Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls

by thatguyvex


Episode 103: No Stopping It Now

Episode 103: No Stopping It Now

His existence had always been pain. From his very first moment of consciousness, of self awareness, the entity known to most as Smooze had only known pain. Yet, despite that, he’d ever been filled with an unending will to keep existing. He truly had not understood the Sternritter, Lightning Dust’s, desire for an early death. For no matter how much pain he was in, Smooze yearned for the small pleasures of existing. So many simple, small pleasures, that utterly boggled him how others would take them for granted.

Take the simple, odd satisfying feeling of clothing over skin? Or the act of drawing in cool breath and expelling it from one’s lungs? What others never noticed, Smooze delighted in, because it wasn’t pain. Whether it be big or small, any other worldly sensation that he could experience, in even the slightest extent, brought unbridled joy to Smooze’s soul. 

That was why he’d been so loyal to Lord Tirek. It was Tirek who gave Smooze the medicine, created by Grogar, that lessened the pained, dulled it to the point that Smooze could properly enjoy life’s small pleasures. For that, Smooze served loyally, desiring no greater position than Tenth Espada, and having no greater goal than providing for Las Noches’ basic needs such as clothing. Something few understood, acknowledged, or were thankful for, but Smooze simply hadn’t cared.

His defeat at Lightning Dust’s hands had been nearly complete. Had he not been what he was, her final attack would have been the end of him. Yet Smooze’s body, mutated and molded together from so many different Hollow bodies, was not something that could just “die” that easily. Even the smallest part of him remaining could survive, and potentially regrow in power. However that regrowth was nearly impossible without assistance, and stuck on a battlefield, surrounded by Quincy, Smooze’s survival was contingent on escape.

He’d had his power all but broken, but he’d had just enough to open a Garganta to flee, and in his dazed state, had fled to the human world. Specifically, the Everfree Forest. He did this because he knew who was imprisoned here. Chrysalis was not the only one with eyes and ears around Las Noches’ halls. He also knew that, because of the one who was imprisoned in this forest, lesser Hollows avoided the Everfree Forest. That was why he came here, so that lesser Hollows would not sense him and hunt him.

He was so weak that he’d be easy prey to even their ilk. 

So he crawled and crawled, until he found a safe haven, and there he waited, resting, recovering. Yet the process was unbearably slow, and the pain unimaginable. Without the precious medicine it was all Smooze could do to just stay still and hold onto his own sanity. Hours, days, weeks, all of those words that marked time’s passage became meaningless. There was just him, the pain, and his own will to hold his mind together against it, like a sturdy bulwark standing against a tide.

Then, with no preamble, something changed. He heard a voice.

The voice alone was a shockingly smooth balm to his senses, filled with such gentle, soothing notes that it sounded almost unreal to Smooze’s senses. He couldn’t help but move toward that heavenly music.

There was light outside his dark cave, harsh and uninviting, yet kneeling in front of the cave’s entrance was a girl. The simple sight of her rocked Smooze to his core, for she was, to him, such a vibrant light that it made the sunlight behind her seem somehow lesser for the comparison. 

He could only stand there and sputter, his own words distorted to his ears as he wailed in pain, yet wanted to say anything else. 

The girl’s kind voice reached him once more.

“Oh my, you... you’re not like any Hollow I’ve seen before! You’re in pain?”

Behind the girl, a boy’s voice rose in alarmed concern, “A Hollow!? Should I go get help?”

“No, Timber, wait! I... I don’t know that this one is a threat yet. He sounds like he’s in terrible pain. Wait a moment, I want to see if I can help.”

“ Help!? Why would..." The boy shouted, then took a deep breath and continued more quietly if still quite uneasy sounding, "If you’re sure, but seriously, that thing so much as twitches wrong, I’m screaming for help.”

Smooze didn’t know what else to do. His body was so small and weak he wasn’t sure he could attack, even if he was so inclined. Dully, he realized this angelic form in front of him was in fact one of the young girls from Canterlot High that Grogar had taken an interest in. That information seemed rather unimportant at the moment, however, as the girl’s body became even brighter as a soft glow of blue light enveloped her. A third eye opened upon her brow which was made of solid light, and her back was surrounded by a gleaming halo as a soft shawl of purest white appeared and wrapped itself around the girl’s shoulders. 

Smooze felt her spiritual energy like a sudden, warm beacon. Had he the capacity to consume her, his Hollow instincts all but screamed to dig into such a healthy, powerful soul. Yet the very thought also revolted him. Consuming his own kind gave him little pause, but there was little enough beauty in the world to tarnish what stood before him. Yet what did she intend to do? She said she wanted to help, but how could she...?

It happened so abruptly that it nearly shocked Smooze into unconsciousness. His pain, ever present in every fiber of his being, started to get pushed back. It was as if a steady stream of cool water was being trickled into the pit of his soul and allowed to spread out in small, persistent veins to ease the anguish that otherwise tormented his unnatural body. 

The girl’s face was strained as she held her hand towards him, her third eye growing every brighter, some of the light spilling into her normal eyes as well. Tears budded at their corners, her voice rough with effort.

“There’s... so much... oh goodness... how can you stand it? You’re suffering so much... I can’t, I can’t push it all back.”

Despite her words, what she was doing felt akin to a minor miracle to Smooze. Even the medicine Grogar made never lessened his pain this much! It was still there, of course, but this girl’s power was dampening it to a degree Smooze had never felt before! He could feel the cold rocky ground beneath his feet now! He could feel the cool air on his slimy skin! It was... it was wonderful

It took him a second to get his mind jarred back into thinking again, and now that he could think straight he looked to the girl and pulled back into the cave, his voice a wet rasp.

“You’ve done more than enough, human girl. I have not felt so little of the pain in... forever. Please, stop straining yourself. You cannot cure me of being me.”

“But if I stop, your pain will come back,” she said, her voice nearly cracking, and Smooze could only shake his head in wonderment at the simple selflessness on display.

“I’ve lived with it forever. I can continue doing so. You’ve taken the edge off enough that I can... think. And given who I am, I don’t think you’ll want to keep helping me. It might even have been smarter for you to let your friend call for help.”

For such an angelic face, the girl was remarkably capable of putting on a scornful look, “Nonsense! I don’t care who you are. Nobody deserves to have to endure that kind of suffering. I can keep this up for awhile, and I do want to know who you are. My name is Fluttershy.”

