-RELGION, BEHEMOTH PLAZA-
They left under the cover of night.
The moon shined overhead, the clouds passing through and obscuring parts of it as the succubi trio soared through the skies like birds of prey, circling the city below. They could see the lights and buildings, so tiny and distant, from above, and could hear some of the buzz below. The people were noiser than usual, though. While the plaza was the place for gatherings and parties, the succubi had never seen so many people gathered around at once. Especially not around three colored dots Scarlet knew had to be the flower witches.
They descended slowly, trying to get a better look at the scene. The Flower Witches, especially. Scarlet could tell the one draped in red was the leader, with hair the color of fire. Not to mention, she was holding the Ordrak Stone in her hands. The blue haired one had longer hair and looked devoid of any and all emotion, like one of those robots from the Techno Kingdom. The last was blonde and wearing a more traditional witch outfit, and she couldn't stop jittering, even as she sat on her broom. Maybe she had a few energy drinks too many.
"Yo, what the heck is up, you miserable fleshbags?!" said the red haired witch with a smirk. "We're the Flower Witches, and you know what? We're gonna rule the whole damn place, ya hear! No more of this Dark Council shit! The world belongs to us, and we're gonna show you how the fuck we do!"
"Yeah," said the blue hair in a flat voice. "We're going to... um... fuck you up. And stuff. Woo."
"Imsoexcitedsoexcitedsoexcitedohmanohmansunnycanwekicktheirassesnow?" asked the blonde, speaking as fast as lightning strikes.
The demons glanced at each other before snickering. The red hair saw them, though, and with a snap of her fingers, they combusted into flame, screaming and melting into mush. She turn turned back to the crowd, all who stepped back.
"Anyone else wanna talk shit about us? Or did we make ourselves clear?"
The crowd nodded. The witches smirked. Or at least, the blonde and the red hair did.
"Good. You guys get to die last! Now, here in my hands is this stone, ya see? And when I power it with my magic, some real fuckin' shit's gonna happen. Any fucks who wanna stop us can step right up right now, and maybe get a real good taste of defeat before I turn all ya'll into paste!"
Silence. More backing away. The red hair smirked and raised the stone in the air-
BOOM.
The crowd was scattered as something crashed onto the scene, a cloud of dust getting into the witches' eyes. When it cleared, however, the trio could see another group, standing before them: a blue haired succubus, summoning a pair of claws and putting her hair in a ponytail; a purple hair succubus, with hair braided back, her glasses adjusted, and with a gattling gun held in her hands; and one helluva buff succubus, holding a giant axe, armor black as the hearts of men, hair the color of blood spilled on the battlefield.
She smiled, this succubus, and said, "You're trying too hard, kiddo! Maybe you should cut the shit and leave world domination to, I don't know, the professionals, hm?"
The red haired witch snapped, "Who the fuck do you think you are, talkin' down to us like that! Talkin' down to ME. SUNFLOWER. THE MOTHERFUCKIN' BOSS OF THIS JOINT?!?"
"Someone who lived longer than your sorry ass and killed more competent gang members than you, you little shit." Thunk, went the axe as she slammed it onto the ground. "I don't have a proper name. If I had one, people are to fuckin' scared to mutter it these days. I've done a lot of bounty huntin', after all. 100% success rate, too. So I wouldn't blame 'em.
You? You can call me Scarlet. It'll be the last thing you say before I crush your head under my boot!"
"Fat chance, musclehead! I'll turn YOUR head into paste!"
"Andwe'lleatyourgutstooandhaveapartyandfingerpaintwithyourblood!"
"And we'll do other horrible things, like... uh...um... buying lots of things with your credit card."
"Yeah! We'll give you massive credit card debt, yo! Then you'll be cryin' back to momma for money, like a little pissbaby fleshbag!"
The succubi turned to each other with bored expressions before turning back to the witches.
"Too bad for you, we don't have a credit card," Tina said. "And we're broke."
"And you're still trying too hard," Scarlet grumbled. "Seriously, 'fleshbags'? Come on."
"BET YOU CAN'T DO ANY BETTER, SHITHEAD!"
"Oooh, looks like we have a badass over here!" Sora said in mock worry, waving her hands in the air. "Scarlet, can we kick their asses already?"
