Phantoms of Perilous Pasts

[EJ]

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1

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A soft roll of thunder passed through the thin, cool air as rain gently pattered the pebbly beach below. The entire atmosphere was choked with clouds. Dense fog layered itself above the land like icing on a cake, carrying all the way up to the sky into what looked to be the prelude of a torrential downpour. This was a common weather condition of the Pikt Archipelago, and for obvious reasons, a particular kunoichi really enjoyed it! She never knew the freedom she had all along with her Devil Fruit power. The mental captivity her former slave masters had on her blinded her to the notion. Ever since her savior, Hihiro Red, released her from her bottle, she’s been from one island to the next, like the air itself!

‘I may just make this place my new home,’ the snowy-haired old woman mused to herself as she sat legs crossed and arms folded atop a large rock along the border of beach and woodland. The rain that drizzled down fazed straight through her body as if she were but a spectre. Sea-green gems scanned the coastline of the archipelago she settled on the edge of until she noticed the fog blacken off in the distance. The Vapor Woman remained still as she came to see enough of the silhouette to make out that a ship was approaching the island. “Ufufu!” Noone huffed through the white neck warmer around the lower half of her face.

“I wonder who could be sailing up to these parts of the shores. Hopefully an interesting band of people!”

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[Vio]

The winds of the North battered the sails of a small, rickety sailboat, carrying it towards the misty shores of a chilled landscape. It had been a lengthy journey, if only because not a soul aboard said vessel had any concept of basic navigation, but their cruise was finally over nonetheless. Not because they intended to stop their adventure, but because there was something clearly wrong with the speed at which they were approaching the craggy coast.

^{“Uh! Big Sister,” Hannibal Lecter called:
“I think we should furl the sails…?”}

^{“Hm…? Why…?”}

“Because I’m rather sure that’s a rock we’re about to hit,” the lean gentleman, dark blond hair slicked back across his head, pointed out to his supposed elder sibling. To such a statement, dark chocolate eyes peered through the fine mist ahead, eventually looking down towards the grey-blue waters and seeing exactly what it was her designated younger brother was fretting about.

Too little, too late.

Craaack! The entire boat buckled. The combination of angular approach and velocity too much for the tiny transport to endure, its wooden frame splintered in shock and bucked like an enraged mule, twisting as it did so to form some sort of unorthodox catapult. Eight figures were cast from its decks all at once, thrown a good dozen feet through the air, but luck was partly on their side. The ship was far closer to the shoreline than any of them had initially perceived, meaning that each of the wreckage’s denizens suddenly found themselves crashing into coarse sand and smoothed pebbles rather than the cold, saline water of the North Blue.

Amongst their ranks were some real oddities. An inhumanly tall, broadly built and pale man with jet black eyes and short dark hair slowly and stiffly pushed himself to his feet before anyone else, taking the time to aid a long-haired girl of moderate stature and purple eyes to her feet. A small, childlike character with a freckled face and a shock of copper frizz had somehow turned his fall into a series of gambols around the ground, chuckling to himself all the while.

Well, that could’ve been a lot worse, Grimm-Rosa Scarlette thought to herself as she slowly raised herself up into a kneeling position. Everyone else seemed to be fine, but just to make sure she gave the beach a scan. Lecter lay on his back not too far from where she knelt, looking to the rainy skies above with what she could tell was a look of mild disdain. Further along the shore she could see Loomis, a gaunt and hooded figure, and Krueger, a rather plan and fatigued looking man, struggling to keep the rotund and bulky form of Voorhees from throwing himself into the brine.

“Are you okay, Big Sis?” Sweeney asked. Myers stood behind her, his form acting as a natural barrier against the rain as Ray pranced around them excitedly, stopping just short of a familiar steel case. The whole object practically bristled with intent, but that was par for the course. After all, the dark-haired demoiselle had been recently acquainted with what was contained within, but there was something else that prickled in the back of her mind.

