned the streets and building face. “Where is Lewd-tan?” he called, breaking into a sweat.
“Oh, sis? Well, we noticed that some of our toys were getting destroyed on one route, but then it all stopped, and that didn’t seem very much like Coryn at all. She went to go investigate that.”
Lego clenched his blade. “Well, allow us to be a little more direct,” he said tightly.
“Of course. I’ll try to be gentle,” she winked, raising the bokken high before ground pounding, sending pillars of earth flying at the team.
Raiders leapt into the air or to the side, dodging the glaives. With a last deep breath, Lego charged his beloved tan, sword in one hand, gauntlet spiraling a stream of flames on the other.
Ecchi-tan ducked and lunged under him, quickly turning and landing a hard smack onto her opponent’s back with her bokken, knocking the wind out of him. She lifted up her free hand and the ground under them plateaued, forming a small, circular arena for the mod and herself to duke it out solo, while more of her earth plates spun madly at the other raiders, turning the area below into a deathtrap of flying asphalt.
Hoisting himself up onto his forearms to meet the beautiful red eyes of the woman before him, Lego coughed. “You’re as ruthless as ever, Ecchi-tan,” he huffed, regaining the strength to stand up.
At this, she blushed and averted her gaze. “Well, I can’t make this easy for you. That’d ruin the appeal,” she replied softly, a smile curling at her lips.
Instantly, the ground beneath the mod shook violently, nearly throwing him onto his face, but the seasoned raider kept his footing, instead launching himself forward, horizontally slashing his blade, only to be parried by the bokken. Discouraged, he came back for a diagonal, which was parried with as little effort as before.
Ecchi-tan took a step forward for her counter-strike, taking a shot at his knee. He sidestepped circularly and tried to get behind her for a strike.
“So that’s how you like it?” she gasped, using the innuendo to her advantage and roundhouse kicking Lego in the face as he tried to sputter a response.
His body flung to the side with the power of the kick, but he turned for a side kick, which Ecchi-tan caught. Smiling, he then leapt with his other foot, frontflipping over her and sending a wave of fire from his gauntlet.
Her face fell into a grimace, and she swung her bokken to dispel the flames. “Why do you keep trying to get behind me like that? Can’t you face me honestly?”
His heart melted for a moment with shame, and in that moment, she brought the bokken down over his head, forcing him to kiss the ground. It was the last thing he saw for a while.
Ecchi-tan’s face softened then and she rested the bokken over her shoulders casually. “I hated to do it, Lego, but I couldn’t let you see me so soon. What were you thinking, silly boy? That I wouldn’t notice that you brought fire for the sake of burning away clothes?”
The unconscious, fallen hero made no response.
---
Unaware of the havoc wrought unto Team Ecchi, Team Lewd dashed down the lengthy tunnels that crossed like veins under the city. The closer they got to MR Tower, the thicker and colder the air became.
“Jeez, man. Didn’t you guys think to insulate these tunnels?” Mahlua asked with a shiver.
“I thought you’d be at home in it, seeing as you have all that industrial style going on today,” Coryn teased, gesturing to the faint LED light emanating from under a thin layer of fabric on the ginger’s pants.
“Well, at least something’s lighting our way,” Byron added, “Even if it does feel like freezing down here.”
“It won’t be too much longer until we get to the tower,” the scientist waved off. As he said so, a faint light shone from the next turn of the maze of underground streets. “See?”
“I don’t know,” Byron sighed, crossing his arms. “I still don’t see anything, but it feels like something should have happened by now.”
Everyone took a moment to be serious. “Well, we aren’t out of the woods quite yet,” Coryn acquiesced, “If something’s waiting, it’s probably right around that bend.”
Mahlua rested her hand on the handle of her khopesh, knitting her eyebrows together. “Then I guess we’ll get ready for a real fight,” she said thickly, closing her eyes and dropping her head to focus. She found her core and pulled all lingering energy to it, then unwound portions of it, dispersing negative energy into the ground to be purified. With that, she started drawing upon her power and building it up. Next to her, Byron raised an intrigued eyebrow.
“You’re radiating a lot of energy. You know, if there is something down here, it knows we’re here now, that’s for sure,” he commented idly.
“If it’s down here, it expects someone to come,” she countered, blowing out a long breath and opening her eyes. “Let’s go,” she added, already striding towards the last turn. The duo quickly followed.
As they turned, they entered a well-lit, cleared out room, on the other side of which stood the door to MR Tower, unattended. Collectively, everyone sighed in relief. “Well, would you look at that,” Coryn grinned, rubbing the back of his neck, “That was easy.”
Relaxing slightly, the trio took a few steps towards the door, only to be interrupted by the sound of dragging chains in the distance. In her heightened state, Mahlua dropped to the ground almost as if she had been shot. “She’s here,” the raider managed through gritted teeth, forcing her energy deep into the ground to combat the tidal wave of heat energy that crushed her.
“You didn’t honestly think it would be that simple, did you?” a familiar, low voice chided, resonating throughout the room.
“So it was a trap,” Byron said, tensing up.
“Guess so,” Coryn sighed, “And that’s another thing to cross off the list of things we’ve tried.
