A different kind of whale (Worm/FGO-based Gamer) Chapter 6

Chapter 6: 1-5 [Social Link]

January 3rd

The holiday weekend finally ended, and with it, the Boardwalk finally opened back fully, alongside the rest of the city. Which meant it was time to go on a proper shopping spree, to ensure Outis had enough clothes to last her without repetition. That was Elizabeth’s decree. The Countess herself decided it would be good to pick up some of the local fashion for her own, too, seeing as the Csejte didn’t exactly come with a wardrobe update. Which meant that, even once Violet Caster had cooked up an amulet to hide her inhuman features, all Elizabeth could wear without rousing suspicion was a blouse from her wardrobe. Practically a nightgown, really, put under her dress to create an illusion of modesty.

How that modification alone both didn’t look like a sloppy mess and somehow managed to make the whole ensemble look somewhat casual was witchcraft entirely beyond Violet Caster. The Countess of Csejte was truly a terrifying woman.

“As a noblewoman, and more importantly, an idol, it is but natural that I can make any outfit look good. And then put that instinct to practice until I am also experienced at it.” The dragoness explained with a smug grin as soon as she noticed Outis’ astonishment.

“You never cease to amaze.” Outis said with a shake of her head and a crooked grin as she let the Install drop. “Now, do you want this to be a girls’ day out, or would you rather–” A flick of a mental switch and the bizarre sensation of being stretched out. Man, his female form really was tiny compared to its counterpart. Still, he managed a charming enough smile, he hoped, “I escort you as a gentleman ought to?”

He was met with a blank blink and a momentary silence as Elizabeth’s brain clearly and visibly did its best to reboot from the new information. Huh, hadn’t Da’at’s data dump covered this for his Servants?

[It did not seem consequential enough.]

[I will make a note to include that sort of information in the future.]

Fair enough. It wasn’t that important compared to language and modern custom–

“Of course it’s important!” Elizabeth screeched at the air before grabbing Outis, her nails digging hard enough in to feel uncomfortable as she looked him over. “Ssss-He will need two sets of wardrobe! Maybe three, if we want to include unisex as a separate option.”

[Brilliant reasoning.]

The Countess huffed as she released her Master and began patting him all over. “Can’t have my manager look bad, even if you don’t seem to mind looking like a very attractive, surprisingly well-kempt homeless person.”

“Enchanting clothes to adjust to my body shouldn’t be too-too hard, at least? So aside from dresses and skirts, everything should be usable in both forms.” Outis chuckled as he let it happen, choosing to focus on the ‘attractive and well-kempt’ parts. Then his smile softened, gently taking Liz’s fretting hands into his own, “Thank you for the concern, I know I can get too fixated on work to think of how I present myself. I will be in your care.”

“Y-you are welcome.” Elizabeth muttered, hiding her face by looking down. “I-I guess it’s not quite the reason t-to work in pairs but we do complement each other nicely, hmmm~?” She gave him another grin before finally stepping back. “Although, I must say, magic feels like cheating, in this regard. Must be why so few Casters I’ve met had any sense for what proper fashion is.”

“That list begins and ends at Medea, I bet.” Outis snorted, before popping out his elbow in clear invitation.

“Da Vinci and that slutty fox too.” Elizabeth sighed, even as she wrapped her arms around the offered limb and leaned into Outis. “Mhm… This feels nice. Nostalgic.”

Then, there was the question of getting to Boardwalk from all the way beyond Trainyard. Initially, Outis had thought of trying out Yellow Rider and its magic horse, at least for the initial leg of the journey beyond moving by the rooftops… until Elizabeth pointed out the existence of the bus line stopping by the abandoned train station… for some reason.

Maybe some sort of policy about leaving public transportation connected to the station, no matter that no train actually stopped there anymore? Either that or there were enough people living in the Trainyard to make the extra stop worthwhile. Well, if Liz wanted to experience the wonders of American public transport with Outis, more power to her.