Someone else was present…

[EJ]

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2

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A buoyant breeze waved through the air, filling it with more white noise as the sailors looked around the beach at nothing but mist. Noone flowed ever so gently around the posse, taking in the features of each. She had long since blended into the very vapor that inundated the archipelago to rush over to the spot she supposed the crew would set anchor. Little did she expect – much like the owners of the now shattered ship – for their accession to take such a violent turn. ‘Good! They all seem to be okay,’ she rejoiced to herself mentally after looking over the pieces of eight.

The one that was called ‘Big Sis’ by the woman with the messy, black and blonde hair caught the old kunoichi’s attention the most. She was dressed like a hand-to-hand fighter, Noone deducing so by her small, form-fitting attire. Bandages spun around her body here and there, and wherever they weren’t, marred flesh made itself visible – even on her face. Only one eye was visible, and despite Noone still being hidden in the mist, the partially mummified one appeared to be sensing her nearness. ‘Could she be?’ The Vapor Woman inquired, ‘A strong fighter?’ She smiled in her mystical mistiness as a deviant plan emerged in her head. She was going to play a little prank on the lot of them before challenging the dark-haired woman that looked to be about as tall as herself in human form – possibly taller.

Floating to about twenty feet in front of the nicked up woman and her gang, Noone assumed her human form, arms folded behind her back as she said, “Greetings, travelers.” Her voice was tranquil, but audible enough for everyone on the beach to hear her. It looked as if she had appeared out of thin air before the group, which the old kunoichi hoped sold the fib that she was a ghost. A tawny-skinned figure stood before the eight inhabitants of the shipwreck, sporting a red, long-sleeved shirt, black leggings and black lightweight shoes. A white neck warmer rested around her shoulders, the back of the garment trying to hide behind a thick braid of snow white strands that reached down to the slender woman’s hips. Despite being seventy years old, Noone didn’t look a day older than thirty!

“Welcome to Wang Chun’s Island,” the sprightly old woman articulated with a wise ambience. “I am Wang Chun’s daughter, but you may call me Noone.” While she was putting on a little ruse, the kunoichi used her actual alias since she planned on fighting the big sister. A proper affair of honor always had to be issued with one’s name.

“Would you all like to know the unfortunate fate that lies in store for you coming here?”

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[Vio]

A voice. A figure.

Grimm-Rosa Scarlette’s abilities had not deceived her, for what she would have counted as seven, she had instead discerned as eight. This woman, hair like cirrus clouds woven together and a deep complexion, had walked from the surrounding veil and revealed herself. But the dark-haired demon and her entourage were nothing if not tempered to such climes as these. In fact, it was quite pleasant in comparison to Mullyssa Nemo’s horrendous precipitation.

^{“I had a dream about a misty island,” Krueger murmured:
“Then I think I fell asleep…”}

^“Gruh?”

“I’d say that didn’t make any sense as usual, Krueger, but for once it actually did,” Lecter replied to the haggard and fatigued man as Voorhees - no longer trying to throw himself in the water - grunted in confusion. Myers, towering above the rest as always, simply stared at the newcomer absently with eyes of inky darkness. By now, Loomis was already sheltering himself behind a conveniently placed boulder some yards down the coastline, peeking out and analysing the situation from what he likely deemed a safe distance. Nobody paid him any mind, fortunately.

Scarlette started to yawn.

“Pleased to meet’cha, Noone! I’m Sweeney! This is Myers and that’s Ray, but we all just call him Chucky,” the scissor happy lass did say cheerily, first gesturing to the goliath and then down to the bouncing shock of red, who proceeded to recite his nickname a half-dozen times in a childishly excitable mantra. Miss Todd herself ignored it and continued her curious introductions, dismissive of the stranger’s rhetoric. “The round guy’s Voorhees, and then we have Lecter, Krueger, Loomis, and our Big Sis, Scarlette!”

Finally, the yawn stopped.

