The inside of Chloe's house is dark and cozy, the lights turned low to prepare for the movie. You'd think I wouldn't be a fan of the dark, given the whole… y'know, Dark World, but paradoxically I always find myself more comfortable away from the light and sun. The dark is where I'm powerful, where I'm in control. The dark might be where all the bad things come from, but it's also just… who I am. A light in the dark. When it's already bright, what good am I?

  "You're okay with dogs, right?" Chloe asks.

  An image of one of the wolf-like monsters I fought today flashes through my mind, its jaws open as it leaps towards Aurora's throat. Purple crystals emerge from all over its flesh, hatred burning in its eyes. I shoot it in the head, and with an explosion of gore it dies, rapidly turning to dust.

  Focus. She's talking to me.

  "Uh, yeah," I say. "I'm fine with dogs."

  "Great!" Chloe beams. "Come on, come meet my dad!"

  "Uh, okay."

  I'm ushered into a small entertainment center with a decent TV, a well-worn armchair, and a slowly collapsing couch. The armchair is already occupied: a middle-aged man lounges in it like it was made for him, happily holding a steaming mug in one hand and petting a dog with the other. The dog has a small bed of his own right next to the armchair, and he seems quite happy with the current setup overall. The dog's fur is a mix of three or four different colors, and its fluffy, curled tail wags happily as it sits by its master.

  Chloe's dad gives me a warm smile as I approach, which immediately helps me see the family resemblance. He has big, calloused hands, a face full of stubble with a few flecks of gray, and his left leg appears to have been amputated just below the knee, replaced with a metal prosthetic.

  Lucky. Just a little higher and walking would be a way bigger problem.

  God, it says a lot about me that my first thought when seeing someone with a severe injury is 'lucky, could have been worse.' It's kind of messed up.

  …Hey. I didn't mean it like that. And I wouldn't tell him that out loud!

  "You must be Eliza!" Chloe's dad says, standing up and holding out a hand to shake. "I'm Rob, or you can call me Mr. McNeal, I suppose."

  "Uh, good to meet you," I manage, shaking his hand. His dog stands up and starts sniffing me.

  "And this is Bosco," Mr. McNeal says. "He's my therapy dog."

  "Oh! Should I not pet him, then?" I ask, aborting an attempt to do just that.

  "Oh it's fine, it's fine," Mr. McNeal insists. "He's a good boy, you can't distract him too much. We're at home anyway."

  "Eliza!" Chloe calls out from the kitchen, causing me to flinch a little. "Do you want any marshmallows in your hot chocolate?"

  How should I know? I never drink hot chocolate.

  "Uh, anything's fine!" I call back.

  "So, Eliza," Mr. McNeal says. "Chloe's told me a lot about you!"

  "Only good things, I hope," I say.

  "Maybe. I'll never tell," he winks at me. "But hey! Sit down, make yourself comfortable. How do you feel about The Emperor's New Groove?"

  "Never seen it," I answer.

  "Ooh! You're in for a treat, then!"

  "Chocolate time!" Chloe announces, returning with two more mugs. "This is it! The treat that you're in for!"

  "Not the movie?" I ask, accepting the steaming mug and bringing it up for a sip.

  "Well that's good t—oh, careful, it's… hot?"

  I swallow the steaming liquid, then take another gulp and swish it around on my tongue. It's really sweet! I like it. I guess she put those marshmallows in.

  "It's really good, thank you," I nod. Her dad whistles.

  "Iron mouth you got there," he says.

  "Yeah," I agree. I'm not really sure why, but after so many years of being an Earth Guardian a little of the magic just rubbed off on me. Even untransformed I'm a bit stronger, faster, and tougher than a human should be.

  I wonder if it's a smaller-scale version of whatever fucked up Anath's body.

  I'm not sure it matters much either way. Uma'tama has been pretty darn clear about how dangerous Dark World corruption is. Whatever is happening to me isn't much of anything like what happened to the Dark Witches; I'm tough, but I'm pretty sure I'd still be killed by a bullet if I get hit without any shielding.

