Rising Shards

P.D. and I circled each other as the misty rain picked up again, pattering on the buildings and the metal torn from them from our fight. Even with her mask cracked, I couldn't really tell what she looked like under it outside of her glowing eye.

"I told them we should have brought our sabers, you'd already be defeated if I had my blades," P.D. said. "I didn't want to have to do this, but I want this done."

I growled, ready for whatever she'd bring next.

P.D. clenched her fists, an aura of power blooming around her. Twin horns shot out of her helmet, and with it came a spiky tail at her lower back. If there was any doubt she was a devil before, that was wiped from my mind seeing her like this. Her helmet was strong enough to still not be wrecked in spite of the three holes in it now, but I still couldn't see much of her face.

She leaned back on her tail and sprung forward with it, and everything before this was child's play compared to the all out war between us. P.D. and I traded strikes, she swung at me and I barely dodged or just tanked the shots. She whipped her tail around like she was a giant lizard monster, and I leapt over it. She took punches from me as well, and I could see with each I landed on her helmet that the cracks grew. I figured it I broke that thing it'd just unlock some even more powerful form of hers.

Instead of going for that, I tried to grab her new tail, but wailed in pain as the spikes on it were sharp as hell, cutting my hand open. After a few globs of blood oozed out of me, the wound healed in seconds. I hadn't seen it happen directly before that, but I could feel that I was more durable like this.

Not wanting to get cut again, I conjured up ice around P.D.'s tail the next time she swung it. She tried to swat away the ice forming around it, but soon I had her tail encased in enough ice that it was like an anchor on her.

"Damn it!" She snapped as she tried and failed to blast away the ice with her shadow powers.

With her distracted and ice making on my mind, I conjured the same sort of beam chasers-looking staff I used against that crab-turtle monster and swung it without hesitation.

P.D.'s mask shattered. Billowing smoke came from it immediately, and I worried I just exploded her entire head, but she kept screaming, not in pain but in shock.

"You're not supposed to...no!" 

Her voice, clear now without the mask chilled me. 

Something about it was almost familiar.

I couldn't see her face in the smoke, and she fled into the darkness before it cleared.

I felt like I barely won anything anymore, so I gave myself a moment to appreciate that. A moment too long unfortunately, as seconds later a loud clang rang out.

Caeda had struck me with her trademark frying pan, which hurt like hell but wasn't a knockout blow. As I turned to face her, I felt sharp daggers in my back. Chickadee had given me her own personal brand of acupuncture, stabbing me with a bunch of conjured shadow daggers. I fell to the ground, unable to move.

"Phew! That almost wore me out, that's impressive," Caeda said. "Best fight in a while."

"You're not strong enough yet," Chickadee said, poking at my side. "But I guess I'll say thanks for the good matchup, too. I'll keep my word, I won't tell Octa." She winked at me.

"Let's do this again sometime!" Caeda said. "For now let's...where'd P.D. get off to?"

"I heard her screaming, I think she went this way," Chickadee said, winking at me before the two left me in a heap.

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