^{“So,” Miss Grimm-Rosa queried:
“What’s this about unfortunate fate?”}

^“Mm…”

“I don’t know who this Wang Chun is,” she continued, straightening herself slightly as she stood and eyeing this Noone character wearily. “But I’m pretty sure I’ve seen worse.” Chocolate eyes cast a cautious but cursory glance to the strange, steel plate case beside her, but soon shifted back to the lady whose age eluded her. “And handled worse still.” Senses prickled again as the girl let her eyelids fall, opening her mind’s eye as far as her current prowess would allow. Tiny pinpricks flitted about, teetering on the hazy edge of her vision, but they were easily recognised as simple fauna. A familiar rainbow surrounded her, but the most fierce emanations came from the tawny mist-walker…

[EJ]

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3

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‘An interesting band indeed...,’ the ethereal kunoichi noted, still keeping up her act without hesitation. She thought that she’d spook a few of them at least. Not everyday did you see someone just pop into view out of the blue – at least in the seas that she knew. The big sister, Scarlette, mentioned having seen and handled worse, and her allies’ lack of awe must have meant the same for them. It piqued Noone’s curiosity as to where these seafarers were from, but questions about that had to take a back seat to what was most imperative, at the moment, to the fighter of ancient times. However, Sweeney’s friendly reception couldn’t pass without acknowledgement!

“It is, likewise, a pleasure, Sweeney-chan and clan, to have met you,” the Vapor Woman began with a small smile, “But unfortunately, the fate that has befallen you is being stuck on this island until you can defeat me in combat.”

Plain and simple, the theatrics were over since this group was unaffected by the anomalies the misty missus had to offer. “Are you up for the challenge, Scarlette-chan?” Her fighting spirit welled up high in spite of her stance remaining the same – her hands joined together behind her back and an intensity flashed in her sea-green orbs as she eyed the lashed up lass, awaiting a response.

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[Vio]

Eyes opened the moment the honorific was applied to her name, gazing through the fine mist at the elder with something more than her usual lethargy. It seemed that Noone had issued a challenge, thus stirring something - a flutter of anticipation within the young woman’s heart. Alas, there was a degree of scepticism alongside that excitement which served to dull her sharpened senses. Faint as her perception of it was, she could still feel a bubbling emanation of intent.

She doesn’t seem that strong, Grimm-Rosa Scarlette thought to herself, raising her left arm slowly before her and flexing her extremities. The faint, uneasy swirls of crimson miasma seeped from her pores, flowing and following the path of blood vessels before accumulating around her hand. The slow and steady pulsations indicative of a beating heart at rest, she bent the knee and stroked the dry sand with her fingertips, yet displaced not a grain. Rather, in the wake of her nails was a blackened stain of otherworldly contrast, rough around the edges like a flesh wound inflicted by a rusty knife.

She stood.

^{“I guess…?”}

^{“Gah!” Lecter cringed, growling:
“What kind of an answer is that?!”}

Scarlette blinked.

“I do believe this fine lady has challenged you to a duel of sorts, Big Sister,” the eccentric explained, pacing back and forth in front of his designated elder sibling and making wide gestures with his arms to accentuate his point. “It would be impolite to refuse such an honourable issue! To arrive on this isle and be immediately challenged by what is no doubt a capable combatant - exactly what you’ve said you wish to seek out? A ‘duel of the fates’, if you will, is at hand!”

^“Bruah!”

“Okay, maybe not so dramatic,” he said, somewhat dismissive of but still in response to Voorhees’ vocalisation. “But still! I can’t stress how readily opportunity has knocked on your door!”

^{“L- Lecter?” Loomis called, still obscured:
“I- I think Big Sis has made up her mind already…”}

^“Oh…?”

Already on the move, Scarlette merely walked at a slow and steady pace towards her would be opponent. Each step was made with rhythm and intent despite her apparent state of lethargy. Her back straightened and her poise bristling with confidence, it seemed like Mullyssa Nemo’s unconventional saviour had already accepted the mysterious ma’am’s dare, though certainly unaware of the true nature of her adversary…

[EJ]

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4

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Peace flowed through the Mist Kunoichi like the wind itself as her opponent displayed an unusual trait. The ground – no. What seemed like the very fabric of space was brutally scored by the marred missus’ knifelike nails before she stood fully erect once again, uttering a remark of uncertainty. It surely wasn’t the type of acceptance to the engagement of combat she was hoping for. She began to think that maybe the bob-haired woman didn’t enjoy a good fight as much as a challenge-driven martial artist, but the reaction of her pale, classily-dressed little brother plead another case.