Moriarty, the lucky bastard, departed on his own, taking full advantage of his much better Agility. Was it a poor idea to let that man loose on the city? Arguably, but if anyone would be in trouble it sure as hell wouldn’t be Outis. Besides, he worked best alone.

___________________________________________________________________________

Lisa grumbled as she watched the Boardwalk from her cosy little table inside the small caffe with a good view of the street. Apparently, a new cape had appeared and, as always, Coil needed to know everything he could about them. Which meant dragging Lisa out of her nice, warm hideout and into the chilly streets of the East Coast during winter. With barely any leads. All Lisa knew was that she was looking for an indigo-looking woman who wasn’t a local and was comfortable interacting with people normally even costumed up.

Whooppitty-dooppity-dooo, boss. Thanks for all this detail.

Coil, of course, would counter that it was Lisa’s job to learn things for him. So here she was, staking out the Boardwalk because it was one of the two places the new parahuman showed up at. Trying to sift through the veritable ocean of useless garbage data her power fed her whenever she decided to actually use it. Unfortunately, with no concrete leads that meant turning it on and off at random.

…slightly hurried, talking fast, visibly nervous… Great, another cheating spouse.

…green hair, about sixteen years old, papered-over bottle… Didn’t take super-intuition to spot an obvious Irish kid. Could at least drink his beer somewhere less public.

…a group huddled together, motion indicates counting money, nervous energy, standing almost in front of the door to Homerun, definitely there to get a peak at Kanabo… Lisa looked away before her power would helpfully provide her with a full dissertation of the kids’ kinks and most likely the contents of their wet dreams. There truly was such a thing as too much information.

…pale, naturally, not from lack of sunlight. Black hair, immaculate, recently cleaned. Thoroughly. Not too short, not too tall, almost as if someone looked up ‘caucasian average’ and applied it to him. Not actually caucasian. No indication of nationality… Lisa blinked and actually focused on the man. That sounded like a minor Stranger. And yes, her target was supposed to be female but… Strangers.

The guy was accompanied by a girl almost literally hanging off of his arm, all affectionate. Pink hair, really? She would never understand this kind of scream for attent–

Natural colour. The distribution suggests altered skull structure. There’s something hidden from the view. The way it moves suggests horns, likely more ram-like than the stuff Kanabo has. The way the hair moves around the ears suggests visual alteration of the ear structure. The way the skirt moves with her and the difference in how she balances her movements mean she is sporting a tail. Not recent, too used to both moving with it and navigating a crowd without smacking everyone with it.

Lisa cut off her power before a Thinker headache could form. She definitely found a solid lead here. Two Strangers on a date? Definitely hit a goldmine. She stood up, leaving the payment for her order at the table as she made to exit the caffe. Now, she just had to follow the two and keep up observing them…

While they acted openly, sickeningly sweet.

Fuck.

___________________________________________________________________________

“There’s something to be said about this fast food thing.” Elizabeth babbled as they made their way towards the clothing stores, in between bites of her burger. “Never quite got the Goth Arthur’s obsession with’em, but I guess even peasant food can taste good. At least fresh. Just right when it comes to juiciness of the meat and they certainly aren’t afraid of experimenting with details.”

“Mhm, sometimes you just want something simple and filling.” Outis agreed after a long sip of his milkshake. The new body came without lactose intolerance according to Da’at, so he could finally indulge without playing dice with Nurgle. “And yeah, America does love to put new twists on things, usually without crimes against cuisine like Brazil does. Or Japan when it comes to anything Italian.”

Fukkin ketchup based sauces. Broken, too, because they were addicted to that oil shimmer.

“Some things should remain sacred.” The Countess agreed with a grimace. “Fortunately for me, Hungarian cuisine is not quite world famous so I was spared the… excitement.”

“Ugh, that reminds me of that one hotel in Prague. Sorriest excuse for goulash I have had the disgrace to taste. Like chunks of rubber in gutter mud.” Outis shuddered theatrically, “I had to live off of street food the entire stay.”

“Rely on servants, if you cannot guarantee anything else. They, at least, put heart into their meals.” Elizabeth bobbed her head. “Merchants will do anything for money, and like anything about doing things for money, they will try for the least effort and cost while trying to rip your purse off.”