“And, I’m, uh, Timber Spruce,” said a boy just now coming into view as he came down a small ravine slope into Smooze’s field of vision. From his rugged attire, Smooze guessed he was part of the local campgrounds. Was that what was going on? Smooze had been out of the loop, but he’d thought the local camp was all but shut down and rarely used, but now that his faculties were back, he could now sense many nearby souls, some of which had strong enough reiatsu to be easy threats to his weakened state.

“I... am called Smooze,” he said, wondering if Fluttershy at least might have known the name. From her look, she didn’t recognize it. Oh well, it stood to reason they wouldn’t know every Espada’s name.

“What were you doing here, Mr. Smooze?” Fluttershy asked, and as he debated on just how much he ought to tell her, he froze.

He now sensed more spiritual pressures close by. Three of them, all Hollows! All Arrancar. And not only close by, but he sensed the distinct built up of reiatsu that suggested either a Cero or Bala!

On impulse, he shouted, “Get down!”

But neither Fluttershy or Timbre Spruce had been the target. The Bala bullet, crimson red, shot out of the nearby foliage across the down-slope of the ravine, and impacted with Smooze’s side. It didn’t destroy him, but his left half burst apart in a spray of purple gunk and sent him skidding to the ground outside the cave.

Then all hell broke loose.

----------

A few minutes earlier...

They’d been sent to do some observation of the camp and the activity surrounding it. According to Adagio, the plan was to begin the attacks around Canterlot City that night. Gaw’s part was to act as Adagio’s Fraccion and bodyguard, and to try to help keep damage around the town to a minimum while still making it look like a real assault.

Gaw didn’t exactly grasp the nuances of this plan. She was a simple soul, largely interested in the well being of her tribe and fulfilling her duty to support the alpha of the pack. If Adagio wanted to do her complex plans, it was no business of Gaw’s other than to follow the plan as best she could. She understood Adagio’s ultimate goal was to rescue the tribe’s ally, Ember, and to do so without making it obvious they were working with non-Hollows.

Of course plans are hard to follow when there’s more than one alpha. The presence of Grogar and Gilda really did much to make matters murky, and Gaw didn’t understand why Adagio didn’t just crush both of them to properly assert dominance. She knew it had something to do with the highest of the Hollow tribes alpha’s, Tirek, but Gaw wasn’t sure why Tirek extended protections to those as weak as Grogar or Gilda.

Gaw was even fairly certain she could match Gilda’s power herself, but she no longer desired to be alpha of her own tribe. Adagio’s tribe needed her more. Why, with Gaw, Adagio would have to rely on Di Roy for getting things done, and that male was far too silly to let Adagio deal with him alone. 

Of course her present company wasn’t much better. It’d been Gilda’s idea to snoop around the camp, and after bugging Adagio about it, Adagio had acquiesced under the condition that Gilda take Gaw along as support. More likely Adagio wanted Gaw to keep an eye on Gilda, which went unspoken between the pair as they’d left via a simple look. Adagio was good at giving commands through a mere expression or gesture, which Gaw appreciated. Words could be very overrated, in her opinion. She’d never needed them before and tried to use them sparingly now that she was capable of speech.

But sometimes she did have to speak, like now, as she, Gilda, and one more Arrancar named Greta were hiding in the brush not far from one of the forest trails. Gaw didn’t trust Greta much, knowing she was allies with Gilda, and more than that, Great smelled... strange. But Greta wasn’t the issue right now, Gilda was.

“Bad idea,” Gaw said, never feeling quite right when she spoke.

Gilda turned sharp eyes no less golden than Gaw’s own towards her, “Oh yeah? I think we need to see what’s in that cave.”

Gaw was getting frustrated. Speaking wasn’t her strong suit, let alone convincing others to do something through words. They were already far too close to the trail, where she knew two of Twilight’s Quincy companions were escorting the human children playing in the forest. This was too dangerous. Too much risk of discovery. Gaw growled and tried this whole “talking” thing again.

“Not important what yellow girl sees in cave. We not here for that. Too close, too dangerous.”

Gilda snorted, but Greta spoke up in an equally quiet whisper to what Gaw had been using.

“She’s right, Gilda. Observing is one thing, but we’re too close to blowing our cover.”

Down in the ravine Gaw could see the yellow girl with the flowery pink hair start to glow. She sensed the brush of Fluttershy’s spiritual pressure, stronger than Gaw would have expected based on what Adagio had described of these girls. Aside from Sunset Shimmer, Adagio hadn’t given the others much credit, but Gaw sensed this Fluttershy’s power, while subtle, was more than potent enough to equal her own or Gilda’s. 

“The heck is she doing down there? Dammit, I need a better angle,” Gilda whispered, and with admittedly skilled stealth, slipped further to the other side of the ravine. Gaw and Greta followed, after Greta gave an apologetic shrug to Gaw.

“Sorry about this,” Greta said, “Gilda’s always been impulsive.”

Gaw grunted, not caring to comment. She was frustrated because she knew this was exactly the kind of thing Adagio had sent her to prevent, but she was at a loss at how to handle this besides just physically dragging Gilda away, which would cause enough noise to blow their cover anyway. Joining Gilda on the other side of the ravine, still hidden from view through the thick bushes, Gaw could now see the cave entrance better.

It looked as if Fluttershy was using her power upon something standing in the cave mouth. Something small, and rather slimy looking. Gaw had been smelling something foul for some time and hadn’t been sure what it was, except maybe some dead forest animal. Now she could tell it was the thing, the Hollow, down in the cave.

“You’ve got to be kidding me...” Greta said in a surprised whisper, “How did that slick little pile of sludge end up here?”

The one in question was a small, almost child-sized figure of humanoid bones and purple slime. Gaw could sense the Hollow spirit energy of it, but it was so unbelievably weak that it wasn’t surprising none of them had taken note of it until now. Gaw wasn’t really sure who it was, but she’d never paid a lick of attention to Las Noches’ politics. That was Adagio’s business.

“Smooze,” Gilda said under her breath, laughing quietly, “Look at how weak he is. Must’ve snuck off here after getting his butt handed to him by that Sternritter. Well... this is an opportunity.”