“Mh hm hm...!” the Vapor Woman hummed at the well-spoken man known as Lecter’s comments. Thus far, she really liked both him and Sweeney. The pair were two individuals with rejuvenating ambience and seemed to have morals of high, righteous value. However, as he carried on, the thunder in the heavens high above grumbled, ‘Round One,’ and he was made aware by his brother, Loomis, to the slow beginning of the battle between two combatants that – unknowingly to one another – sent a myriad of life to their untimely unmarked onuses in the dust.

Raindrops became slightly heavier, tapping the coarse, flinty sand with audible slaps in the midst of smoothed pebbles shifting in surrender to its plummet. Scarlette walked through the supernatural laceration she created with the red glow around her arm, causing the Karate Island grandmaster’s smile to widen just a bit. A fighter who didn’t immediately burst forth with an assault, showing hopes of a calculative nature, was always a gratifying tune in the heart of the old soul. Noone began to move too, though her calm, cadenced steps carried her to the left of her opponent. Hands still joined behind her back, while she walked in a quarter-circle that slowly closed the gap between her and Scarlette, the kunoichi might have looked as if she were full of openings. The flow of her steps could be called yawn-inducing – as they promoted silence. Her nonchalant expression and formless stance, considered lack of experience – as they displayed no care for defense or yieldance toward the mighty. ‘Deception’ was one puissant tool of a naturally-raised shinobi.

The old, wanted criminal native to the southern seas, dubbed ‘Heartless,’ crept along the beach, fishing to see what Scarlette was going to do with the enigmatic power she conjured at the start. If the young woman did not attack at any moment during their strides toward each other, Noone would halt her steps at about six feet away from her competitor and simply stare at her, eye to eye.

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[Vio]

This was boring.

As the two women paced, Grimm-Rosa Scarlette was quick to realise that her opposition was banking on her to make the first move, but that just wasn’t the woman’s style. And her belief was only solidified when the misty-haired madame stopped and stared intently. Was this confidence, or caution? She couldn’t quite tell. Nonetheless, she wasn’t going to humour her foe with a direct offensive.

She raised her hand.

^{“Renaissance du…,” the Offspring Woman muttered:
“Géant!”}

Snap! With a click of her fingers, the deed was done. From out of the blackened mark she had drawn emerged something ruddy and viscous in its nature, at first bubbling and seeping out into a swollen and glossy hemisphere before its form truly began to take shape. With arms and legs and a chubby yet mostly featureless visage reminiscent of the childhood of its creator, Scarlette’s ‘Gigasculus’ now stood proud and tall.

^{“Sw- Aaaah~!” Scarlette yawned:
“Swat!”}

Just one word and the enormous creature began to move, driven by an innate knowledge of what it was being commanded to do. The four-yards-tall goliath immediately stomped towards its target, broad and bubbly hand raised high before swinging down and across in a powerful swing…

[EJ]

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5

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One thing about the old Karate Island relic was that she was very analytical, both in and outside of fighting. She battled countless martial artists in her lifetime, and due to the blessing and curse of being virtually untouchable in a harmful way by cause of the Misty-Misty Fruit, she liked to give her opponents chances to display all they had before she went in on the victory. Scarlette-chan arose as the type to be so opposed to striking first that she summoned a large monstrosity to initiate for her from the dark void that scarred the sands. T’was the first time the svelte kunoichi faced someone with special abilities so outlandish, but she was nothing short of mythical herself. Time wasn’t going to wait for her to express amazement. This was a match!