  I'm not saying it's the same, I'm saying it might be similar in principle. If it's possible to permanently enhance my body WITHOUT being corrupted by the Dark World, it's worth looking into.

  "Eliza?"

  "Huh?" I blink.

  "I asked if you wanna sit down," Chloe says gently.

  "Oh," I say, looking at the couch. "Yeah, thank you."

  I sink into the abused cushions, trying to relax my muscles and failing. God, thinking of Anath makes me worry she's going to go after my brother again. I can't believe she goes after my brother. My brother! She's going to seriously hurt him one of these days. No, don't think about it. When she shows up again I'll beat her into the ground. And if she hurts my brother I'll fucking kill her with my own two hands!

  The last time I fought her flashes through my mind, reminding me of every mistake, every last thing I should have done better. It's not just beratement. I've practiced. I've prepared. If she shows her goddamn face again, I'll be ready. Again and again in my mind, I watch her move, watch her beat me, watch her nearly kill me. Again and again and again and again…!

  Something cold and wet touches my hand and I gasp, jumping a little in shock. Oh, it's just the dog. Bosco. He walked over and put his head on my lap. That's… that's sweet of him.

  "...Eliza? Are you okay?" Mr. McNeal says, looking at me with a deep concern on his face that I don't quite understand.

  "I… I'm fine," I insist. "Bosco just startled me a little, is all."

  He keeps staring at me. Even Chloe is surprised.

  "...What? What is it?" I ask.

  "I've never seen Bosco do that with anyone else before," Mr. McNeal says.

  "Uh. Well, my family has always been popular with animals?" I say.

  "...Eliza, he's a trained therapy dog," Chloe reminds me. "That's what he does when my dad has a war flashback. To… y'know, help bring him back to the present."

  I… but that's not…

  "...Oh," I say. "Uh. Sorry. I'm fine, though. I've been spacing out a little today, I guess."

  "It's been a lot more than little," Chloe says. "Did something happen today? Do you wanna talk about it?"

  "I… nothing today, no," I answer. "It was just a normal fight. Nobody got hurt. Convergence sealed. It was, uh. A good day. Pretty… pretty standard."

  Understanding dawns on Mr. McNeal's face, though it immediately shifts back into worry.

  "Oh. Oh, kid…" he says softly.

  Oh, you just HAD to mention the convergence. Now he knows, and he fucking pities me for it. I don't need his pity. I don't want his pity! This is why I don't tell people this shit!

  I thought Chloe already told him! Ugh, I feel awful for having this come up at a family movie night that I'm intruding on. I'm being such a horrible guest. None of them should have to deal with my problems.

  "It's fine," I insist. "Really. I'm just excited to see this movie you want to show me!"

  Bosco nuzzles his head further onto my lap as I wipe something out of my eyes. They're wet for some reason.

  "Let's just… watch that," I insist. "Okay? I just… want to enjoy spending time with you. Please."

  Chloe and her father share a look before turning back to me.

  "...Alright, kid," Mr. McNeal acquiesces. "It's a pretty good movie, I think you'll like it. And if Bosco wants to sit with you and Chloe, just… do me a favor and let him, yeah? He's a really good dog."

  I nod, not trusting my voice. I make sure to use the hand not holding my hot chocolate to scratch behind Bosco's ears.

  Oh yeah, the hot chocolate.

  Huh. Right. I am holding that. I take a sip.

  It's really good.

  Yeah. It is.

  The movie begins. It is apparently about some jerk of an emperor who gets turned into a llama and presumably will have to learn about love and friendship on his journey back to becoming human. I hope the evil witch lady dies. Yeah, that hits too close to home, huh? Evil woman turning people into animals. I can feel Bosco nuzzling me a little harder every time she's on screen. It's a little embarrassing.

  Outside of her, though, I do really like the movie. It's just… really silly. I'm not exactly a silly person, but I guess it is nice to have a break from time to time. A comedy really was the perfect choice. I forgot how much I like to laugh.

  "That was… that was pretty great," I say as the credits start to roll.

  "Right?" Chloe grins. "It's one of my favorite movies."

  A rumbling sound suddenly erupts from my stomach, audible over the music coming from the television. I blush.