“Hear hear.” The black haired man huffed with a dry chuckle, “Speaking of, time to go into the pits of modern women’s fashion. You’ll be glad I can ‘cheat’ with clothes real quick, trust me.”

___________________________________________________________________________

The worst part of the whole ordeal, Lisa decided, was that she wasn’t sure which of the two Strangers she should really focus on. Oh, she could get actionable intel from both at the same time, she was good enough for that, but it didn’t make the prospect of an incoming headache any better. Sliding into an aisle, she started idly browsing the clothes in front of her pretty much on autopilot while she focused on the conversation on the other side.

…looks around eighteen of age, is much older. High class upbringing, used to having all of her needs taken care of but spent enough time without that kind of support structure to be able to function relatively normally. Egotistic. Or rather, raised in belief she is naturally superior to those of lower social class. Has definitive expectations regarding behaviour connected to one’s social standing. Possibly delusional… Native speaker command of English but with a hint of an accent. Looks European, the accent is… Hungarian.

Huh, so that’s how that was supposed to sound. Still, an European cape? An European cape going through some real obvious midlife crisis, from what her power was managing to dig out. Part of Empire’s wider support network? Why else would she come to the States?

Negative. Sense of superiority completely disconnected from racial beliefs. Weak to genuine compliments and flirting, especially from men. Has been a long time since she was in a relationship with a man, more used to female attention, definitely a bi– 

Lisa let out a quiet groan even as she turned her power off for a moment to stop it from going on a tangent. She did not need to know the Hungarian Stranger’s sexual orientation, and most likely experience. Why her power insisted on providing this kind of tangent whenever she overused it, she couldn’t ever begin to guess. Well, time to refocus on the guy.

…Has actual authority over her. Humouring her, partially because he is a bleeding heart, partially because he is a horny guy weak to cute girls with inhuman bits stapled on. Lisa sighed tiredly as she moved down the aisle to keep the illusion of shopping going. This was her life, then. Getting to hear about people’s kinks on the job. Mixed lineage. Any overt expressions have been covered by the change to the current… non-ethnic appearance. Previously strongly European. Hints of accent suggest Spanish. The change is very recent. Speaks with familiarity with her habits, behaviours and general history.

A recent trigger, then. And either a Thinker or someone who already worked with her in the same organisation prior to that. So why would he be the one to be put in charge of whatever mission they were on if she was the older one and with more time as a parahuman?

Personality and intelligence flaws make her ill suited.

Lisa considered the information. An excitable, ditzy dumbass with some instinctive grasp of social manipulation, then. Okay, fair. Or another social Thinker. Still it made the two Strangers really fucking weird, power dynamics wise. He was the one with official authority which she explicitly acknowledged and called the shots but she was also a bundle of all of the weak points designed to make his brain turn off and with clear expectations of how a relationship should go. And he knew that and let her lead him anyway. Maybe it was different on the clock? But then…

“Someone here is definitely grooming someone, and the worst part is, I can’t tell who is who.” Lisa muttered under her breath as she shut off her power and abandoned the pretence of shopping to focus on trying to massage away the building migraine. By the time she finished her pity party session, the two were already going out of the door, so Lisa had no choice but to quietly curse and follow.

“Ahem, if you could excuse me, young lady?”

Lisa was stopped just outside the store. Turning around, she saw an elderly, greying man, a brown vest over white shirt, black suit pants with white stripes, suit shoes and black gloves. He leaned against the portion of the wall separating the store windows.

Singled you out on purpose. Noticed you snooping around and following the two. Waited to make sure. Body language indicates he doesn’t feel particularly threatened, either for himself or his companions. Doesn’t actually know anything about you, save for you being purposefully looking for information on them. Has experience operating in crowded areas. Aggressively British. Old fashioned.

Lisa shut down her power before the headache could hit with a vengeance again. She gave the man a good look. If not for the fact one of the lovebirds was completely devoid of racial markers, she would say the man before her could be related. He was definitely pale enough, if in a more natural way. Now, how to assuage the worries of maybe-actual handler of the two parahumans?