Gaw cocked her head, noticing Gilda had raised a hand to point a finger at Smooze. Neither Fluttershy or the human boy now climbing down into the ravine had noticed them yet. 

“What you doing?” Gaw asked, somehow sure that whatever Gilda’s answer would be it’d be something that Adagio would disapprove of. 

“It’s it obvious? I’m the Tenth Espada. If Smooze comes back, he’ll try to take my position. Why the hell would I let him live long enough to get enough of his strength back to do that?” Gilda replied as if the answer should have been obvious. And in a way, it was. Gaw understood the law of the jungle. The strong thrived, and the weak lived at the sufferance of the strong. Gilda, technically speaking, had every right to defend her territory and position by eliminating a rival while they were still weak. 

However, Adagio wanted them to keep their cover. Gaw had to do something.

“No, too many nearby. You make fight before needed.”

“Hmph, this won’t take but one Bala to do, and we'll be gone before the humans even know what happened. No one will be the wiser until nightfall, which is when Adagio wants to do her damn raid.”

“Gilda,” Greta said, “This isn’t a good idea. We can’t make sure we’ll pull this off quietly. You could spark off the whole powder keg around here-”

“Grow a pair, Greta. I’m not letting this chance slip by,” Gilda said, perhaps a bit louder than she should have, but the humans and Smooze were too busy with their own conversation to hear. Gilda had a... desperate look in her eyes. 

“I’ve worked too hard to become an Espada to lose it now.”

From the sudden formation of crimson energies crackling around her hand, it was clear Gilda was done talking. On instinct, Gaw grabbed her hand, trying to stop the Bala from firing. All she really managed to do was wrench Gilda’s hand off aim enough to send the resulting Bala slightly off course, catching Smooze in his side instead of it being a direct hit.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Gilda shouted, wrenching her hand free of Gaw’s grip and then yanking out her Zanpaktou in one motion. Fluttershy and the human boy Gaw didn’t know had both reacted to the sudden attack and noise, the boy by leaping back and almost falling over himself, and Fluttershy by immediately turning and putting herself protectively between Smooze and the source of the attack.

Gilda turned desperate eyes towards her target and instantly her body vanished with a speedy Sonido. With a feral growl Gaw tore her own Zanpaktou off its cord strapped around her back and her own form blurred with a similar high-speed motion. Greta, blowing out a hard sigh, drew her own sword but didn’t rush to make any moves.

With a burst of buzzing noise, Gilda appeared behind Fluttershy and Smooze, driving her Zanpaktou down towards the wounded and now quite helpless former Espada. Gaw’s blade intercepted Gilda’s as she appeared next to them, the curved, claw-like weapon stopping Gilda’s sword cold. Fluttershy spun around, eyes confused upon seeing two Arrancar, one of which appeared to be trying to stop the other from killing Smooze.

“Get out of my way!” Gilda snarled.

“Idiot!” Gaw shot back, “We flee now before things get worse!”

“Too late for that, Hollows.”

A potent blue reishi arrow flew from the treeline and impacted hard with Gaw’s shoulder. It didn’t blast her off her feet, but the arrow did penetrate a half inch through her Heirro and staggered her back a few steps.

“Yikes, Sour Sweet, when did your arrows get that strong?”

“We’ve been practicing every day we haven’t been Twilight's lab gophers! It would be weird if our arrows hadn’t gotten stronger by now!”

Gaw saw two girls emerge from the trees, both wearing the distinctive white uniforms of Quincy soldats. She didn’t recognize either of them by sight, but Adagio had provided a description, via information gained from Twilight, as to who these two were. Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest were serving as part of Twilight’s miniature “research” tribe, which was part of the greater Quincy tribe, as Gaw understood it.

Great, this just made things so much more complicated! Adagio wouldn’t want these two killed either. Honestly Gaw wasn’t entirely sure Adagio cared what happened to Smooze, but Gaw was pretty certain that a battle here, now, was not part of the plan! That was why she’d hoped to stop Gilda and, if necessary, drag her away forcefully.

The only problem was that Gilda was still just a shade stronger than Gaw, and with more enemies showing up, it’d be impossible to force Gilda to go anywhere.

And it wasn’t like she had time to think of a plan, even if she’d been the thinking type. 

Sour Sweet hefted the rather large crossbow she carried and aimed it next at Gilda, “Lemon Zest, help me with this one! Fluttershy, you’d better get Timber Spruce out of here and then go get help.”

“Back off you freakin’ twerps!” Gilda roared, letting her spiritual pressure spill out of her in an angered wave, “Small fry ought to stay out of my business!”

She rushed the pair, and Lemon Zest let out a “Oh crap!” as she raised her unusually shaped bow, the two prongs on either end of it firing a set of arrows that corkscrewed at odd angles towards Gilda. However Gilda was ready for them and knocked the arrows aside with deft swings of her blade and zipped between the two girls.

“I remember you shrimps from the big brawl at Las Noches! You weren’t strong enough to take me then and you sure as hell aren’t now!”

Her sword flashed in twin crescents. Lemon Zest cried out as she tried to leap back and still took a cut across her midriff that spurted blood. Sour Sweet fared better, using her crossbow like a shield, but even so the blow hit hard enough to slam her into a nearby tree, cracking the thick trunk and causing it to collapse. Gilda turned to drive her Zanpaktou towards the unbalanced Lemon Zest’s chest, only to have a white scarf wrapped around her wrist.

Fluttershy, hand out, eyes glowing fierce and blue, yanked with her scarf and swung Gilda around and slammed the Arrancar down into the ravine floor. Her voice was steel as she said, “You will stop hurting people this instant!”

Gilda’s eyes shot wide as Fluttershy’s power slammed into her like an avalanche of pure will. Even with her own will powered by frustration and rage, Gilda had a hard time even standing back up, let alone raising her sword again. 

Gaw stood there, feeling a distinct sense of impressed respect wash through her. For such a gentle, frail looking thing, this Fluttershy spoke with the voice of an alpha. This was also her chance!

Ignoring the pain in her shoulder, breaking off the reishi arrow with one hand, Gaw leaped down to Gilda and grappled the Espada with her other arm while she was still stunned by Fluttershy’s power. She shot a look back at Greta.

“We go, NOW!”

