"Do you still trust me?" Tayena gave him a smirk, a needle with a microscopic chip was filled with nutrients meant to allow for the safe transmission through his body. They were back in the medbay, and he had
just recovered from his injuries. The couple had been training together and spending quality time since their fateful date night. With each visit to the medbay, she contemplated making more alterations to her own body to make herself stronger. It was too bad that Sen hadn't hired any
assistants to take the workload off yet. That meant the pirate had to pick and choose which modifications they had time for.
For now, though, medical tools splayed along the table, properly scanned and sanitized with Sen's help.
"If you put this implant in, you'll be just like a criminal. It'll be painful too, you ready for that, Tai?" She gave him a wink.
"Can't believe I'm corrupting a sweet prince like you." Tay planted one last kiss to her prince's lips before sinking the chip into his wrist with the sharp needle. Her hands were steady after years of shooting practice on rickety ships and cargo floors.
"Even without weapons or spells, there's going to be no fucking way we'll ever be apart." They synced their wrists together. Now, she could communicate seamlessly with her prince. Even without a radio. Even if she somehow found herself back in prison.
"You guys ready to train?" The dullahan peered through the medbay with her bodyguard in tow. They both had the most free time once the crime princess reunited with Veil.
"In a bit, Rana. We're almost done." The pirate waved her off with a smirk. Rana shrugged, a playful glint in her eye that was all too eager to postpone any plans the criminals had. It was more time to spend '
wrestling' with Veil in the sparring ring, after all.
"You ready for the tattoos now?"
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʜᴇʀ | ᴘᴏᴘᴘʏ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺
Give her a face, give her a name
That isn't hers, then make her yours
Say she's adored, call her a whore
Then pick her up, throw her on the floor
"What the fuck is wrong with you? It appears like your master did a terrible job. He should be ashamed for letting you become a brat. Don't worry, Tori. . . I'll be sure to do what your master can't and train you right. If he's too scared to give you a punishment, I'll be harsh in his place."
Blackness.
I'm getting to know her, and all of her anger
Picked herself up, put her back together
Tori was just a normal girl, the impact from a simple hit to her face reminded her of who she was. She wasn't a monster or a deviant. And if she was, was that truly such a crime that her people made it out to be? Especially if there were men like
him roaming about? That moment, that pain alone cemented this for her. The angel didn't want to be given an ugly mark from a man like
him. Not when she knew true love. Tori couldn't be given a face or a name that wasn't hers anymore.
She wasn't going to be tossed away.
"D...don't insult him." Tori staggered, speaking and defending her master even if she couldn't see him. Even if she couldn't see anything. To her, it was a bigger crime than Ten using the name she didn't want him to use. Somehow, she knew she'd be rescued.
"My love..." She gave him a thankful smile. She could rest for now.
V could put her back together.
"Huh?"
After Ten's shock, Tori could only see the fight in short glimpses. Specifically, in short bursts that only focused on V and nobody else.
"Me? Be ashamed? Funny, given how some inbred leech like you is preaching to me about how to treat someone right."
"Punish him...!" The angel was his biggest supporter.
Gosh... he was so
attractive fighting for her like that, blushing as she saw his eyes go dark for her. Who would have thought that Tori had a sadistic streak too? She knew that he was
strong, but Tori had never inquired much into his past life as a veteran fighting alongside the heroes themselves.
Aging was a peculiar matter to immortals. There were immortals old enough that some could remember the reunification wars as if they were yesterday. There were
also immortals young enough to only have an eternity without war. Instead, these younger immortals, no matter if they were vampire, angel, or demon, were almost universally raised with propaganda and taught to show respect to their comrades that still physically remained the same age. V was the former but Tori was the sheltered latter.
What she realized was that V didn't have to be a hero to go
toe-to-toe with a man like Ten.
At least... until that vision was
shattered. She stumbled to her feet, without any concern for her well-being, making her way to her master of hell. Campus security might not be willing to do anything, but Tori had a
unique outlook on her own self-preservation.
Before she could reach out to V, Nine stopped her, creating a wall between them.
"To think, someone as pathetic as you could manage to bruise me. It looks like even I could make mistakes sometimes. I applaud you for proving me wrong. But that respect ends here." The claps were death bells, weren't they? Tori began to panic. The noises reminded her of the ringing cathedral bells back home, a sign of public shaming in the center of heaven, that there was reason to repent and reinforce their holy punishment against an unwitting pariah. Tori knew the noises of punishment all too well, the sound still rang in her dreams and they were ringing now.
"Nine." The second bell. She watched in horror, attempting to pull the woman away before flinching as Nine shifted into Tai's body. A
shapeshifter?