"Yeaaah, why don't you kick our asses already?" taunted Sunflower, putting her hands on her hips. "You're just full of shit, you know? Talkin' shit and all but you can't even back up your fuckin' words! Bet you're just CHICK-"
WHAM. The blunt side of Scarlet's axe smashed into Sunflower's side, sending her flying off her broom and into a building. Before she could get up, Scarlet was right there, standing above her and glaring down.
"You wanna fight, mate?" she hissed. "Fine. We'll give you your fight.
AND WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU'LL REGRET IT. "
The succubi sprung into action without waiting for the opponents to react. Tina took her gattling gun and opened fire, spraying heart-shaped bullets at Marrigold the blonde. Sora soared towards Water Lily, the blue haired witch, and tried to dig her claws in, only for her to put a barrier around herself. Scarlet slammed her fist into Sunflower's face before delivering a mighty kick, the little girl flying even farther this time. Her broom zoomed back to her, though, and she climbed up and started launching fireballs at the buffcubus, forcing her to back off and launch a bolt of lighting to try to knock her off. No such luck; Sunflower moved out of the way and lashed Scarlet with fiery whips before surrounding herself in flames and slamming into Scarlet at full speed.
Marrigold became as light, zipping around all of the bullets Tina fired at her before sneaking behind her and zapping her. The succubus flinched, giving her the chance to barrage her with a lightning-fast magical barrage, sending her skidding back. Tina could hardly respond with a barrier spell before Marrigold struck again with an electrical tackle, then raining down bolts of lightning. When it appeared she let her guard down, the lightning witch went in for another tackle, only for Tina to bring up her gun and fire at her at point blank range, the witch screaming in pain and falling off her broom. Tina didn't give her a chance to get back on, sending her tail towards the broom and snapping it in half.
Sora was having trouble piercing through Water Lily's barrier. No matter how many times she struck, it would hold fast. Water Lily pointed at her and fired a stream of bubbles, the succubus grazing by it as she flew off to dodge. The bubbles then stopped in mid air and flew down towards Sora, dodging most of it but some of the stray one slamming into her. Water Lily soon summoned an icy wind, sending it towards Sora's wings, but the succubus was too fast, only litle bits of frost forming on her wings.
It was then that Sora realized something: Fire. Water. Lightning. The elemental triangle. She went to mage school for this stuff, and it was a game of rock-paper-scissors: Water beats fire. Lightning beats water. Fire beats lightning. It was the basics of magic.
And so, she shouted at her comrades, "Hey! Scarlet! Use some water weapon or something on that chick! And Tina, use fire! Or maybe just don't use light!"
"Would have appreciated that earlier, Sora!" Scarlet grumbled as she struggled to hold her ground against the aggressive witch, who would simply not stop barraging her with fiery attacks, and definitely wouldn't stop laughing at Scarlet's misery. Unfortunately, she didn't have anything that would allow her to use water attacks. Not that she could shift her armor and weapon anyway, not while being on the defensive. She had to get an opening... but how?
Sunflower soon summoned a fiery flail and charged in, swinging it about before slamming it into the succubus's face. She grinned as Scarlet yelped in pain, enjoying the sweet smell of flesh burning, that distinct sizzle. And she did it again and again and again, eager to see the demon's brains spill from her head for her defiance. Even when she was knocked down, she slammed it into her, laughing and enjoying every minute of it.
She did stop, though, to put her boot on her face. "Not such hot shit after all, huh, you little bitch?" she laughed. "Some bounty hunter you turned out to be! Serves you right! You and your little bitch crew should just leave, with your little weak shit! Because the only reason you're even alive, homie, is 'cuz I like watchin' you bitches suffer and die slowly!"
Scarlet didn't respond. Sunflower scowled and dug her heel in before stomping again.
"Did you even fuckin' hear me, you little shithead? DID YOU?!?"
The buffcubus smirked, even as the witch stomped on her.
"I heard you," she said quietly. "And I say this: you're still trying too hard."
Before Sunflower could stomp again, light surrounded the buffcubus, bright enough to blind the witch. When the light died down, Sunflower found herself kicked off as Scarlet got right back on her feet.
Not in her black armor, though. No, she was as brilliant as the flames...
A flaming empress.