Greta met her eyes and nodded, jumping down to grab Gilda’s other side as the Espada began to struggle more against Fluttershy’s power.

“Damn you! Let go of me! I have to kill Smooze, don’t you see!? I’ll lose everything if I don't! Everything!”

“Calm your mammaries, Gilda,” Greta snapped, “Gaw’s right, we need to split before we bring the whole damn camp down on our heads!”

Fluttershy had let go of Gilda with her scarf, and Gaw suspected that all Fluttershy had wanted was to keep Gilda from continuing to attack the Quincy. After all, Fluttershy must have known what Adagio’s overall plan entailed, and likely guessed this wasn’t part of the plan, and that Gaw was trying to get things back on track. 

Their eyes met for a moment and Fluttershy gave a slight, imperceptible nod towards Gaw. 

That was all Gaw needed, and she, with Greta’s help, began to haul Gilda out of the ravine, using Sonido to reach the top of it while dragging a still struggling and shouting Gilda.

Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest, however, didn’t seem inclined to let them go. Clutching her bleeding mid-riff with one hand, Lemon Zest could throw a ginto tube, and did so. The silver tube flew towards the Arrancar, and Lemon Zest flicked a finger towards it and sent out a string of reishi as the tube burst its alchemic water into the air.

“Eisboden!” (Ice Floor) 

The water flash froze as it struck the ground, expanding in a swift flowing sheet of thick blue ice that rushed up the forest floor to entrap the legs of all three Arrancar. That wouldn’t be enough to stop them, and they almost instantly started to tear their feet free of the ice coating their lugs, but Sour Sweet had time to brace and aim her crossbow.

“This is for Indigo Zap and Hacksaw!”

Blue reishi particles gathered and the crossbow cut loose with a bolt that nearly broke the sound barrier. Yet even before Sour Sweet had fired, Gilda’s body had become surrounded by a deathly violet aura, her reiatsu shooting up even higher as she threw off Greta and Gaw, then hissed out the words, ”Rend, Bestia Herida!” (Wounded Beast)

The area was engulfed in an aura of mixed crimsons and flickering violets as a dual fountain of lights swirled forth from Gilda and her Zanpaktou. A blast of hurricane force winds billowed through the trees, and an unstable, ferocious spiritual pressure created a sound almost like a lion’s roar. The vortex of spiritual energy shot up into the air and also expanded outward, forcing Fluttershy back a step due to her close proximity. Sour Sweet’s full power bolt smashed into the explosive aura that’d surrounded Gilda, and failed to penetrate more than a foot before shattering in sparkles of reishi motes.

Mere Tenth Espada or not, Gilda’s reiatsu was still impressive enough for anyone present to understand she’d still obtained her rank by strength, and not just Guto’s favor. 

Fluttershy moved to shield Smooze, who’d just barely regained his senses enough to stand. The humanoid pile of sludge rasped out, “You should... flee while you can...”

“I can’t do that,” Fluttershy said, “Just try to stay behind me.”

“You know,” Gilda’s voice spoke from within the fading aura of red and violet light, “If you’d just let me finish the slimeball off, I might’ve let it go at that. He’s the only one I want dead. The rest of you are just in the damn way. I mean, Quincy, sure I’d kill them any day of the week, but it’s not like I had a freakin’ grudge against you, butter-face.”

Fluttershy frowned, “Okay, for one? Rude. For two? You could still walk away from this. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? Don’t worry...”

Gilda emerged from the fading aura and smoke of her released Resurreccion. Her lower body now looked like that of a lean, anthropomorphized lion with golden fur, thick claws grinding the ground beneath them and a barbed tail, not unlike that of the Manticores from the previous night, flicking behind her. Her upper body was as muscular as ever, and her clothing replaced by bands of bone-like white armor that wrapped around her chest, shoulders, and waist, akin to an ancient roman styled cuirass. She even now wore a centurion’s helmet styled like the head of lion, with a plume of her own white and purple tinged hair rising from the top of it. In her hands was a massive spear with a long, black shaft, and a large leaf shaped blade at the end. A thick tuft of golden lion’s mane sat at the base of the spear head, for some reason already dripping with sanguine droplets of blood. Then Fluttershy saw the blood sizzle and hiss as it dripped to the ground, smoking there as the blood ate into the ground like a corrosive acid.

Gilda grinned savagely, “You won’t hurt me at all.”

----------

Adagio felt the sudden upturn of Gilda’s reiatsu even as far off as her cavern hideout, and immediately slammed a hand into the rock wall beside her, cracking it.

“That moron! What does she think she’s doing!?”

She’d hoped that Gilda had wisened up enough to know not to fly off the handle and keep a low profile, and had sent Gaw along just to keep an eye on things. She hadn’t imagined there could be much out there that’d actually trigger a fight. Gilda might hate Quincy, but she’d known Quincy were around for days now and hadn’t acted. What had happened out there? Even Gilda shouldn’t have been this stupid! 

As she fumed, Grogar smiled thinly from where he’d been all too calmly sitting cross-legged on the cavern floor near the back, reading a book that Adagio didn’t know nor care about. He set the book aside and rose, speaking mildly, “We should have expected this, Adagio, but what does it really change? An organized battle is nice, but our goal of testing the area’s defenses remains unchanged. The battlefield simply moves from the city to here. Unless of course... there’s some reason you don’t want to fight here?”

She cast a sharp eye towards the old goat, looking with undisguised loathing at his weathered, parchment features. Her mind raced, but she’d long grown used to thinking quickly and under pressure. It didn’t take her long to conclude that, in many ways, Grogar was correct. While she wanted the battle to take place at the time and location she, Twilight, and Sunset had planned for, her objectives had not changed, nor had the resources at her disposal. The only major hurdle was that Sunset and her friends wouldn’t be off dealing with that Kraken, subsequently keeping Celestia and Luna busy.

That could be problematic, and require her to call in Lament that much sooner.

But there was no point crying over matters. For whatever reason, Gilda had started a fight out there in the forest, and anyone with a lick of spiritual senses would be able to feel it. It wouldn’t be long before Soul Reapers and Quincy alike converged on the area.

There was no stopping it now. 

“Di Roy, Roka!” she said with firm command, speaking to the pair that sat around their small camp’s fire, “Remain here and stay on guard. If worse comes to worse, we can fall back to this location. Your role in that regard has not changed.”