In a blur of motion, Noone rocketed into the sky, clearing the Gigasculus’ hand. Within nearly the same moment, she ended up behind the Red Terror, left leg extended into a sweeping arc toward the opposite woman’s legs with enough power to pop her a few feet into the air horizontally. The Nebulous Woman was as quick as one would expect any great shinobi to be, however speed wasn’t the only trick she pulled out of her bag. Along her journey, mastery over the martial arts has lead her to develop a technique to kick off of the air as if it were a solid wall! She called it the Heaven Step, which was no different from the World Government’s Geppō. After evading the hand of the huge minion, one Heaven Step flung her across the air over Scarlette prior to another sending her straight back to the ground as fast as she left it. The onlooker that was able to follow such movement saw Heartless zip from one point to another like a shadow of lightning.

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[Vio]

Hm? Did she just bounce off the air? Grimm-Rosa Scarlette quizzed silently as her opponent made a swift, skyward dodge of her Gigasculus’ attack. But the movements didn’t end there. Almost disappearing into the misty aether as she moved, the silver-haired spirit was quick to appear again behind the beast’s conjurer. But all the same, even with the briefest insight into what was about to happen, she chose not to move.

“Quite the astonishing display from Noone,” Lecter announced calmly. “Wouldn’t you say so, Krueger…?”

^{“Yes, quite,” the fatigued man responded in kind:
“A deceptively mobile individual.”}

^{“What’s your take on current events?”}

“It’s far, far too early to make any predictions, Lecter.” By now, Sweeney was eyeing the two men with a mix of curiosity and confusion on her fair facade. Their pronounced whispers were audible and clear, like some sort of commentary on the duel as its first round began to play out step by step. “A sweep of the leg, precisely executed, turns into a clean hit against our Big Sis.”

^{“No attempt at evasion?” Lecter questioned:
“I was expecting her to react to that attack.”}

Despite their running commentary, the situation they were speaking of was unfolding just as Noone had planned. Legs swept out from beneath her, Scarlette was now airborne, body running parallel with the ground over which they fought. An interesting development. This was all par for the course. Not a single attempt at righting herself was made; not a twist nor a twitch of a muscle.

[EJ]

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6

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Into the air Scarlette-chan went subsequent to Noone’s successful sweep, but not without the old fighter noticing something distinctive. The pale combatant’s body tilted as it rose, becoming parallel with the ground before the kunoichi followed up with a powerful kick aimed at her midsection in hopes of sending her somewhere around one hundred feet – give or so – into the murky air above. If uninterrupted, Heartless would hop back and brace herself in a fighting stance fixed in the direction of the Gigasculus, thinking it may come after her once more. ‘Perhaps it only follows one command at a time,’ she supposed when witnessing its inaction. It plainly stood tall and strong, awaiting the beck and call of its conjurer.

“Hm hm hm!” The Nimbus Woman smiled while folding her arms across her dainty chest, looking into the smoggy ether. The last words announced by Lecter were like a reflection of the kunoichi’s own thoughts when Scarlette was clipped. A seasoned martial artist, Noone seemed to develop a seventh sense when it came to those who could fight at a high caliber. It was almost as if she could see their fighting spirit. The stronger one was, the higher their aura reached above their heads. That’s how life looked through the lynxie eyes of the grandmaster. It was evident to her that Big Sis was able to track her movement. The scarred sultana was definitely aware of Noone’s position and chose not to move an inch prior to being struck.

“She let me hit her,” the etheric kunoichi responded to the commentary – half saying it for those who may not have known, and partially saying it as a duly noted intrigue to herself in the event of waiting for her opponent to finish rising and falling. Of course she didn’t chase her into the air in order to continue an onslaught of attacks. The grandmaster felt as though Scarlette was toying around, so she left it up to her to choose whether she’d come back awake or plummet to the sands like a ragdoll.

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[Vio]

Now further afield than she had been before, Scarlette simply allowed herself to ragdoll as the damp air pushed against her face. She had to admit, this Noone character was shaping up to be something of a competent combatant, but this was merely testing the waters. There was a lot more to a good fight than meagre displays of might and motion. She must’ve been a good eighty or so feet in the air by the time deceleration began to kick in and inertia pulled ever so slightly at her innards, but she had a good few feet to go before hitting the peak.