"Apologies, love. If I had to be honest, you're really fuckin cute. Such a shame to have your body as meaty as yours be wasted."
"NOOO!" Please... it was almost a compulsion at this rate, a consequence of heavenly trauma that all liberated angels held; to pray when they were backed into a corner, even if their kami wouldn't listen. Please, kami... have mercy on him. Have mercy on my king, my lord, my master...
"You're not going to hurt him anymore."
Her saviour came in again. She bowed to prostrate herself. "Even if I am not in the kami's graces for any longer, please accept my gratitude." Tori wrapped her arms around the demon lord, radiating her angelic warmth as the fae approached.
"Oh? How cute. I didn't think I'd have to kill a little fairy couple too~ Hold still love; I'll be sure to make it slow and delectably painful."
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: ʀᴏᴀᴅᴋɪʟʟ | ᴠɪᴀʟ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺
I can't stand your condescending tone when you
Talk to me, and every other woman in the scene
Tayena gave her fiancé a satisfied smirk as he managed to subdue Nine. "Tayena. Watch out for the vampire. I'll use my wind magic to detect Nine." Before Tay could protest to splitting up, something about Ten's smirk told the pirate that she'd have an excellent time wiping it off his face. "Whatever. If you let her touch you, I'm going to be pissed." She rolled her eyes.
Tayena didn't have her guns, but what pirate worth their salt would allow such a common scenario all criminals have found themselves in one way or another? Having tricks up her sleeve was practically part of her job description. That, and she made sure not to let their time recovering go to waste. As Tai had recovered from his injuries, she trained, both with and without him, to ensure he would never be hurt again. "Don't touch her, tick. Go back to whatever nursing home you escaped from."
"Oh, another girl to add to the harem. I don't think I'd mind breaking you in too." Tayena pushed through the crowd, her steel-reinforced body coming in between the fallen angel and the pureblood hero. The fae spotted the ground below her start to shift, similar to a loading of a gun and
flew.
She couldn't wait for this fight.
"
So, you're not just a typical fae. Interesting. It looks like I'll have more fun with you~ Maybe I'll get to turn you into a pretty show for everyone around to watch. Don't worry, I'll make sure to return you to the crowd when I'm done making a mess of you."
You should take a look at who you are
Before I come hit you with my car
And then I'll back up
And then I'll go again
As if.
"Ew, don't lick your lips at me." Tayena scoffed, disgusted at the pureblood's advances.
"Can't come up with anything else clever to say? Scared of a girl like me? Too fast for you to catch?" Luckily, she hadn't used any of her mana the entire day and Tayena was feeling restless to move her body. Her wings, delicate for the rest of her abrasive appearance sprouted to easily dodge the spell underneath.
The runes were intriguing too. While Tay wasn't able to read the exact script, she had enough street-smarts not to investigate her curiosity for now. Flying away was easy, but landing on the floor was off-limits unless she wanted to be ensnared in a hero's trap.
The fae
dashed in the air, avoiding his attacks, using her situational awareness and superior flight abilities to her advantage. Thanks to a combination of inspiration from the other women on the crew, she utilized
Rana's unpredictable fighting style alongside
Yume's technological prowess. Despite both of the women she took inspiration from were
present in the con, there was no way her pride would allow her to contact the dullahan through the implant in her arm.
Working with slippery criminals like Rana and Veil, she had learned to use her own unconventional body to catch her enemies off guard. Surprise was one of the most potent weapons when backed into a corner; a split-second between life behind bars or
escape. Not many people, in the underworld and in the
respectable galaxy had ever fought with a half-human half-fae cybernetic pirate.
They didn't know that her knuckles and the balls of her ankles could
sharpen and get heavier once they landed on their foe. They also didn't know that her aim, whether it was guns or
prop cutouts rivalled a
sniper. Tayena launched props and attacked from the air to torment him. They didn't know that her mostly-metal frame could
toss men twice her size. Well... she could do that before she became a pirate, but that was besides the point.
Still... nothing could beat a gun, to Tay's dismay. Throwing a pen into his eye didn't seem to hit the same when the redhead imagined them as
bullets. If Yume had joined earlier, she would have been able to install turrets in her forearms. Still, the lapin did what she could to build upon her body without creating overly radical changes.
As the battle went on, Tayena had even been doing
well before her senses were eventually used against her.
Crashes. Blasts.
A signature smoking gun smell of furious natural spells being cast. Tayena knew the smell of combat and duels all too well. She attempted to block out the noises of their battle, but her perception wouldn't let her. Neither could her loyalty to Tai.
Goddammit, Tai, please be okay.