“You got it boss lady!” Di Roy said, hopping to his feet with an overexaggerated salute. Roka nodded calmly.

“Be careful,” she said, “And remember, if anyone gets injured, bring them to me.”

“Hey, what about us?” asked one of the belligerent Arrancar warriors that had arrived with Gilda, “Without Gildas orders-”

“Gilda is presently starting the damn fight we’d planned for tonight!” Adagio spat, “You lot can either follow my orders now to go save her idiotic hide, or I can just kill you now so you won’t be dead weight later!”

The Arrancar, almost all of whom served Guto, but essentially had no authority to gainsay another Espada’s authority, all looked at each other and then one by one gave her affirming nods. 

“Good,” Adagio said, then looked at Grogar, feeling her muscles tense almost on their own. She knew she couldn’t trust him. The very thought of having to go into battle alongside him disgusted her. She was more than a little convinced he had some scheme in the works for this battle. The mere fact that he seemed so unconcerned with this turn of events set her further on edge. Yet she’d be damned if she was going to show weakness in front of him. No matter how unexpected the circumstances had turned, she was going to turn it back in her favor! 

“You and I will deal with Celestia and Luna. Don’t forget our goal is to measure the enemy’s level of strength, nothing more. If more Captains arrive, or Sternritter, I give the order when to retreat to Hueco Mundo, and I expect you to follow that order, Grogar.”

His calm smile didn’t so much as twitch, yet his eyes held a knowing twinkle that stabbed at Adagio, “Of course, my dear. And fear not, I’ve prepared my own surprises for our... mutual foes.”

Because of course you did, you withered bastard, Adagio thought, “Oh? How about you tell me about these ‘surprises’ as we go? If we don’t leave now, Gilda might not survive long enough for us to save.”

“Hmm, I suppose we should move then,” Grogar agreed, rasping out a sand-paper laugh, “Of course I can’t imagine you’d shed that many tears over her if she fell. Oh come now, don’t give me that look, Adagio. This is the Hollow way, is it not? Survival of the fittest. Gilda lives or dies by her own strength, whether we arrive in time to ‘save’ her or not.”

Some of the Arrancar warriors muttered at his words, but more than a few others nodded agreement. These Arrancar all served Guto, and we're only here on loan to Gilda for this mission. Most of them probably knew Gilda on one personal level or another, but that just meant that while some might admire her strength at Guto’s former right hand, others were likely jealous of her becoming an Espada. It occurred to Adagio that some of them wouldn’t mind her getting killed either, as it’d just open up a slot for advancement.

It doesn’t matter. As long as we distract the Soul Reapers enough to rescue Ember, nothing else matters, she thought darkly as she, Grogar, and a half dozen other Arrancar left the cave and leaped into the sky. She trusted Di Roy and Roka would do her proud, but she worried that with things happening at this inopportune time if Twilight Sparkle would be able to adapt to the situation and arrive in time to do her part in all this.

She had the communicator still, but she certainly couldn’t use it with other Arrancar nearby. Putting that from her mind she turned her harsh gaze back towards Grogar as they all bounded across the sky towards the spiritual pressures of Gilda, and now several others she could sense.

“Answer the question, Grogar. What have you cooked up without telling me?”

He gave her a cracked grin, reaching into a pocket inside his white vest to withdraw an object that looked like a small, plastic signal button. “Like you, I thought this battle would take place in the city. Knowing you were... heh, concerned with how many enemies we’d face, I took the liberty of returning to some of my other laboratories. You keep forgetting, my dear, I’ve been at this much longer than you. I’ve had a long time to build upon my experiments, and the lab I held you in was just one of many I’ve had over the centuries. You may be my finest creation yet, but you’re hardly the first.”

He pressed the button, and Adagio felt a small but distinct spark of spirit energy leap from it and high into the sky. It burst in the air with a pallid green aura, then rapidly faded, but for a moment the intensity of the stored spirit energy was like a lance... or perhaps a signal.

A moment later Adagio felt the distant sensation of Garganta portals opening up. She looked to her right, towards the southwest where Canterlot City lay, many miles distant. First one, then two, then dozens of spiritual pressures spiked up alongside the Garganta portals she sensed. Seeing her look, Grogar chuckled.

“Never forget, Adagio Dazzle, I am the one who will evolve the Hollow race. That is my ambition, and I’ve had it for far longer than your simple desire to rule Las Noches, child. We’ll see how the Soul Reapers and Quincy handle my long line of experiments, dating back centuries.”

----------

“I’m headin’ out, Silverstar. Ya keep the fort held down tight ‘till I get back, ya hear?” Sweet Cider said, waving over her shoulder as she left the warehouse that her Soul Reapers were using for their barracks. It was a pleasant day out, and while she was still feeling a tight stir of nerves in her stomach over going to see her family, she realized her steps were somehow lighter than they’d been in a long time.

“Of course, Captain,” Silverstar said from the warehouse doorway, bowing.

She smiled and gave a last nod before turning, then halted with her next step as multiple Hollow reiatsu washed over her. She cast an angered glare towards the sky, then coiled her legs beneath her. With a powerful jump that cratered the sidewalk beneath her, she shot into the sky. When she got several hundred feet up, she stopped herself and planted her feet on the air, a burst of air pressure flowing out around her. Her face was a sour mask of rage as she saw first one, then two, then at least around six or seven more Garganta portals tearing open in the air. Each one was at a different location around the city, but she could spot them all clearly.

“Captain!” Sivlersar joined her, hand already on his Zanpaktou, “How many?”

“Enough to piss me off,” Sweet Cider growled, “Just when I was gonna work up the nerve ta see my family, these asshats show up! I’m going to enjoy shredding whoever was dumb enough ta crawl outta Hueco Mundo today!”

“Just try ta remember we’re in a city. Ya can’t cut loose too much,” Silverstar said, then paused as he looked at what was emerging from the Garganta portals, “What n’ the flamn’ pits o’ hell are those?”

While clearly Hollows, the creatures that started stepping out of the Garganta portals were each highly bizarre in their appearance, and even their spiritual pressures seemed odd, almost twisted. Sweet Cider had a hard time making heads or tails of some of them, and among the dozens slinking out of the Gargantas, each one was different. 