She plastered a smile on her face, more of a faux-concerned one than one of her usual ones. “I’m sorry if I made you worry about your son, sir.” She inclined her head. “His choice in girlfriends simply has me… concerned.”

The man’s lips quirked up in an approximation of a smile as he shifted around, pulling himself off the wall. “My… son, hmmm?” He knows you bluffed the relation to fish for information. “While I wouldn’t worry about the boy’s judgement in this case, I am curious as to how you have come to the conclusion he is in danger. Even if Young Miss has a certain… reputation.”

Blatantly fishing for information on your capabilities. Blatantly hints that the woman is the more dangerous of the two. Reputation comment indicates a villain for her, and thus for him. The younger man… attempt at corruption? Definitely some form of shifting the methodology to accommodate new membership. Unknown if dedicated change or temporary measure.

Oh, someone fancied themselves a social manipulator? Lisa felt her smile twist into something vulpine as she batted her eyelashes at the older man. “Maybe I am psychic and read her mind?”

“You have not.” The man answered, amusement clear in his tone as his grey eyes glinted with… Amused. Not with the joke. Is criminally inclined. Amusement due to knowing that if you did possess the ability to read minds you would not be so casual with him. Is willing to trade banter anyway. Interested out of boredom.

The man started to walk in the direction his comrades walked away in and Lisa gleefully took advantage of their banter to also keep going there.

“Perhaps that’s my power? Plenty of outlandish abilities out there.” She prodded.

“Hmph. One needs nothing but their own brain and a working pair of eyes to be able to infer much about a person.” He harrumphed.

Truth. Implies he has some kind of power but it is not any kind of Thinker ability. Extremely proud of his intellect, would feel insulted if anyone insinuated otherwise.

Great, another Faultline situation.

___________________________________________________________________________

“A good beginning, I suppose.” Elizabeth grumbled at the meagre three outfits (each) they managed to purchase with the ABB money. “Will need more, who has only three for themselves?! That’s barely acceptable for three days! What if you need to attend a formal event? Entertain guests? Clothes are the soul of a lady!” The dragoness seethed, flexing her fingers as if restraining herself from tearing into something. Eventually, she sighed and shook her head before plastering a smile onto her face and snuggling into Outis’ side yet again. “How about we grab something more to eat? I need a distraction. New culinary experiences are great for that.”

“How do you feel about Japanese style grilled eel?” Outis asked with a tilt of his head after letting Liz’s rant wash over him. Firefly’s stall should be pretty close.

Elizabeth’s expression soured slightly as she thought about it. “I would prefer to avoid Japanese stuff, but I guess as long as it’s limited to food… only because you are also new to this city and haven’t had the time to scout good places properly.”

“The owners are half Vietnamese, maybe ask for a special from that side? I have no idea what that cuisine is like, honestly.” The black haired man offered after a moment’s thought. It’d have been nice to introduce Liz to the wonders of unagi, but the whole point of grabbing a quick bite here was to clear her bad mood.

“A new experience for both of us, then.” Elizabeth relaxed into Outis again, giving the man a small, crooked smile.

Fortunately for Elizabeth’s continued good mood, they found the stall Firefly owned in a different part of the Docks, deeper into the presumed Vietnamese portion of Asiatown. Although, once again, bordering another ethnic quarter. This time, the stall was being operated by Makoto alone.

“An European young lady approaches our humble abode, accompanied by a man who looks like he stepped out of the screen of a youth animation.” The male twin greeted them, doing a decent impression of Firefly’s own mannerisms. He reached over his head and unhooked the menu from where it was hanging, before handing it over. “Please, do not hesitate to take your time.”

“And lo, did the cardboard become 3D.” Outis chuckled self-deprecatingly, before focusing on the menu. He didn’t have a smartphone to look this stuff up in, but going by the ingredient list… “Cá Nướng, maybe?” 