  "You hungry?" Mr. McNeal asks.

  "A little," I admit.

  "Well, the tikka masala should juuust be about done simmering," Chloe says, standing up with a big smile. Man, she is always smiling. I wonder what she's so happy about. "I like to cook it slow. Makes everything nice and soft."

  She walks off towards what I assume is the kitchen and I just stay where I am, not entirely sure if there's something I should be doing other than scratching Bosco behind the ears. Chloe's dad stands up, motioning me towards another room. The moment he does, Bosco gets up and trots to his side.

  "Let's wait in the dining room," he says. "Chloe likes to bring everything out like it's a big production."

  "It is a big production!" Chloe shouts from the other room. "Food is art!"

  Her dad chuckles, shaking his head with a fond smile on his face as he leads me towards the dining room. It's a pretty tiny room, all things considered, barely big enough for the four-person table and chairs that it houses. The only other piece of furniture is a small shelf holding a few objects: an urn and a picture of a woman.

  "That's her mother," Mr. McNeal says bluntly.

  "Oh," I answer softly. The only thought running through my head right now is 'did I fail her?'

  "Eliza?"

  I blink.

  "Huh?" I ask.

  "I said cancer took her," Mr. McNeal repeats. "Back when Chloe was very young. There was nothing anyone could have done."

  I swallow, not liking the way it seems as though he's looking through me.

  "I'm sorry for your loss," I manage.

  "We all are," he says. "It's still hard, after all these years. Problems feel a lot easier to manage when there's someone to blame. Even if it's ourselves. But hey! At least I don't have to worry about it with this bad boy."

  He motions at his prosthetic.

  "There's definitely someone else to blame for this one!" he says. "Probably a lot of people."

  Well, now I have to ask.

  "How did you lose it?"

  "Transport vehicle I was riding in got blown up in Iraq," he explains, and I tense up. "One minute I was having a boring old truck ride, next minute I'm in a hospital getting honorably discharged. It threw me for a loop, but in some ways I'm glad it forced me to come home."

  "Do you know what blew you up?" I blurt before I can stop myself.

  "Not your rogue Earth Guardian, if that's what you're asking," he says, cutting to the heart of it immediately. "I did see her while I was on tour, though. It was a pretty harrowing sight."

  I clench my fists, unable to meet his gaze. Earth Guardians are not allowed to fight in wars; our powers are for combatting magical threats, not interfering with local politics. The Preservers are very firm on that point.

  "I'm sorry you had to go through that," I tell him. "No one should have to feel threatened by us. We exist to protect you."

  "The threat isn't what made it harrowing, kid," he says. "Watching a ten-year-old fight to the death, screaming with rage the entire time, is what was harrowing. She wasn't even going after our boys when I saw her. She killed people on every side."

  "Da-da-da-dah!" Chloe suddenly cries out, walking into the dining room with a big pot in her hands. "Food's ready! Rice yourselves up. Oh, Eliza, is there anything you want to drink? We have milk, juice, soda, whatever."

  "Uh, juice is fine," I answer, a little whiplashed.

  "Coming right up!"

  She sets the pot down and I watch as her father scoops the rice in it onto his plate. I copy him once he's done, and then Chloe returns with another pot that presumably contains whatever we're putting on the rice. When she leaves and returns a third time, she's carrying drinks for everyone, which she places on the table for us before sitting down and starting to serve herself. The food is really good. It's meat in some kind of orange sauce that tastes like tomatoes and cinnamon. I think she already told me the name, but I forgot.

  I make sure to compliment her food out loud, as well as ask for seconds, and she seems very pleased when I do. She and her dad chat a lot during dinner, but I mostly focus on eating. Something about how good it tastes is making me very aware of how hungry I am.

  I probably don't eat enough, huh?

  Being hungry makes anger and fear come easier.

  That's true, but I should look into whether or not it's affecting my strength. Hunger might be a crutch, and if so I don't need it. Better to work the leg.

  Bosco bonks my leg with his nose again. I swallow the food in my mouth and give him another scratch.

  "Hey, boy," I greet him.