Before Sunflower could react, Scarlet summoned her axe to her side and slammed the blunt side into the witch's gut. She followed with a mighty slash, and another, and another. The witch howled in pain before continuing her strategy of barraging the buffcubus with fire. However, Scarlet only laughed at her attempts, as the flames hardly scorched her skin anymore.
"Like my new digs?" Scarlet asked with a chuckle, flying towards Sunflower and punching her right in her face. "It's pretty effective against fire! Too bad you're stuck dealing with me, huh?!"
Sunflower tried to speak, only for Scarlet to punch her again, knocking some of her teeth right out. One good swing from her axe chopped Sunflower's broom in half and left a nasty wound on the little girl's chest.
Marrigold was still using her speed to her advantage, dodging bullet barrages and all, although now she was unable to soar through the air. Tina stopped shooting for a moment, allowing Marrigold to get up close and try to sock her with a bolt, only for the succubus to put up a barrier last minute. She relished in the blonde witch's surprise before turning around and jabbing the witch with her tail. Marrigold screamed as the tail dug into her skin and drained her of power. The witch used her speed to get away, but she seemed more sluggish and tired, unable to keep up the pace she had before.
Tina waggled a finger, her tail charged with electric energy as she said, "Oh, sorry! I just wanted to borrow your powers for a while. Do you miiiind~?"
"OfcourseImindyoudummy!" came the angry response. "Thatsmypoweryoucan'thaveititsmineminemindMINE!"
The purple haired succubus adjusted her glasses before putting a finger to her chin, deep in thought and ignoring the thunderbolts and bubbles flying between Sora and Water Lily behind her. She then smirked and replied, "Then come and get it, if you're think you're good enough for me~"
"I'llmakeyoueatthosewords!"
Marrigold used a burst of speed to try to get close to Tina, but she was so high up in the skies, she looked like an ant hopping to try to reach a bird. When it was obvious she would not be reaching Tina that way, she angrily fired lasers from the fingertips, only for Tina to bring up a barrier and return them back to sender. The witch then sent lightning bolts, only for those to be reflected back, too. After many, many, many tries, the witch decided to fire a barrage of star-shaped bullets at Tina, who counteracted with heart-shaped bullets.
She couldn't help but yawn before flying down and delivering a mighty hip drop upon the poor blonde.
Needless to say, the child could not handle the booty as well as certain fallen angels could, falling to the ground with a THUMP.
Water Lily's barrier was beginning to crack under the pressure of electric attacks from Sora. Not even water jets and homing bullets deterred the blue haired succubus away from her. All Sora needed to see was the look of worry forming on the normally emotionless witch's face to know she was on the right track before whistling at Tina. The witch desperately tried to keep them away with geysers of water and normal energy blasts, but too late: Tina and Sora's tails twisted together as the energy Tina drained transfered over to Sora, and she charged her claws with electrical energy and sped towards Water Lily, barraging her like Marrigold did with Tina.
Sora could only smirk as the barrier, unable to handle any more attacks, cracked and broke under the pressure, her claws raking over the witch's chest, the witch writhing in pain and dropping like a sack of potatoes.
The succubi gathered together, trumphant at last. The demons around them cheered, the young tyrants defeated.
Well, sort of. Sunflower waddled over to them, Marrigold and Water Lily crawling and stumbling until they stood up with their leader. "You haven't won yet, assholes!" Sunflower yelled, holding up the Ordrak's Stone. "I still have this rock! You're going to fuckin' regret leaving it intact!"
Scarlet's heart beat faster, not from fear, but from excitement as the stone heart glowed in Sunflower's hands. Finally, more of a challenge. What would happen? Would she warp life around her and turn the crowd against her? Would she warp the fabric of reality herself and become an eldrich monster? Or would she summon Ordrak, rumored to be stronger than the Seven Sins combined?
Her heart beat faster and faster as the stone glowed brighter and brighter...
The witches gathered together and held their hands up before they unleashed a brilliant red laser in front of them. It ripped through the earth, destroying everything in its path. Sunflower cackled as she kept it going, only stopping when her comrades ran out of juice, the beam dying down. "How do you like THEM apples, huh, bitch?!" she shouted. "No one would survive our Magical Death Ray! No fucking way! That'll shut your big, fat lip for good!"
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
The witches paled as the dust cleared, the succubi and the crowd behind them still intact, Tina holding her hands up to make a barrier around all of them, although it had quite a few cracks. She let it down and sighed in relief, Scarlet staring blankly at the Flower Witches.
