Chapter 38: Light Pink
Hopeless stumbled out of the shattered office building, shaking with absolute fury. The smallest, most insufferable of those girls had literally just thrown him through a structural wall.
I am done playing with these brats!
Suddenly, his body began to tremble and creak. His fingers lengthened into sharp, jagged claws as his frame expanded, thick dark fur sprouting across his skin. Massive, black crystalline spikes erupted from his shoulders, and his teeth elongated into a menacing, predatory maw. He had abandoned his human form completely. Raising his head, the beast unleashed a horrific, inhuman howl that shattered the remaining windows on the street.
Just moments earlier, Pink had been leaning casually against her mallet, inspecting her nails. "Do you think we're done here? Mom bought Tony some pistachio ice cream, and I really want to try it."
Then, the howl struck.
Both girls watched in horror as a nearby building completely collapsed. The towering creature stepped through the rubble, its guttural voice echoing down the block. "Playtime is over, you pastel monsters!!"
With a swift motion, the beast ripped a parked car off the asphalt and flung it directly at Suki. Suki’s eyes widened. She swung her katana with everything she had, barely managing to slice the vehicle clean in half as it flew past her.
But the monster was already moving faster than they could track.
Before Suki could even recover her stance, the creature materialized right in front of her. Catching her completely by surprise, it drove a massive fist straight into her stomach. The impact launched Suki backward, sending her crashing violently into a brick wall. She hit the ground hard, clutching her torso as she coughed up a small splash of blood.
Pink stared in absolute horror toward the rubble where Suki had fallen. Because of her distraction, she never saw the second fist tearing through the air toward her own head.
The blow connected squarely. Pink went airborne, skidding violently across the cracked asphalt until she slammed into the side of a parked sedan.
Wincing, she painfully forced herself back onto her feet. "Damn... that actually hurt..."
She barely had time to find her footing before the monster was upon her again. Its claws flashed in a deadly arc. Pink managed to bring her mallet up just in time to block the primary swipe, but the sheer force drove the claws downward, slicing across her fingers. Crimson blood began to drip onto the handle. She swung back in retaliation, but the beast easily fluid-dodged the counter.
They were operating on completely different levels now. He was faster, stronger—and Pink could feel the gap closing in.
Suddenly, a massive, glowing Area-of-Effect (AoE) runic circle materialized on the pavement directly beneath the monster's feet as he landed. Focused entirely on tearing Pink apart, he didn't even notice it.
Instantly, the sky split open. A torrential downpour of localized meteors and crackling lightning strikes plummeted directly onto the coordinates. The monster scrambled to dodge, but the sheer volume of the magical barrage ensured that most of the heavy strikes connected.
The attacks weren't faster than him—they were just completely, unpredictably chaotic.
Through the smoke, Grey Girl calmly walked out onto the battlefield, letting out a casual yawn. Pigeon Chad was perched comfortably right on top of her head.
The monster's narrow eyes locked onto her as he shook off the debris. "You... you're the sixth member. Good."
Leaping off a high ledge, the beast launched himself like a missile straight toward her, claws fully outstretched to rip her to shreds.
Grey Girl’s response was pure insanity. Instead of running, she cast her maximum-damage AoE spell ten times over—centered directly on herself.
The monster's eyes snapped wide open in sheer disbelief. "You fool!!!"
The entire intersection erupted into a blinding apocalypse of cosmic fire and lightning. When the smoke finally cleared, the monster's fur was heavily smoking. Furious and singed, he growled, pulling himself up. "You damn magical girls are the absolute worst scum I have ever fought... I will take immense pleasure in your destruction!"
He began a slow, menacing march toward Grey Girl. She was currently kneeling on the pavement, completely scorched and burned from her own spell, using her body as a shield to cradle and protect a slightly dazed Pigeon Chad in her arms.
The beast's claws extended, clicking against the asphalt as he raised his arm for a lethal swipe.
CRACK!!!
Out of nowhere, two boots—shrouded in a dual aura of vibrant pink and pristine white energy—slammed violently into the side of the monster's jaw. The sheer velocity of the kick sent the giant beast flying laterally across the street, embedding him deep into the frame of a crushed car.
Grey Girl slowly looked up, blinking through the ash. "Pink...? Tony...?"
But it wasn't Pink. Not exactly.
The girl standing before her looked like Pink, but her uniform was an elegant, sweeping fusion of stark whites and deep magentas. Her long hair had been pulled back into a sharp, singular wavy ponytail, and her eyes weren't the usual bubbly pink—they were a piercing, blood-red. A terrifying, wide grin stretched across her face.
The fused magical girl spoke, her voice carrying a sweet, yet deeply unnerving melody that echoed with multiple tones at once. "Hm hm hm... So the little puppy finally shows his true form? If that's all you've got, and you dared to hurt my precious friends... I'm going to make every single second of this count."
Grey Girl stared at the volatile aura radiating off the stranger. "Pink? Tony? Who... what are you?"
The girl paused, her red eyes gleaming with absolute malice as she tilted her head.
"I'm Light Pink."