One looked as if someone had cobbled together a mass of pale white limbs and skulls until they were just an amorphous blob. Another looked like a metallic skinned, vaguely humanoid shaped insect with a bulbous body that appeared to be a literal hive growing out of its back and torso. Yet another had the appearance of a unhealthily thin and frail human covered head to toe in black cloth, bearing a giant silver cross impaled through its own back by chains and spikes of bone, with pale blue flames flickering from its shrouded head. Then there was one that looked like a floating, white orb of stone, etched with the face of a skull, that sat within a field of flying, writhing black hair. There were too many other monstrosities to take them all in, but each sent a sickening feeling into Sweet Cider’s stomach.

“I don’t know what these tortured lookin’ buggers are,” she said, hand grasping her Zanpaktou firmly and feeling the spirit of her blade. It was almost scalding in its own anger, as if it recognized that these Hollows, if that was what they were, were utterly abnormal. “But it don’t matter! Gather the squad, Silverstar! We’re takin’ ‘em all down!”

----------

Sunset had just finished getting the next set of campers set up to climb the rock wall when the slap of Hollow reiatsu hit her senses. She whipped around, staring across the lake at the forest to the northeast. She could actually see the purple and crimson glow of light from a massive release of spirit energy, and recognized it right off the bat.

“Gilda!?”

“Huh? Who’s that?” asked Lyra, who’d just gotten her climbing harness on, but was now looking at Sunset curiously, “Is everything okay there?”

Sunset forced her mind to think swiftly but calmly, managing a smile of forced relaxation as she waved a hand at Lyra, “What? Oh, it’s nothing. Just, uh, remembered something all of a sudden. Say, Lyra, do you mind keeping an eye on things here a sec? I got to... use the restroom.”

“Uhhh, okaaaay...” Lyra replied with a drawn out tone of befuddlement, but then seemed to rapidly conclude something as the girl’s minty blue face grew knowing, “Oh, is this more ‘magic’ stuff going on? Because if one of you goes demony again, I’ve got my phone ready to snap some killer pics.”

Sunset wanted to groan her exasperation, but kept her cool, “Look, just keep an eye on things, and if stuff starts going... weird, start leading people to the camp center.”

It probably spoke volumes of how much the Canterlot High students had adapted to things that Lyra didn’t even look all that troubled as she nodded and said, “Sure thing.”

Sunset immediately started a swift walk towards the middle of the campgrounds, all the while stretching out her spiritual senses to get a fix on everyone’s location. She felt Fluttershy out there in the distance, and could tell her Fullbring was active. Rarity hadn’t activated hers yet... no, there it was, Rarity had just activated it as well. Beside’s Gilda’s reiatsu, she thought she sensed at least one, maybe two more Hollows in the same area. That was concerning enough, but why did Gilda’s spiritual pressure feel so much stronger now?

It must be that ‘Resurreccion’ thing that Twilight told me about. What’s going on!? This wasn’t the plan! The attack is supposed to happen tonight.

Something had clearly gone wrong, but that didn’t matter now. If there was a fight, and her friends were in danger, there was only one response for Sunset and the rest of them to make. Hopefully Adagio and Twilight had a means of adjusting their plans to account for this upcoming mess they were all about to jump into.

She saw that the canoes that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash had been leading across the lake had shifted course, and were making their way back to the docks. No doubt they’d sensed the same thing and had come up with their own excuses for why the canoe racing had to end. Across the camp green, Sunset also spotted Applejack, who’d left another camper in charge of the football game and was making her way right towards Sunset.

At the same moment, Celestia, Luna, and Gloriosa all coming out of the camp center building. Celestia and Luna’s faces were both almost frighteningly calm on the surface, but Sunset could see from their eyes that they were aware of what was happening. Gloriosa followed just a step behind them, looking about wildly as one of her hands grasped the necklace of geodes. 

They all met just short of the gazebo in front of the camp center, Applejack giving Sunset a questioning look, “Ya figure its the same gal that took a shot at ya at yer apartment?”

“No mistaking her,” Sunset said, not adding anything more.

Celestia and Luna exchanged looks after casting concerned glances towards Gloriosa, and Sunset quickly said, “It's okay, she knows what’s what.”

“She does?” Celestia asked, and Sunset just nodded swiftly. 

“I can explain later, we don’t have time to get into it now.” 

Celestia accepted that without questioning it further, “That makes it easier to talk freely. Gloriosa, I hope you’ll help us keep my students safe?”

“O-of course I will! They’re your students, but they’re also my campers! I'll do whatever it takes to keep them from harm!” Gloriosa said with conviction. 

“If it's just a single Espada, we should be able to handle it easily,” Luna said quietly, “You girls should remain here while my sister and I deal with this.”

“Fluttershy’s out there, along with Rarity, ya really think we’re just gonna sit here an’ do nothin’?” Applejack said. Celestia held up a reassuring hand.

“Whatever is happening, the safety of the campers is our top priority. I want to entrust that task to you young ladies, while we go and assist your friends. There’s little time to discuss alternatives, so please listen to me for now.”

“Wait,” Gloriosa said, glancing towards the ground. Sunset sensed a disturbance as the ground stirred, and suddenly faint green motes of light rose from the earth. Vines rose from soft soil, then blossomed into open flowers, several of them, whose petals opened and then further wafting streams of light formed images. Sunset recognized several parts of the Everfree forest, and in the images saw packs of creatures rushing through it. She saw Timberwolves, several more Manticores, and what might have been a Bugbear, all in images from different flowers.

“What is this?” asked Luna with deeply suspicious eyes, and Gloriosa gulped. Sunset jumped in first.

"Again, I'll explain later. Magic geodes, plant powers. No time to go into it now!" she said, and Luna gave her an arched eyebrow.

“I, uh, planted special flowers around the forest to watch for danger," Gloriosa said, gesturing at the flowers, "These are connected to flowers much further out than others, but those creatures are still coming towards the camp!”

“There must have been more than the ones that attacked last night,” Sunset murmured, and Celestia gave her a sharp look.

“Attack? It really does sound like you and I are going to have a fascinating conversation once this is all over, Miss Shimmer," Celestia said.

Sunset felt her face flush and she met Celestia’s intent gaze, almost reliving several moments from her life as a pony under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. No one could give a disapproving stare quite like Celestia, in this world or any other. “I’ll explain afterward, I promise. We need to take action. I’ve got my gikon with me. You?”