"You had the power to do anything," she said, her voice quiet at first. "You could have done anything you wanted. Warp life. Warp reality. Summon a giant fucking 'I will fucking END YOU' enemy to ravage the demon world.
And that's what you chose to do. Used the Ordrak Stone for a giant laser attack. A fucking laser attack."
The witches were as white as a sheet before the succubi trio towered over them, glaring down at them. They could only turn on their cute, looking like puppies guilty of tearing up a couch, hoping that would spare them long enough to get the hell away.
Scarlet laughed and said, "Well, I guess you did one thing right. You deprived me of a better challenge. Congratulations, by the way. Now, you plan on giving up this dumb shit, or do you want to die?"
The witches seemed to become cuter as Tina, in her moment of weakness, reached out for them, extending the hand of mercy. Sunflower reached for that hand...
And fired one last laser, right at Tina.
Oh, the succubus was fine. She felt worse things in battle than that. Her dress was tattered and burned and her glasses, broken. She smiled through the pain, retracting her hand as the little witch laughed at her. Oh, that hideous laughter of a girl who pranked her.
Sunflower might have opened her mouth to say something about them being stupid and naive. About how they would never change, how they would be Gs for life, and they'd come back to rule another day after licking their wounds.
She had no such opportunity as Tina revved up her gattling gun and turned her into nothing but paste.
"Anyone else~?" the succubus said sweetly, relishing in the fear, the panick in the remaining two witches' eyes. "I have plenty of bullets left~!"
When it was clear that they were no longer going to oppose them, Scarlet stomped on the Ordrak Stone, shattering it into pieces before stomping on those, too. Sora conjured chained and tied the two witches up before letting Scarlet left them up over her head with one hand.
And with mighty wingbeats, the trio left, taking the witches away under the cover of night.
-------------------------------
A week later, they were back at Reggi's, sharing a hearty meal with Gluttony and Penelope. Sora and Tina were enjoying their bowls of ramen, but Scarlet didn't even touch her bowl, a look of disappointment all over her face.
Gluttony turned to her and asked, "Oh? What's got you all down, Scarly? Forgot to do your sets the other day?"
"It's not that," Scarlet grumbled, taking her chopsticks and swirling her soup around.
Penelope glanced at Scarlet and asked, "W-was it not enough money for that job?"
"Not that either. Hell, it was plenty of money. "
Gluttony tilted his head, his idiot hairs forming a little question mark. "Then whatever is making you look so down, hm?"
Scarlet's lips moved, but nobody could hear her. She was a little louder next time, but it was still a whisper. And then finally, in a mighty shout....
"THEY FUCKING ROBBED ME OF A CHANCE TO KICK ORDRAK'S ASS, THOSE LITTLE SHITHEADS! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING COOL WITH THE STONE, THEY JUST WASTED IT ON A STUPID DEATH RAY! 'OOOOH, I'LL PASS UP THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE COOL AND SMART FOR ONCE AND JUST TRY TO BLAST YOUR ASS INTO SPACE!' YEAH FUCKING SMART, TOO BAD TINA'S A FUCKING WHITE MAGE HUH?"
Scarlet panted, catching her breath as all eyes turned to her. Penelope was shivering in her seat, while Gluttony just stared at her.
"...So you're just mad because you couldn't fight Ordrak?"
The buffcubus sat down and slammed her face into the table.
"Yes. I am."
Sora slurped a bit of her soup happily before commenting, "But that's our leader! Always wanting to beat world-ending enemies just so she can have another thing to be proud about!"
"Cheer up, Scarlet," Tina said, patting her leader's back, "Next time, we'll find a bounty that's a lot smarter and harder to deal with!"
"I hope so," the buffcubus sighed. "Otherwise, I might die of boredom."
Penelope put a finger to her chin before she said timidly, "I, um... I might know someone... who fits that description... I think his name was Irasha... with ten eyes, ten arms, and ten legs, and with a lot of power behind his bite..."
Scarlet sat up straight, a serious look on her face.
"Tell me more. Now."
And as the baphomet told Scarlet all about this new threat and bounty, her cohorts sighed in content as they continued to finish their meal.
One adventure after another. This was the life they were used to leading.
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