^{Well… She said in silence:
Goodbye, I guess…?}

^{Blurble…! Blurble…!}

Passing an invisible threshold as she soared, the Offspring Woman just barely looked down to watch what would happen next, her creation looking up at her with an almost expectant glint in its opaque blackened eyes as form and fortitude abandoned it. As swiftly as it had been conjured, its body seemed to break loose of its mold as it dissolved into a spreading pool of crimson that saturated the stones and sands.

“Looks like I’ll have to pull up another,” she sighed as she began to fall. At half the distance back again she finally showed some effort at physical control over her descent, twisting her tumbling form to land on her feet. With a thump she touched down, merely raising her head to stare at the warrior. Vulnerability had been high in that moment, yet she hadn’t followed up with another offensive. Curiouser and curiouser.

^{“You made me waste a Gigasculus,” Scarlette said:
“Renaissance du… Chevalier Blanc! Deux!”}

Slurp… Again the call was heeded, this time not by a mass of red, but instead by something far more pallid. Oozing from the darkened rift that remained where it had been previously placed came not one gelatinous figure, but two, white in their colouration and distinctly less bubbly in their look.

“I’ve never seen them before,” Lecter noted, to which Krueger replied.

^{“I think I have while I was awake…?”}

^{“Oi, Big Sis?” Sweeney beckoned:
“What’s a Cavalier Blanch…?”}

^{“It’s Chevalier Blanc, Sweeney.”}

“Let’s turn things up a notch, shall we?” Miss Grimm-Rosa offered, never once taking her eyes off her opponent’s own. Up until now, it might have seemed as if she had been toying with Noone, but now the games were truly about to begin. The competence of an opponent was measurable not just in their offensive and defensive prowess, but also in their ingenuity. In the face of something new and unusual, what would an unknowing adversary do? The Gigasculus had followed a singular order and shown no further actions, but now the misty madam had an altogether more alien foe to fair against.

Two Homunculi of equal proportion to their creator stood at the ready, their bodies more granular and of ivory complexion, but still the same featureless facade marked only by dark eyes. Somewhere within their mostly opaque forms an occasional glimpse of something of deepest purple hue could be seen. One folded its arms whilst the other sat down with crossed legs.

^{“Hey! They moved without being told to!”}

^{“Most unusual,” said the suited sir:
“I wonder what they’re capable of…”}

^“Mm.”

Well, I can’t blame Sweeney for giving up the ghost. These brats already don’t listen to a word I say anyway, but at least I can trust them to act instead of just standing around like awestruck children. Assessing her gift’s own shortcomings and strengths, Scarlette took a deep breath and adopted something ever so vaguely akin to a fighting stance. Still not willing to take action of her own accord, she merely announced her intentions to Noone.

^{“Two clean hits. But,” she smiled slightly:
“I’ll actually fight if you can score a third…!”}

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Grimm-Rosa Scarlette (960018)
Todd Sweeney (960096)
Hannibal Lecter (009618)
Freddy Krueger (969600)
Michael Myers (180018)
Jason Voorhees (180096)
Billy Loomis (969696)
Charles “Chucky” Ray (009696)

[EJ]

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7

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Blood burst onto the shoreline, drawing the nimble nimbus’ eye to the missing Gigasculus. ‘Change of plans?’ Thinking to herself that Scarlette willed away her own minion, she was unaware of the fact that she had kicked her out of her power’s range. Nevertheless, she expected her opponent to come back with a little more spunk, and it looked as if she would. The raven-haired contender chose to land on her feet, to say the least. Her cocoa gaze raised with curiosity toward the aged kunoichi who simply smiled in return. “Pardon me,” she jeered at Big Sis’ comment about her wasting a Gigasculus. In the next instance, the marred missus chanted a new incantation, summoning from her pitchy portal a substance divergent from that of the last Homunculus.