Chappy hadn’t been happy about it, but in case Sunset needed to enter her spirit body at a moment’s notice, she’d been carrying Chappy’s gikon jewel in her pocket instead of letting the artificial soul run loose in her plushie body. Sunset had agreed to let Chappy have a vacation after this was all done.

Celestia and Luna both nodded, Luna flashing a gikon jewel from her sleeve, while Celestia... reached into her cleavage to pull hers out. Luna blanched at that. “Really, sister?”

Celestia just shrugged, “It’s a faster draw from there. I’ve never mastered the sleeve thing you do.”

Luna sighed, “Regardless, you girls stay here and protect the camp.”

No, bad idea, Sunset thought, tension rising in her chest like a hot knife. Celestia and Luna didn’t know what the real stakes were here, and would still likely see Adagio as nothing but an enemy. Sunset needed to go with them, to try and mitigate thing and do whatever she could to control the situation. Granted, the Equestrian creatures coming out of the deeper Everfree forest would be a problem, but Sunset knew the girls could handle that and keep the camp safe. 

“Let me come at least,” she said, “You don’t know for sure how many enemies there are, and I can keep up with you.”

“Now hold on a’ tic,” Applejack began, but Sunset looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Applejack, if we all go, the camp will be nearly defenseless. I’m trusting you to keep everyone safe alongside Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I’ll make sure Fluttershy and Rarity are okay, and bring them back here as fast as possible,” she looked then at Celestia and Luna, “Does that work for you? I’ll get my friends and the other campers out there to safety while you fight the Espada.”

Luna looked hesitant, but Celestia said, “That’s a fair plan, Sunset Shimmer. Let us go then, before anything else-”

A flare of reiatsu appeared in the distant sky, like a green lance bursting in the air. Celestia grimaced, “-...happens. Well, that can’t be good.”

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash rushed up to them, Pinkie Pie bouncing close behind, “Seriously what the heck is going on!?”

“No time, gals,” Applejack said, “We’re on camp defense against a’ whole mess o’ critters, while the Soul Reaper types are goin’ off ta pull our friends outta the frying pan.”

Suddenly Pinkamena’s thick, pink mist flowed out of Pinkie Pie and the straight haired, crazy eyed doppelganger licked her lips as she took solid shape, “Does this mean I get to finally eat something!?”

Sunset was more focused on trying to sense what that signal had been, and realized in the faint distance, back towards Canterlot City, she could pick up on the traces of emerging Hollow reiatsu, “Something’s happening back at the city.”

“We can’t do anything about that,” Celestia said, through her expression betrayed concern, “Captain Sweet Cider and Lieutenant Posey’s forces will have to deal with that until matters are settled here. Now we must go. We’ve delayed enough.”

With that Celestia and Luna popped in their gikon jewels into their mouths. Their spirit forms appeared from their gigai bodies in a stream of blue energy, both of them wearing their full black robes and flowing white Captain’s coats in their spirit forms. Their physical bodies both stepped back, in control now by their gikon souls, and unlike the Chappy model, these ones seemed far more serious minded and alert.

“Your orders, ma’ams?” said the one in Celestia’s body.

“Continue to act in our human roles, and protect the students as best you can,” Celestia said, who then looked to Sunset. 

Sunset nodded and swallowed Chappy’s gikon, feeling the familiar sensation of being essentially “booted” out of her own body, accompanied by the oddly refreshing and lighter feeling of assuming her spirit body. Hokori no Hikari felt warm and eager at her side, it’s twin spirits more than ready for battle. Behind her, Chappy shook herself and rubbed her face.

“Man, Sunset, sitting in your pocket for hours sucked! Have I mentioned how much better it feels just to have limbs?”

“Cool it, Chappy, we’re in an emergency situation. You’re me for now, so help with keeping our fellow students safe, and don’t get my body injured if you can help it,” Sunset said.

“Dang it, I don’t want to stay here while the others are in trouble!” Dash said, but shook her head and took a calming breath, adopting a surprisingly practical look for the young, impulsive athlete, “But you can count on me, Sunset. Nothing’s harming this camp while I’m here.”

“Yuppers! We’ve got this,” affirmed Pinkie Pie, with Applejack nodding agreement.

“Just git goin’ already!”

That was all the prompting the three Soul Reapers needed. As one, Celestia, Luna, and Sunset all vanished with swift Flash Steps, rocketing into the sky and making their way across the lake, and towards the battle already underway.

----------

Filthy Rich looked to Twilight with a quizzical expression as she bent over the model of Canterlot City sitting in his office suite. They’d been there most of the night, and he was impressed with how little the lack of sleep affected the young lady. Then again, he’d sensed her use of reishi, small and subtle, and suspected she’d used her Schrift in some manner. The secret of her letter ‘V’ was being well kept, and he could hardly blame her for that. That kind of information was dangerous, especially with someone trying to take her life. 

Twilight’s eyes were unblinking, focused entirely on her analysis of the model. “Simple yet effective construction. It works so much like the tracers Cadence taught me that it’s kind of disturbing. But that’s why this will work, I think. Knowing how to use the tracer, I can modify this to do what I need it to. In multiple ways...”

She reached out a hand and touched the model, just at the top of the small representation of Canterlot High, “You said that the person who changes their body can’t change their reiatsu, that’s true. But you never said there wasn’t someone who could also change reiatsu, or rather, reishi specifically. I’ve suspected for some time now several things about the plot to kill me. One; there’s more than one perpetor. Two; these perpetrators each have abilities that, when combined, allow them to get anywhere they need to without arousing suspicion. Three; they can’t impersonate my family due to my familiarity with them. Four; one of them is an amatuer, prone to mistakes, while the others are patient. And finally, five; they’ve infiltrated my team so they can strike during a battle while my guard is down.”

“Those are some interesting conclusions. Why are you so sure about them?” Filthy Rich asked, finding himself very curious how this young girl’s mind worked.