“W-we h…haven’t lost yet,” Mahlua pointed out, straining against the divine pressure. Tattoos started to slither across her skin, covering half of her body with a purple glow like the LED in her pants.
“Aww, you have to force yourself into your full ritual state just to deal with my fighting presence? Don’t I feel special,” Lewd-tan teased, finally dropping from the ceiling, chain wrapped around her wrist and at the ready.
The raider in question slowly rose to her full height, drawing her battle hammer. Fully formed hieroglyphs glowed in sharp contrast to her pale, freckled skin, and electricity crackled around her.
“My lady,” the ginger began, voice echoing with far more force than usual, “I respect you whole-heartedly, and as such, I will fight you in these trials if victory leads to such a precious prize. I am sure that you understand.”
“Amazing,” Coryn whistled lowly to himself.
“What?” Byron blinked, looking at the scientist with a confused expression.
“This is the first time I’ve actually seen Mahlua in her full ritual state. It’s like her entire demeanor changes,” the mod noted. “I wish I had a notepad and a pen. This is excellent stuff.”
Meanwhile, Lewd-tan and the electric elemental began taking synchronized steps towards each other, staring each other down. The closer they drew, the more pops of voltage sparked around the raider, until her eyes glowed the same purple as her tattoos.
“I will fight. You two go into the tower and decipher the location of the treasures,” Mahlua’s voice commanded.
“Oh? They still have to get past—”
The tan was interrupted by a storm of lightening crashing down around her. “Go!” the raider shouted, “I’ll catch up to you later!”
The other two scrambled for the door with hardly time for a “Yes Ma’am” and shut it behind them with a metallic crash.
“Well, well, well,” the redhead chuckled, standing up in spite of the blast. “You’ve got some moxie, but let’s see how you hold up.” She made a ‘come here’ gesture and smirked.
Unfazed, the ginger dropped to her stance and held the hammer behind her, twirling it as her returning taunt.
Satisfied, Lewd-tan circled one end of her chain above her head, then launched it at the raider, who pounded the chain into the ground and kept it there to prevent it from wrapping around her weapon. To the raider’s surprise, however, the chain retracted its links back close to the tan’s hand.
“So that’s your secret,” Mahlua grunted, hoisting the hammer out of the dent it made in the ground, “The reason no one could tell the length of your chain is because you can change its length at will.”
“That’s right,” Lewd-tan hummed, pursing her lips, “But shouldn’t that worry you?” She flicked her wrist, sending the chain flying, expanding and using its momentum to further the swing’s force.
To dodge, the raider leapt into the air with inhuman force, then did an aerial frontflip to nosedive towards her opponent, preparing to swing the hammer. The tan simply widened her smirk and flicked her wrist upward, and the chain redirected, wrapping around the hammer. “What?” Mahlua exclaimed.
Lewd-tan only jerked her arm down, but the force of the momentum allowed her to easily pull the hammer from its owner’s hands. In midair, Mahlua scowled and fizzled into electric energy, phasebolting inches from her opponent and rematerializing, khopesh in hand, lunging for a strike.
“Easy there,” the tan chuckled, taking a graceful leap backwards.
Before she could come up with an innuendo to drop, the raider phasebolted again, this time coming at the tan from the right. Instinctively, the tan created a shield of ice to block with her forearm. The force from the raider’s blow actually caused her to skid a few yards.
The ginger started to breathe heavily, tattoos and eyes pulsating with light. She had to re-center herself, pulling all her energy to her core before expanding it, causing more jolts of electricity to trace across her form.
Taking the opportunity, the redhead swung her chain with actual effort, realizing that the raider might actually be a challenge. The links struck and wrapped around the raider, who cried out in pain as the heavy metal dug into flesh. Seething, she reached up with a hand and grabbed her binds.
“That’s not going to do you any good,” the tan teased, giving the chain another yank.
“That’s what you think,” Mahlua growled, phasing into a pure electric state again and following the metal of the chain as a conductor, which brought her exactly where she wanted to be.
Lewd-tan screamed in agony as the voltage of pure lightning energy almost instantly zapped her hand and spread throughout her body. She dropped to her knees, glasses knocked askew, and screamed again with a raw breath.
Finished, the electric elemental withdrew and rematerialized as she stepped out from her opponent. She stood over the tan, watching her gasp raggedly. “Metal and electricity can cause quite a chain reaction,” the victor commented coolly, eyes fading to their natural, non-glowing state.
“Heh,” the redhead coughed, adjusting her glasses. “I knew you had power, but you’ve honestly managed to impress me. So, I’ll give you a little hint.” She slowly and shakily lowered herself to a sitting position, and then laid down on her back to monitor her breathing. “What you’re looking for is on the top floor, in the administration’s office, but good luck getting up there.”
“Thank you, my Lady,” Mahlua replied, striking her chest with her right hand proudly and lowering for a bow.
Battle won, she took four steps back, still facing the defeated tan, and then turned for the door, watching the tattoos fade from her arms as she opened and closed it behind her.
Topic: MR Story: The Great After-Christmas Panty Raid of 2016 (Read 1140 times)
