The Master Spark roared. It was a torrent of rainbow-colored destruction, a blast capable of leveling mountain ranges and carving new valleys into the earth.
Mio didn't move. She didn't even flinch.
As the searing light reached her, she simply raised a single, open palm. The beam hit an invisible wall inches from her skin and stopped dead. It didn't explode; it folded.
Like paper being fed into a shredder, the massive torrent of energy was sucked into a tiny, swirling singularity in the center of her hand.
"A bit hot," Mio remarked, her voice steady despite the roaring gale.
With a casual flick of her wrist, she tossed the compressed ball of light skyward. It detonated miles above the atmosphere, painting the clouds in a mock aurora that bled across the stars.
My Mini-Hakkero hissed, thick smoke curling from its cooling vents. I stood there, chest heaving, my vision swimming in a sea of spots. That was my trump card. My absolute limit. And she had tossed it away like trash.
"My turn to show you a 'spark,'" Mio said.
She pointed a finger at me. There was no warning no charging sequence, no build-up. A needle-thin beam of pure white light lanced out. It was faster than thought. I barely managed to tilt my head; the beam grazed my cheek, cauterizing the skin instantly. It sheared through a lock of my hair before vaporizing a straight line through the forest behind me for miles.
"Miss Sakuya!" Ruby's scream was a distant, distorted echo.
Behind me, the Murder Time Trio was falling apart. The clones weren't just numerous anymore they were regenerating. Killer was buried under a mountain of duplicates, and Horror's axe had snapped clean off against a Mio clone's hardened skin.
"We're getting slaughtered here, Boss!" Murder yelled, coughing up dark ichor as she blasted a path toward me. "This girl... she isn't playing by the rules!"
Suddenly, Mio blurred. Before I could even think of stopping time, her hand was a vice around my throat. She lifted me off the ground, her strength effortless and terrifying.
"You have such interesting friends, Sakuya," Mio mused, her eyes scanning the struggling Trio with the curiosity of a child looking at ants.
"Let... her... go!"
A streak of red and silver slammed into Mio's side. Ruby, her eyes glowing with a faint, desperate light, had swung Crescent Rose with every ounce of strength she possessed. The blade bounced off Mio's ribs with a sickening metallic ping, but the sheer surprise was enough to make her loosen her grip.
I tumbled to the dirt, gasping for air, the world spinning. "Ruby, no! Get back!" I wheezed.
Mio looked down at the girl, a small frown marring her porcelain face. "You're still here? I thought I gave you a head start."
"I'm not leaving my friends!" Ruby shouted. Her legs were shaking, but her grip was firm. In her left hand, she clutched the crystal she'd found a jagged, hungry shard of energy that seemed to hum in the palm of her hand.
"Stay away from her!"
Mio's eyes locked onto the crystal. Her expression shifted from boredom to a sharp, manic delight. "Oh? You found a Shard. Well, little Red, if you want to help her so badly..."
Mio snapped her fingers.
Gravity simply ceased to exist. I was slammed into the sky, pinned against an invisible ceiling a hundred feet up. The Murder Time Trio vanished in puffs of dark smoke, their summons forcibly severed by the sheer pressure of Mio's presence.
"Sakuya!" Ruby cried out.
She looked at the crystal. Then at me. Then at the monster in front of her. With a look of grim resolve, Ruby didn't throw the crystal. She plunged it into her own chest.
"Oh wow," Mio whispered, her eyes widening.
The crystal sank into Ruby's flesh like it was water. Then came the screams.
A shockwave of violet energy erupted from Ruby's heart, a physical manifestation of agony and power. It leveled every tree in a half-mile radius and shattered the barrier holding me in the sky.
I fell, crashing through broken branches before hitting the forest floor with a bone-shaking thud. As I struggled to lift my head through the settling dust, I saw her.
Mio stood in the center of the crater, clapping her hands softly in genuine applause.
Standing opposite her was Ruby. But the girl I knew was gone. Her red cloak had transformed into a tattered, ethereal dress that flowed like liquid shadow. Her silver eyes were gone, replaced by pulsing, violet voids that leaked dark energy. She gripped Crescent Rose, which now hummed with the same jagged, hungry light.
"Interesting," Mio whispered, a predatory grin spreading across her face.
Ruby didn't speak. She moved.
The last thing I saw before blacking out was a shadow-blade carving a path toward Mio's neck. Mio leaned back against a nearby rock, casually popping a piece of candy into her mouth as the world exploded again.
"Round two," Mio chirped, her voice light and airy. "Don't die too quickly, okay?"
A/n: I'm back, guys! Sorry for the very late upload the holidays really took it out of me, and I wanted to make sure I enjoyed the time off. I hope you guys understand. But man... Ruby just became a Spirit? Which is crazy
A/n: did you forget about me!