Truly, the only thing three years of Biotech (and one of Philology, granted) had done for him was teach him how to flawlessly pronounce anything on the first try. 

“A couple’s option, gotcha.” Makoto nodded as he set out to prepare what looked to be a whole damn fish, generously sprinkled over with spices and vegetables. “Grilled meat always goes well with a sauce. How spicy do you feel like eating?”

“If it can’t rearrange your guts, are you really offering spicy seasonings?” Elizabeth countered. Outis quietly prayed that Alaya had seen fit to give him a body able to keep up with his Servant’s tastes. The Vietnamese did not fuck around with their spice.

“Young lady is very brave. Most white people can’t handle the potion seller’s strongest potions.” Makoto jokingly took the order.

“That’s because they’re usually English. Hungarians are built different, in my experience. Mostly out of paprika.” Outis chuckled with a shake of his head.

“Mmmm… hehehe~.” Elizabeth giggled absentmindedly before wiping the corner of her mouth with her wrist. “I did have the opportunity to sample Asian, prepared by some excellent chefs, too.”

___________________________________________________________________________

“I must say, the radial design seems… cumbersome.”

Familiar with advanced technology. Used to a different programming and UI base than standard. Not from Earth Bet. Plays up the stereotype of old people being bad with tech.

Lisa had to give the old man one thing. He knew how to reel you in and keep your interest up. She hardly even noticed when her original targets slipped them completely before the man asked for some help with ‘a small technical errand’.

“I’m not an expert, or a tech geek, but from what I’ve glanced, it helps with mishaps. Gotta pay attention to what you’re doing.”

“If you say so.” Humours the explanation. Thinks it’s marketing a bad feature gone horribly right. “In my experience, convenience and simplicity bring in more customers. And if their carelessness caused them to need replacements…” Lisa didn’t need her power to tell her what that careless shrug meant. She would like to think she got something of a handle on the man by now. “Alas, it’s not as if I can afford to experiment right now. Any recommendations for an old man learning the wheels?”

“The… wheels?” Saying from his Earth. Part of it. Refers to someone experienced teaching someone something.

“Oh? Have the idioms between good ol’ Britain and the overseas really diverged that hard?

“You are a bit far from home, old man.”

“Dohohoho!” He really had way too much fun playing his age up. “There’s, however, a slight issue.”

Oh?

The man turned to Lisa and gave her another smile. No hidden meanings. Intentionally showing embarrassment and vulnerability. Actually needs help. Is perfectly aware this is a play on your feelings to make the likelihood of receiving the help higher.

Fucking bullshit. She refused to believe the man wasn’t a social Thinker. No one was that smart and good at playing people without powers.

“You see, young lady… I do not, strictly speaking, have a legal address to provide to receive the benefits of actually owning the phone.”

You are being played.

Of course she was being played! Even a complete moron could tell they were being played!

Still, that man was the best Lisa got from today. Even if her power insisted he wasn’t a Thinker, she could always sell it to Coil that he was, in fact, a Thinker.

“One condition.” She held out her right hand, a single finger extended to illustrate the point. The man inclined his head in sign of agreement. “I will give you my number. I will call soon~ish enough. A favour to collect.”

The man remained silent for a moment, looking her over, eyes far more focused than before. Analysing you. Evaluating your worth. Evaluating risk-reward ratio.

“Within reason.” He eventually answered. “I’ll, at the bare minimum, agree to hear you out. If I decline to do what you want, you will still have that favour.”

That was… ridiculously generous.

“Deal.” She replied almost immediately, thrusting her hand out. He took it and shook. Firmly, with absolute confidence, his eyes never leaving hers.

___________________________________________________________________________

[Welcome to Promethean Paradigm Province of Arrows.]

[This miniature Singularity, alongside many others, is where you are able to obtain Heroic Quintessence, Quantum Pieces, Embers of Experience, Crystallizations of Skill and Monuments of Legend.]

[While Embers, Crystallisations and Monuments are predictable, the Quintessence is heavily location dependent. Even if you have multiple Provinces of the same Class unlocked, which Quintessence they have available to them will vary.]