  "You ever think about getting a dog, Eliza?" Mr. McNeal asks.

  "I'd like that, but I don't think I would have enough time to take care of one," I say. "Plus, I figure I can always visit my brother if I want to spend time with animals. He loves them to pieces."

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Well, you're always welcome to drop by here as well," Mr. McNeal says.

  "Yeah, if you like my dinner so much then you absolutely need to try some more of my recipes!" Chloe insists. "My dad has no taste. He'll say anything's good!"

  "Honestly, I probably will too," I admit. "But if the meals are anything like tonight, it'll be because it is good."

  "Aww," Chloe coos. "Well that's really sweet. I'd love to—"

  My phone starts to ring, interrupting Chloe with a familiar song. My whole body goes tense. Really? Again? Twice in one day?

  "Hello?" I say, answering the call. Shoot, I probably should have apologized first. It's rude to talk on the phone at dinner.

  "Eliza," Uma'tama's voice says from the other end. "Anath is back."

  Well, I promised. I am going to fucking kill her.

  "Damn it. I have to go," I hiss, covering the receiver. "Thank you so much for dinner, it was really nice, I had a great time."

  "Duty calls?" Mr. McNeal asks.

  "Literally, I suppose," I say, motioning with my phone. "Bad luck, I guess."

  "Well, be sure to come back again!" Chloe insists.

  "I will," I promise, returning the phone to my ear. "Where is she?"

  "She's headed exactly where you think she's headed," Uma'tama answers. "Please don't be reckless, Eliza. The backup I mentioned earlier is less than fifteen minutes out. I'll send her your way as soon as I can."

  "I don't need backup," I scowl.

  "Please accept it anyway," Uma'tama pleads. "I assure you, she won't slow you down."

  "…Fine," I answer, and hang up the phone.

  "A-are you going to transform?" Chloe asks.

  I blink. I mean, I wouldn't normally do it with witnesses. The flying cat's kind of out of the bag, though. Yeah, I still have no idea what the fuck I was thinking when I did that, but I guess transforming now will get me there faster.

  "You wanna watch?" I ask.

  "…Yes please."

  I nod. It's a bit embarrassing, but I suppose she said please.

  "I W??? N?? F???."

  The change flows over me as it has a thousand times, my human form flooded with power as it gets replaced with a version of itself meant for battle. My armor coalesces around me and my gun drops into my hand. I place it into its new holster as the light burning around me fades.

  "F?????s A?????? S??????? F??????."

  "…Woah," Chloe says.

  "Stay safe," I remind her, my voice more familiar in my ears. "I've got a squirrel to catch."

  "Good luck?"

  "Never had any," I answer, and I head for the door. The moment I step outside, I take to the air, rocketing off towards the pet store Jim works at. He's not actually on shift today, but Anath doesn't know that. It's where she will be.

  Flying is a little more difficult as Fulgora than as Minerva. I'm not entirely sure why; maybe it's just that Minerva is so much smaller and lighter than this form, but there's just a different quality to the flight for some reason. Maybe it's class-based? Magical girl names are simultaneously very important and entirely arbitrary: Minerva is a 'princess' because she has a leadership role and fights from the back. I'm an 'avenger' because I fight alone and from the front… among other reasons. Am I worse at flying like this because my incarnate form isn't optimized for it the way it is when I'm Minerva? Why would that be the case? An incarnate form is supposed to be an ideal manifestation of who we are. Why would I have two ideals?

  I hope it doesn't have anything to do with how we keep talking to ourselves.

  I mean how I keep talking to myself.

  …Right, yeah.

  No time to think about this. There's Anath. She spots me around the same time I spot her, a sickeningly happy grin blooming on her face the moment she does.

  "Fulgora!" she calls out to me. "It's been so long!"

  I respond by manifesting my weapon and dropping on her head.

  "Woah!" she says, jumping back to make space. I don't let her, immediately moving to close the distance and continue my assault. "Geez! Were you this fast before?"

  "S??? F??s?!" I shout, letting the magic flow into my limbs and move me even faster. Anath does her best to dodge and weave around my staff, but I still land a crushing blow to her ribs and immediately take the opportunity to follow up.