"
Do you hear that, Tayena? Your prince is getting toyed with. I wonder. . . How long do you think he's going to last? I give him a couple minutes. More if my Nine wants to indulge herself in his body first~ Maybe if you surrender fast enough, you could come back to a corpse that's only in two pieces when I'm done with you~ Hurray, a body you could still bury."
Gods... goddammit! Tayena grit her teeth, cursing herself for how human she was in this moment. The princess had been on the brink of losing him not too long ago. She had
just gotten him back. What turned into a fun day of making memories was becoming a painful reminder of another possibility that Tai could be
taken away from her.
Tay was used to threats and bluffs from bounty hunters. Hell, she was the same pirate that shot at angels
multiple times. But none of them were
heroes. Something in his speech or the latent spells he used to manipulate and tap into the energy around him was making the redhead go weak. Her steeled fists
clenched. Her blood... it felt hot.
Tayena was being burned alive by her own body.
Make... m̰̰̹͚̙̂ͦ͗͠a͔͔̜̗̦ͩ̅̎k̼̼̞̦̞̼̔ḛ̡̰̳͓̥ͬ͋ͪͧ i̧̻̻͉̜͑ͪ̾͟t͖͖̠̬͛ s̨̞̞̰͎͎̪̩͕̈́̀ͯ̍ͧͅt͖͖̠̬͛o͙͙̙̘̙ͤͫ͞p͔͔͚͉̬̋ͩ̾͗... it H͇͇̹͊ͪ́̕ͅU̝̝̝̲̦ͣ͋͛̊R̛̦̦̝̤͌̏͜͟͜T̼̼̖̾͟͞S̢̼̼͖̺͖ͪ.
No... she couldn't imagine her prince with another woman. Not... not ever... again.
Tai P̤̤͖ͪ͑̕͜͜R̛̦̦̝̤͌̏͜͟͜Ơ̷̴̪̪̝͈̥͈̆̀̚M͚͚̻͂̇͜͟͟I̡̨͙͙̪̹̾͟S̢̼̼͖̺͖ͪE̢̢̻ͮͧͦ͋͞͡D̷̨̥̥̥͖̞͐ͮ̄.
Her resolute violet eyes
faltered, as if she was back in her castle during that fateful day.
Pirates could be caught off-guard too. "You take that back, you fucking LEECH! I'm! I'm gonna fucking KILL you!" Her fists became erratic, swinging wildly. It didn't matter if some of her hits began to miss.
It wasn't like she could ever be perfect anyway.
"YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME!" The fae shrieked, angry tears flowing from her face.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK! TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!"
"Oh, V..." Tori wrapped her arms around him, the same way she would if he had returned from the war.
"There's no need to act strong for me, V. You got a hit on a hero! For me of all people. That's... that's so impressive. You're soooo strong~" And hot. Tori squeezed him tight.
"
Tori. . . Let's take a break before we meet up with the others. I'm. . . Sorry, that I wasn't enough to beat him up for you. I. . . I'm just happy you're okay. Can we go back to the park for a little before we catch up with the other-"
While Tayena was concerned about losing her prince, Tori had recently reunited with hers.
"Wait." Tori wanted to make things up to him.
"I... my healing classes were a long time ago, but I know how to heal spirit magic." She squinted her eyes as if she was straining. No luck.
"S-sorry..." She was
fallen. She was about to curse the kami once again before they both bumped into a hero.
"Thank you, friend."
As Sen healed her demon lord, her eyes widened at the sight of a fellow angel.
Was his wife fallen... like her? No, that wasn't right. While Rafaela's appearance, from the facial piercings, the tattoos, to her matching dark hair, all aligned with the stereotypes of a fallen angel, there was a key difference that differentiated her from her fallen comrades. Her wings were still white, though, having come from the dubious myth that they were made 'white' with belief in a kami.
"Oh, um--"
"It's Sen. But. . . I guess you might know me as the hero, Three. This is my wife, Rafaela. You two. Who did this? Who hurt you? Where is she?"
Unlike her human husband, Rafaela was dressed as a
chaperone. Dark sunglasses covered her features, with a loose convention t-shirt covering her muscular frame. Nothing, not even the subpar weapons section drew her to the convention other than her desire to not be in the same ship as the
vampire couple when the crew was gone. That, and making sure their new
daughter was alright. The others were strong enough on their own, but Yume needed protection from a strong angel like her... right?
"Y-You're Rafaela?! T-The first angel? You're really married to a human?" There was no angel in the galaxy, fallen or otherwise that didn't know about the hero, her halo was practically signature to her, it looked more streamlined, but it was undoubtedly
her. Tori's prayers had been answered, just not to the god that she had expected. Not that she expected much of the intended kami anyhow.