So in short, Outis couldn’t just befriend one parahuman of each Class and call it a day. Fair enough. He knew what Embers, Skill Gems and Statues were, which by process of elimination… right, the hodge podge of ascension materials. Some of which may be hideously useful beyond upgrading Servants. From Age of the Gods toxins to eternal motion engines… he may not be a proper magus by any metric, but the prospect alone made him salivate.

The entrance to this particular Province was in a back alley behind a row of shops near the Korean-Vietnamese split in the general ABB territory. A faintly glowing green glyph representing a bundle of arrows sprayed onto the wall suggested the general ‘entrance’, with a faint ripple to the wall’s surface.

“Doesn’t that run the problem of civilians falling in by accident?” Elizabeth asked as she inspected the obvious portal.

[Only those connected to the System can perceive and interact with the Provinces.]

“That’s a relief. There may be a parahuman out there able to circumvent that, but as they say, fuck around and find out.” Outis huffed with a shake of his head, before turning to his date. Well, he wasn’t entirely sure if Liz considered this a proper one, but they’d had fun doing couple things and she was still clinging to his arm so he was willing to be optimistic about it. “Feel like stretching your wings a bit before we go home?”

“My, oh my, Deerlet, so eager to see an idol at work?” Elizabeth giggled as she patted his arm. “I suppose, since you were a good boy, I can give you a glimpse with an energetic rehearsal~.”

“I’d be honoured.” He grinned, equal parts giddy and bloodthirsty as he shuffled his Hand. Green Archer, Violet Caster, Orange Saber. Two ranged to have fun with the shooters and someone with a shield if Liz needed a bit of cover while she prepped a song.

[Entering Promethean Paradigm Province.]

The sigil shone brightly with emerald as they touched it, the light enveloping them completely before they were deposited within mini-Singularity. It was… still a cityscape, skyscrapers towering around them, with smaller buildings squeezed in-between, with tight, dark alleys and the main streets littered with abandoned cars. All of it illuminated by a veritable sea of neon lights, green and red dominant amongst them. Whether due to the Chromatic Cards’ colour coding or because it was formed due to an ABB parahuman was anyone’s guess.

“I’ll support from backstage.” Outis said as green light bloomed around him, settling into the iconic tunic and feathered cap of a sherwood archer, warm gambeson running under the cloth. Gloved fingers tried his longbow’s string, foreign skill telling him it was good and ready to make some unicorns.

“Don’t stray too far, Deerlet~! Wouldn’t want you to miss the show and I’m not repeating~!” Elizabeth cheered as the pink particles swirled in her grasp, materialising into a spear frankly longer than the dragon girl was tall, with long, twisted blade for a tip, with shorter one jutting just below the main one. The Countess twirled the weapon jauntily in one hand with absolutely no sign of effort.

“Perish the thought.” He grinned behind his scarf, giving her a jaunty two-finger salute before leaping to the nearest rooftop. He’d want a bird’s eye view to snipe out anyone trying to get cute about ambushe– 

Ah, he may be having to punt down some mooks into the streets, he realised halfway up. Depended on how smart these thing– and yep, there were in fact a pair of armed goons at the rooftop he lept in. Dressed all black, hooded jackets over body armour and with matte helmets covering their heads. The two had a handgun strapped to the left thigh and a knife to the right, with an SMG already in hands. Both startled at Outis’ arrival, the one further away darting back towards the staircase booth for cover, while the other merely knelt to lower their profile to anyone at street level.

He swapped to Orange Saber just in time to have a small barrage of bullets ping off his shield and blessedly full face helm. Green Archer, to nobody’s surprise, was kind of dogshit in close quarters.

“Laaa~!” Came a short, loud note from the street level, blending almost seamlessly into an explosion.

[Obtained an Ember of Arrows.]

“...You’re making me miss the show.” Outis grumbled lowly into his gorget, wisps of dark orange wafting from the seams of his armour. Saber, like Red Berserker, had a STR of D. Saber, unlike Berserker, also had a MAG of D.