  "L???????? A??!"

  The first hit leads into the second, an explosion of thunder knocking Anath down the street as the fleeing civilians I just realized still haven't evacuated escape around us. Shit. I have to be careful how I hit her. We're not in the liminal space.

  I was having such a good day for once. It was awkward, it was uncomfortable, and people kept interrogating me and pitying me about being an Earth Guardian. But it was still a good day, god damn it. I was with my friend! My only fucking friend! And I will not let this happen again!

  Anath spits out a glob of blood, a wild grin showing ever more of her teeth as she stares at me, enraptured.

  "You sure didn't waste these last couple months, did you?" she asks. "I haven't even seen Jim today, but I've never seen you this pissed."

  I'm normally a lot more afraid. Afraid you'll hurt him. Afraid I won't be enough to stop you. Even though my transformation stone is just as good for it as anger, casting with fear just doesn't seem to work as well when I'm Fulgora. But there's nothing to fear today. Jim is at home. The convergence has already been taken care of. And this stupid bitch doesn't even know Chloe exists. She doesn't know that she's made me run out on her.

  She doesn't know that I was having a good day, and there's no better kindling for rage than burning what used to be happiness.

  "A?????????: H?????'s H?????."

  "Woah, fuck, already!?" she yelps. "P?ss??? S???!"

  She leaps out of the way of my staff, but my weapon hits the road and the shockwave still catches her, flooding her defenses with magical energy and sending her tumbling down the street. Using an Abreaction this early is a bit of a risky move, but I have power to spare and can afford to waste a little taking her down as quickly as possible.

  "Fine! We'll go hard!" Anath declares. "P????? W?????? P???? U?!"

  I'm ready for it this time. I've been anticipating it. Anath's body twists to become all the more beastlike, from the long ears on top of her head to the nine tails growing out of her spine instead of just the one, the already feral girl clads herself in the fullness of her power.

  "R???s???? B??s? C??s?????? A????!"

  There's always less time than you might expect during a transformation, but I make sure not to waste it. By the time she's done declaring her name, I'm already swinging at her again. My staff hits her and follows up the blow with a thunderclap, an immediate one-two punch that pulps most monsters in a single blow.

  Anath's incarnate form blocks it on the crystal blades growing out from her forearms, and it barely causes her to take a step back.

  "M????? B???!" she snarls, golden magical energy coalescing around her fist. I can feel the movement of the energy. This is a very, very powerful attack, but she's dropping her own defenses to power it.

  No need to risk it. Just play it safe.

  Like hell I will. I step forward, pressing my attack even as Anath's fist flies towards me.

  "L???????? A??!" I shout, and the world goes white, pain erupting in my shoulder as I fail to completely dodge her punch. I'm sent sailing through the air, tumbling and skidding across the ground before I regain control of myself with my good arm and leap back to my feet, ignoring the pain.

  It was worth it. I hit her.

  Anath is in just as bad a shape as I am. My attack connected with her head, and as she tries to stand up, blood oozing from her forehead and blinding her in one eye, she stumbles. My left shoulder feels broken, but Anath can barely see straight. I charge at her again.

  "P?ss???—"

  What? She secures her footing, and though her one working eye is entirely unfocused, she crouches down to launch herself at me all the same.

  "—S???!"

  She charged at me like this the last time we fought. I countered her with Storm Barrier, because I wasn't entirely familiar with her spells and I panicked. But I've replayed the fight in my mind a hundred times by now, thinking back to everything I did and the ways I could have done it better. There's no need to block this spell. Anath is too straightforward. She's charging directly at me, like she always does. I can make her pay for that.

  I leap left, swinging my staff towards the spot where I was just standing.

  "A?????????: H?????'s H?????!"

  This is it. This will end the fight. The momentum of her own spell crashing directly into one of my strongest? She doesn't stand a—wait.

  She's flying right at me. Why? How? There's no way she would ever…

  She was dizzy. I think she just jumped the wrong way and I dodged into her.

  No. No. No! I will not allow something as absolutely fucking stupid as this to stop me!

  "L???????? A??!"