"H-How did you do it?!" Tori was
starstruck and in utter disbelief of
who she was seeing. Her voice sounded like she met her role models. As a daughter of two archangels, she knew of their mandates and loopholes. Angels selected to be warriors didn't have the same leeway that 'civilian' angels were. They were bathed in holy fire and given inseparable weapons at
birth. While Raf was a hero of the galaxy, warrior angels were the
chosen heroes of heaven.
"You were a christened warrior, they couldn't have let you off easy... I-I... wish I could be like you!"
"Shit. . . Yan's gonna not let me hear the end of it if that prince ends up needing surgery in the med-bay. . . Again."
"Come on, Raf. Let's save our family."
ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: sʟᴏᴘᴘʏ | ᴋɪɴɢ ᴍᴀʟᴀ & ᴜᴘsᴀʜʟ
↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺
God called, she said I'm headed straight into the fire
But I like the way that it burns
Karma, keeps showin' up and slashin' all my tires
But maybe that's what I deserve
"Already ahead of you, Sen."
Rafaela
loved being called his wife, a cocky smile that showed her lip and tongue piercing for a brief moment was
meant to make her husband's heart skip a beat. In fact, she was
already glowing. However, the glow was only visible on her hair, with her enhanced sunglasses blocking most of the blinding light.
"Yan's gonna fucking yell at me too, remember? We barely escaped the last time."
But before she left, the golden angel noticed she
almost loved angels that loved this new version of her just as much
. "I can't stay for too long AND it's smart to get out of anywhere Ten's staying. But... sure. Let me tell you a secret, sister~" Rafaela gave the fellow angel a smirk, pulling her
christened lance out of her chest, twirling it in the air with a hint of braggadocio.
"Dedicate yourself to a god that cares." The taller angel tapped on the golden tag below her collar before launching herself in the air.
Tried it out, played my role, did everything I was told
But the universe still has me in a choke hold, so
If life is gonna fuck me, then give it to me sloppy
On a silver platter, serve me a disaster
Get undressed, leave a mess, worry 'bout it after
"Give me a shout if Ten ends up being too strong for you~" Sending her husband off with another arrogant look, the prideful hero dove straight towards the
more dangerous foe. Would she truly be the first hero and their leader if she wasn't willing to throw herself into the fray?
Though, once Rafaela entered the scene, she groaned at Nine's antics
. The shapeshifter, to Raf's dismay, was playing with her food again. That was annoying. The angel was a battering ram, not a
logician.
Ugh... she grit her teeth. Who was she supposed to
pummel? There was some merit to simply attacking whoever was less damaged (considering the strength of a fae prince next to a hero), but men like Sen and women like Yan were proof that nobody could be underestimated.
Still, she couldn't be a halfway decent leader without some deduction skills. Or at the very least, tactics to compensate for where she was lacking.
Whatever.
"Nine? HA. I didn't know you turned into Ten's bitch after the war. Beating on kids as soon as you get out of Yan's shadow?" Raf provoked the shapeshifter, paying attention to her split-second reaction. If she couldn't recognize who was who, Raf was going to
drag her out. Unbeknownst to even the angel herself, her psyche was being filled with hubris. The gracious leader that prayed after each defeat in battle was becoming irreverent, openly taunting her foes.
It was clear to any hero that fought against or alongside her that Nine was fighting a
different One.
There you are, bitch. With a slight upturn to her lips, the angel smiled as if she had caught her prey.
If life is gonna fuck me
It better call me mommy
Bend me over backwards, dare to make me sadder
But her husband wasn't the only person that influenced her fighting now. Her new
daughter had taught her the value of caution, of
thinking before acting after too many broken scraps when Raf attempted to help with Sen's cosplay. It had taken a few bumps in the road, but Yume managed to convince her that
'smiting her enemies with impunity knowing you're correct beyond a reasonable doubt' was worth the payoff of
powderizing everything in sight. Now, the brash angel was going to assess her options once she had gotten every single piece of information.
"Alright, I'm trapping you both until Sen's done. Or your girlfriend. Whoever beats that vamp up first. Sorry kid." She rolled her eyes, her fists glowing gold.
"If either of you try to escape, I'm smiting you from the inside." Using slightly different magic from what protected Yan from a bullet-storm in Yokoso, she grabbed 'both' fairy princes and trapped them both midair with what appeared to be twin golden spheres. While they could both move and speak to their heart's content, they couldn't attack each other.
Being the most powerful hero felt good.
"Hey Sen! How's it going over there?"
The angel had the gall to ask.