It was not complicated math. An explosion of gravel and he was up in the kneeling mook’s face, which was promptly introduced to his kite shield and to the mechanics of a parabolic arc. He didn’t even bother with tools for the other, gauntleted hands punching through brick like it was chinese styrofoam construction before closing around the second idiot’s throat.

It felt no different than hard rubber and rice crispies under his grip as he yanked the already limp corpse out of the booth like one may a turnip from the soil. The squelching noise was mildly disgusting, but with no associated mess it wasn’t anything more than an annoyance.

The gunman fell to the ground with a rather dull thud and the clatter of its weapons against the cement before its body slowly dissolved into fleeting clouds of dark particles. And, as its body lost solidity, there was a chime of glass falling to the ground as a vial of blood-red liquid dropped from them, before fading out of Outis’ vision.

[Obtained 2 Bronze Quintessences of Arrows]

[Certain opponents in Promethean Paradigm Provinces are more than just a source of convenient EXP.]

[The system will collect these materials as they are obtained and convert them into Heroic Quintessence. The Quintessences are used when Ascending Servants of the relevant class or upgrading a Chromatic Card’s skills past a certain point.]

[Naturally, it’s possible to convert Quintessence back into these materials if one wished to study or gift them.]

[Everyone knows the fastest way to a girl’s heart is through gifting her a monster’s guts, after all.]

“Amen.” Outis chuckled as green light washed over him, a bodkin arrow nocked before the glow had faded. “Speaking of a lady’s heart, I have a performance to attend and make sure goes smoothly.”

Now that he had a clear platform, he could make Green Archer shine. There were mooks to give free trepanations to and an idol’s rehearsal to enjoy. 

Down on the street, Elizabeth jumped and twirled around, darting from one stony hand-like monster lobbing fireballs at her to another, sometimes countering the enemy fire with burst of dragon breath, which was the source of explosions. 

“Haha! I might hire you guys to work on the pyrotechnics for my stage!” The Countess cheered as she spun her spear and outright broke one of the monsters in half with a swing at the middle of its arm-like body.

‘If anyone knows pyrotechnics, it is Prometheus’ crew.’ Outis sent with a chuckle through their telepathic bond, barely paying any mind to his body working on automatic. Breath in, draw, breath out, loose. A skewered skull and one less potential annoyance for Liz. Repeat.

‘Mhm. Aaaah, if only they didn’t look like that. Having back-up dancers is a staple of the entertainment industry.’ Elizabeth bemoaned as she spun around, her tail lashing out to wrap itself around the throat of a painfully stereotypical looking street punk. “Now, now, fans should know touching the idol is a no-no.” The dragoness tutted, wagging her finger as her tail pulled the hooligan closer. “That’s a punishment, mister.” Her tail flexed and the body went limp, before dissolving in her grasp.

Arch had the right of it, Outis decided. Prehensile tails were hot.

‘They could be used as something closer to props, but even so they clash a fair bit with your aesthetic, yeah.’ He mentally commented as he hopped to a roof now only populated by arrows and fading smoke. ‘Programming some low grade golems with a simple choreography shouldn’t be too hard, but making them look good is another matter. Maybe you could summon some of your staff once we unlock your other NP? The blurry features shouldn’t be a huge issue with the right lightwork.’

‘Alas, I’m afraid they aren’t much for dancing… not for the kind of dance an idol’s stage requires. Prefer to be unseen too. Well, the chance to flex the muscles and try out the moves has been nice, so, I suppose, we can end this with a BOOM~!’ Elizabeth replied cheerfully as she hopped atop a car, planting her spear through the thin metal. ‘I suggest covering your ears, deerlet. I’m not aiming in your direction but it's still rather loud.’

That was all the warning he was going to get as Elizabeth visibly took a deep breath. Outis couldn’t swap to Violet Caster and start waving his wand fast enough. 

“This is a curtain drop worthy finale~. My masterpiece! Kilenc Sárkány!”

And then, the mini-singularity became one with vibrations and sound.

[That is quite loud.]