  I've barely even started the swing of my Abreaction, so through sheer force of will I force the two spells to combine rather than explode in my face. The full-power force of Heaven's Hammer accepts the speed of Lightning Arc, and the sudden acceleration in my swing allows me to put the force of the attack in front of me rather than to the side, barely connecting with Anath an instant before she collides with me. I feel the satisfying crunch of bone against my staff, and the explosive force knocks her to the side, through a storefront, through the shelves, and into the back wall, shattering brick.

  Whoops. I hope they have insurance.

  I feel… drained. Not completely spent, but that definitely took a lot out of me. The boiling anger that carried me this far is a fading sputter of what it used to be, a memory that no longer seems to muster the same level of rage. It's… pleasant, in some ways. But I still need to finish capturing Anath, assuming she survived, so I take a moment to remind myself how pissed at her I am before heading into the mess of the store I just knocked her through.

  I can hear her pained, heavy breaths. So she's still alive, at least. I no longer quite feel that burning need to literally murder her, so that's somewhat of a relief. When I finally see her, she's still in the indent in the wall she made with her body, broken and bleeding. Yet as I approach, she lifts her head and smiles.

  "Fuck," she swears, coughing a little. "Did I catch you at a bad time or something?"

  "Yes, actually," I answer, trying to decide on the best way to capture her and turn her in to Uma. Restraining spells aren't really my forte, so I guess I should just knock her out? Concussions won't inflict permanent harm on an incarnate form. Probably.

  "That's not all, though," Anath says. "You've been training real hard, huh? I guess I finally lit a fire under your ass. Kehehe."

  "Trying to take credit for my victory, huh?" I ask. "I suppose it figures that you're a sore loser."

  She chuckles a little, coughing out a dark liquid. I tense up, preparing for an attack. A yellow mage laughing means they're still in the fight, no matter how injured they seem.

  "I'm happy for you," she insists. Shit. I swing my weapon at her head, but one of her bleeding arms whips up and catches it mid-attack. "G??s? ?? ??? C???. Come on, Fulgy. Chat with me a while. I haven't stalled for long enough yet."

  I strain against the intense pressure trying to crush me into the ground, gritting my teeth at her.

  "Stall?" I ask. "What are you planning? What's going on?"

  "Honestly?" Anath asks. "I'm not totally sure. I was just offered a chance to distract you and I couldn't even think of saying no. It was pretty fucking cool how you got me! You've definitely surpassed me in skill."

  "I know," I snarl, twisting my weapon out of her grasp and smashing it into her face in one clean motion. Anath's spell weakens my strike a bit, but it's still a clean hit to the skull. More blood starts pouring from her face, and for a moment I think it's over. But then, of course, that damn grin gets wider.

  "Shame I still have you beat in power," she taunts. She taunts. Me. A fucking red mage. And I can tell she knows exactly what she's doing. Fine, then! Third time's the fucking charm, bitch!

  "A?????????!" I roar, putting my full strength into my most powerful attack. "H?????'s H?????!"

  Anath watches my strike approach, and her lips move at an impossible speed, time seeming to slow as she speaks a spell that makes my heart scream with fear.

  "C?????s?s: L??????? ?? ??? B????."

  Crap, crap, crap, run, abort, abort!

  My swing connects with the spot Anath just was, hitting nothing but brick and blowing the wall to bits. Anath's maddened giggles ring out from around me, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere as faint flashes of movement dance in the corners of my vision. I can't believe that crazy bitch can use a fucking Catharsis! She'll be completely drained when it's over, but who knows how long that'll take!

  She's right, I can't beat this in power. I have to run.

  Bolting out of the crumbling store, I take to the air, looking around desperately for my opponent. How am I supposed to know where to run if I don't—

  "Leaving already?" Anath asks, her claws suddenly wrapped around my ankle. "Don't be rude! I put on my Sunday best for you!"

  She yanks me out of the sky, the maddened laughter resuming as I crash into the asphalt. I roll to the left on instinct, Anath's claws scraping through the side of my armor as they impale the ground beside me. I turn to look at her and she vanishes into a blur, that Cheshire smile seeming to linger for a split second as the air cracks like thunder at her passing. I leap to my feet, barely avoiding another blow that hits the ground hard enough to send chunks of the road flying into my face, blinding me long enough for Anath to land another hit.