Two gluey, white forms came into being, almost looking like perfect clones of their sire compared to the more bloated contour of the Gigasculus. Both entities assumed their own postures upon completion – something that shocked even those of Big Sis’ crew. ‘Good observation, Sweeney-chan,’ Noone cut a glance toward the hairdresser before returning her focus to Big Sis and the duo of Chevalier Blanc in front of her. The pale young woman still opted to fight using her unusual gift, issuing a challenge to the tawny kunoichi that made her think about utilizing her own exclusive endowment. Usually she would refrain from using the Moya Moya no Mi in a duel, but the potential element of surprise was too ripe to pass up! Not to mention: it was time to see how well the two latest fighters on the battlegrounds moved.

“Challenge accepted...!”

Feet expeditiously beat the sands and the kunoichi clothed in red was zipping toward Big Sis and her White Knights. The plan was to jump in between the gap of the doubles and make them all think she was trying to gain the advantage through speed. Once in the air and within range of Scarlette, Heartless twisted her body and threw her right heel into a kick aimed at the center of the Offspring Woman’s face. Although she ignored the Homunculi and attacked their creator head on, the grandmaster expected a reaction from at least one of the two. Even if naught but a retaliation from Big Sis herself, Noone had a trick up her sleeve that she was confident would grant her access to the third clean hit...

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[Vio]

It was then - in the instant of that attack - that Grimm-Rosa Scarlette knew that there was something far more unusual about this Noone than had been initially explained. Such a direct attack was contrary to what had been executed previously. It was direct. Aggressive… Predictable.

The Chevalier Blanc were not.

With little in the way of prompt, the two gelatinous caricatures moved in tandem, swift and decisive in their approach to what they now perceived as a threat to their pallid progenitor. While the misty madam hurtled forth at an alarming rate, the two White Knights did something far less predictable. The first flung itself directly in the line of fire, spreading its arms and indeed some of its body wide to act as a roughly human sized wall of ooze.

^{“Ugh…!” Scarlette sniffled:
“Feels like I’m catching a cold.”}

The second Chevalier Blanc did something even more abnormal. Body essentially shrinking as it manoeuvred itself about the battlefield, lengthy legs and a distinctly womanly silhouette had condensed into something more akin to a child. But where shrinkage occurred in some areas, growth happened in others. The creature’s left arm drew back, it angled itself so as to perform what would at first glance appear to be a sweeping left hook cut far shorter than it needed to be. But what truly happened was something different. Its arm now swollen to carry much of the weight of its form, said short hook was now a stretching rope of white, granular viscosity aimed to strike the woman’s body as she advanced.

The strategy was simple. One blocked. The other attacked. All without guidance.

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Grimm-Rosa Scarlette (960018)
Todd Sweeney (960096)
Hannibal Lecter (009618)
Freddy Krueger (969600)
Michael Myers (180018)
Jason Voorhees (180096)
Billy Loomis (969696)
Charles “Chucky” Ray (009696)

[EJ]

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8

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Not long after the kunoichi mobilized, the White Knights were on guard; one moving to defend, the other to attack. ‘They even move in perfect sync with no communication,’ Noone quickly noted to the Divine within her. It reminded her of how she used to move with the clan she once called a family in her accursed past. In the eye of the old soul’s mind, the Chevalier Blanc morphed into two masked kunoichi and the beach became a dark, decrepit, oriental village of whose grounds were deranged with mort and blood. T’was mnemonic of the night her mind was broken free from captivity and she went off on a suicidal rebellion turned killing spree. She had multiple assassins, many of whom were raised and taught to fight with her in unison, attacking all at once. Her mind, eclipsed by the blear of rage, couldn’t comprehend how she was able to single-handedly slay an entire clan that knew her talent better than anyone else, but the decades that followed that period of her life shed much light on her understanding of martial arts.

Knees bending quickly, Heartless vaulted into the air in order to dodge once again, this time her trajectory carrying her forward. She allowed herself to naturally be influenced by gravity while she soared over the defending Chevalier, using her Heaven Step to kick off of the air at a downward angle. Her right arm was fully extended into a fist as she dived down threatening to hit Big Sis in the face like a human missile.

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