  I do my best to use flight to arrest my momentum, but I still smash clean through a light post and bounce off of a brick wall before I get a hold of myself. The moment I do, I see her smile and her fist.

  "S???? B??????!" I shout in a panic, manifesting a cloudy shield that barely absorbs Anath's strike, the magic nearly collapsing under the weight of the blow.

  "T?????? B??s?!" I follow up, detonating my struggling shield in Anath's face with a wave of lightning. It hits her head-on, eliciting a scream as I fly backwards to make more distance.

  "Ow!" Anath yelps. "Geez! That's a new trick!"

  No, it's just one of Minerva's spells. Why am I using them in this form again?

  It doesn't feel right. I should be smaller than this.

  No time to think about it. Focus. Her Catharsis is clearly an empowerment type.

  Which is terrible news, because that means it'll probably last a while. Still, we have to run out the clock. There's no taking this head-on.

  She's faster than us! Stronger than us! We can't run away, it would just leave us exposed!

  I know, I know! But what do I do, then?

  She's a moron! Trick her!

  "F????????—!" I begin, aiming my staff directly at Anath. She blurs and disappears again, that insane speed placing her well outside my line of fire.

  "—P??s?!" I finish, twisting my shot to aim at the ground beneath my feet. A glowing, pulsing storm of unnaturally geometric lightning blooms on the ground as I start to leap away again, Anath only moments from another strike.

  "Huh?" she says, and then my spell explodes in her face as she passes over it.

  I'm caught in the blast as well, but my body is naturally resistant to lightning and I can ride the blastwave to make more space for myself anyway. Anath shouts in pain as the magical electricity courses through her, causing her to convulse as she tries to stand.

  She's stunned! Don't let up!

  "F???????? T???—!"

  Anath's eyes snap towards my face, and I realize that the entire time, her laughter has never stopped.

  Pain erupts in my stomach as Anath closes the distance in a blink, a crystal spike growing out of her knee suddenly deep inside my torso. My mind tries to process what just happened, but Anath's magic floods into my body from the crystal and I'm launched off of her knee like a cannonball, blood pouring from my gaping wound as I spin through the air, roll over a car's hood, and eventually skid to a stop on the sidewalk.

  It hurts. It hurts so much. I can't win like this. I can't. I have to run, I have to run, I have to run, I—!

  NO! I won't run again! I have to fight! There's no choice but to fight!

  I… I can't…

  Then I'll fucking do it myself!

  Leaning on my staff, I struggle to my feet. Soon. I'll have to strike soon. I can't see her, she's too fast, but that's basically just her Passion Step anyway, isn't it? I just have to swing. There's no need to see her, no need to hear her, I just have to swing! She's going… to charge me… now!

  "L???????? A??!"

  I swing. My timing is perfect. I can see her as I speak the words, barely fast enough to catch a glimpse of her in motion with the aid of my spell. She's charging right at me, just like I thought she would. I watch her eyes widen as my staff comes for her. The moment of impact, the moment I finally fucking beat her, is in my grasp. While my blood spills out of my guts, while my consciousness wavers by a thread, while I can barely muster up the anger for one more spell, I finally get to win.

  Anath stops on a dime, and my attack hits only air. The rumble of thunder that follows punctuates the silence as we stare at each other.

  "Heh," she says. "Almost got me again. I really like you, Fulgora."

  My only response is an incoherent scream of rage, swinging again for her head. She leans back to avoid it, and an instant later she's inside my guard, aiming a punch at my wound. Agony sears itself into my body, blooming out from the point of impact and overwhelming my thoughts. My anger sputters, and then a follow-up blow to the temple sends me sprawling at her feet.

  "You've got pretty good pain resistance!" she compliments me. "I was so right about you. You should come home with me. What do you think?"

  Her foot raises to stomp on my head.

  "Go fuck yourself," I spit.

  "Aww. That's too bad."

  I close my eyes as her foot falls, submitting to fear like I always have and always will, no matter how hard I try. Will she drag me to the Dark World while I'm unconscious? Will I wake up a maddened monster like her? The terror keeps me still.

  But instead of crushed bones and blackness, I feel the world slow down.

  "S??????? H??s???!"

  What!? Who is…? I open my eyes, spotting a small girl with short black hair standing at the far end of the street, a smirk on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. I barely get a good look at her before she explodes into brilliant orange light, her incarnate form manifesting piece by piece. She grows a little taller, seeming to manifest the classic magical girl sailor suit as her uniform at the start, but after her fairly standard top she ends up with a tight pair of shorts instead of the skirt, bare feet instead of the boots, and fingerless gloves.

  The shining tiara still appears on her head as her last piece of clothing, but the transformation apparently isn't done. Sharp, pointed ears emerge from the top of her head as a gray wolf's tail sprouts from the back of her spine. What was the beginning of hope turns to terror as claws grow from her fingers and toes. Is she another… no. It can't be, right? Even with the animal features, she doesn't look like a monster the way Anath and her ilk do. No crystals grow out of her flesh, and despite the collection of extra parts she's far more human than beast, more girl than wolf. The final part of her transformation is the manifestation of her incarnate weapons: a pair of long daggers, one in each hand.

  She spots me staring and gives me a wink.

  "Y??????? F??s? L????s???? A??????s?!" she announces to the world, her orange transformation stone shining on the back of her right hand.

  "Who the fuck are—" Anath begins, but she's interrupted by the pavement around the unknown Earth Guardian cracking as she rockets towards us, again too fast for me to see. I just hear the clang as Anath blocks a strike from the other girl's dagger with the crystal blade on her forearm, having closed the distance between us in an instant.

  Anath's irritation at being interrupted vanishes, that mad grin blooming once more on her face. Amaterasu matches the expression, the two of them pressing their weapons together, blades locked.

  "Cheater," Amaterasu accuses, though she doesn't sound the least bit upset.

  "Haha, what?" Anath blinks, and the lock breaks, a rapid exchange of blows ringing out above me. I can't muster the strength to move.

  "Your crystals are very valuable!" the newcomer calls out over the din of clashing blades. Her accent is fairly thick, though I'm way too lightheaded to try and figure out what kind of accent it is. "Store a lot of power! How much of it is yours?"

  "Nearly… all of it!" Anath growls, pushing Amaterasu away and making distance just so the two of them can charge into each other at full speed. Move by move, Anath is matched in strength, her strength fading while Amaterasu remains fresh. Even as the laughter of Anath's Catharsis fades, they fight on.

  I remain on the ground throughout it all, knowing I should return to human form so I stop bleeding out but being too damn stubborn to go through with it. Slowly but surely, the new Earth Guardian finishes the battle I started, and it looks like she never even needed my help. The sounds of the fight slow and then stop, and soon enough Anath's unconscious body is dropped beside me.

  "Capture success!" Amaterasu beams. "You are Fulgora, correct? Hello!"

  "...Hi," I croak. "You're an Earth Guardian?"

  "Yes…?" she confirms, seeming confused about why I had to ask. I flinch as her tail flicks behind her. "Uma'tama told you about the backup, correct? Please call me Su-san!"

  "Uh, okay Susan," I mumble. "Nice to meet you."

  "Su-san," she repeats, enunciating each syllable for some reason.

  "Yeah, okay. Um. It's great that you beat her," I say, pushing down the boiling envy inside me. "But she did say she was trying to distract us."

  "Oh," Susan says, her smile dropping. "Distract us from what?"

  "I don't know," I answer. "So I guess she succeeded."

  She frowns thoughtfully for a moment and then shrugs, picking up Anath's unconscious body with one arm and throwing it over her shoulder. It's kind of comical, since even though she looks like she's about my age and her incarnate form gained height during the transformation, she's still very short.

  "Well, we will secure this one rather than chase two rabbits," she decides. "Are you a capable walker?"

  I assume she means 'are you capable of walking,' but either way I think I give her a pretty clear answer by passing out.

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