“It’s simple observations. The first attempt on my life was a desperate move. It was sloppy. Something someone without a lot of patience or skill would have tried. However the second attempt at the battle of Las Noches, was far more subtle. The assassin fought very differently, with greater skill. If I’d been as weak as I’d been before, or if Miss Cinch hadn’t arrived when she did, I’d have been killed. I think the first attempt was done by a mere soldat, while the second was a Sternritter. I know they can’t impersonate my family, because if they could go that route, they would have done it already. I think none of them know my family well enough to fake their mannerisms. That’s the only reason I can surmise that they wouldn’t try that. However, my newer friends, I’ve only known my team for a short period of time on any close level. I don’t know all their mannerisms well enough to spot a fake. That said, I think one or two of them have behaved... oddly, since Las Noches. Besides, infiltrating them would be one of the few ways to know for sure where I am and to be in a position to attack me in a moment where they could still easily slip away.”

“I’m following so far,” Filthy Rich said, eyeing his treasured city model, “But what does this have to do with using this?”

“My... Schrift gives me several ways in which I can affect things around me,” Twilight said with some clear hesitance, “That, combined with current knowledge of reishi, and reishi tracers, should allow me to modify this model so instead of tracking your family, it’s tracking every Quincy reiatsu in not just the city, but as far out as Camp Everfree. I want you to stay here, and watch for any Quincy reiatsu that either don’t match who we know is out there, or doesn’t match my team.”

“I see... you’re showing me a great deal of trust, Miss Sparkle. I appreciate that,” he said, then looked across the room, “What are your thoughts on this?”

Soarin, who’d remained silent as he leaned against the office’s wide window, wore a grim look, “I think Twilight’s on the money here. And you know as well as I do who among the Sternritter can change reishi, and who else can change their body.”

“I know, but to think that they would betray our King’s trust...” Filth Rich said, shaking his head, “I can’t fathom their motivations. I also don’t wish to truly accept this without conclusive proof. So far all we have is Miss Sparkle’s speculations, no matter how much sense that might appear to make.”

“Yes,” said Twilight, “Which is why we’re doing this. They’ll attack. I’m sure of it. And with this model, we’ll know for sure who it is and when the strike. I’m counting on both of you to be ready to back me up when it happens, and help me apprehend the assassins.”

“You can count on me,” Soarin said.

“As well as I,” said Filthy Rich, “I owe you my daughter’s life. Your life shall be safeguarded in return.”

Twilight nodded to the two, “Alright then, since I’m trusting both of you, I’m also trusting you to not pay too close attention to what I’m doing here, okay? I’d like to keep my Schrift relatively secret.”

“Honestly I’m not even sure I could tell what it is if I was paying attention,” Soarin said, throwing out a boyish grin, “It’s way too subtle, but seems like it fits you.”

Twilight chuckled a bit at that, and as the two men made a point of looking away, she went to work on the model. Soarin was right, in many cases her Schrift was subtle in what it did, but that was only because she’d only used it in small ways thus far. Potentially it was devastating in the full implications of its power. Sombra had said the longer she used it, the more she’d learn to expand what it could do, to the point that she might be an even match for his Absolute. 

Her hand only glowed for a brief instant, a blue flicker as the power of her Schrift spread into the model of the city. It only took an instant, although in that instant Twilight’s mind went through numerous calculations to ensure she was doing things correctly. Understanding of fundamental principles was important for how her Schrift functioned, after all, and without Cadence’s help with learning the tracer ability, this might not have been possible. 

“Okay, you can look now,” she said, and Filthy Rich and Soarin turned their attention back to the model.

It’s surface was much the same, but instead of just the points of light that had represented Filth Rich’s family, now a number of other points of blue light shimmered upon the model. They weren’t just static light’s either, they blazed with different levels of intensity and took slightly different shapes.

“These three here are us,” Twilight said, indicating the tower where three pillars of bright light wavered, “And over there at Camp Everfree you can see my team, Silver Spoon, and even Diamond Tiara.”

“Huh...” Filthy Rich said, “That’s strange. My wife isn’t at home.”

Twilight glanced to where he was pointing at the Rich family mansion, where there was no lights present. Twilight scanned the rest of the model. There were no more lights to be seen. “Could your wife have gone out of town for some reason?”

“Hm, Spoiled does like to take ‘shopping’ trips,” Filth Rich said, “Her idea of a fun afternoon can be hitting up stores in Paris before coming home. Still, she usually tells me when she’s going to do that. Then again, I suppose with Diamond out of the house, Spoiled might have decided to have a girls day out. Heh, she does that sometimes.”

Twilight didn’t say anything to that. She had enough supictions already.

An amatuer, but working with experts... but what would Filthy Rich’s wife possibly gain from wanting me dead...?

There were no guarantees, either way. Besides, with this in place, one way or another, the second the assassins struck next, she’d have them. 

“At any rate, it’s time I got back to the camp,” she said, turning to Soarin, “Let’s go.”

He moved to join her in heading for the elevator, but in that instant all three of the Quincy in the room felt the sudden surge of Hollow reiatsu that washed over them. Shocked looks were exchanged and they all went to the window. Outside in the city skyline it was impossible to mistake the multiple dark slits of Garganta portals opening up.

No! Why now!? Did Adagio change the plan!?, Twilight thought in a near panic, but quickly took a grip on her racing heart. There was no way Adagio had altered the plan without telling her or Sunset. This had to be the doing of one of the other Espada. Probably Grogar. Her mind instantly kicked into overdrive, running through dozens of possibilities in seconds. Midnight joined in, her alter ego echoing her thoughts across Twilight’s mind.

Whatever’s coming into the city, Twilight, we can’t waste time dealing with it. Have that cute boytoy, Soarin, do that, while leaving the old man to watch our lovely trap.

Twilight nearly snorted, ’Boytoy’. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Midnight gave a sensuous laugh, It’s your mind too. You know what we have to do. Those Arrancar will be waiting for us to join them in rescuing Adagio’s little friend. And while we’re doing that, no doubt our assassins will look for their chance to stick a knife in us. C’mon, stop feeling so frightened. This is going to be fun

A soft hiss escaped Twilight as she saw the procession of horrific, unusually twisted and strange Hollows emerging from the Garanta portals, Battles aren’t fun. Not even slightly. But you are right, we can’t waste time.

“Soarin, whatever those things are, they’re Hollows. I know there are a lot of Soul Reapers out there, but if you can, protect the city. Filthy Rich, I need you to stay here and watch that model.”

“I understand that, Miss Sparkle, but this is my city, where my home and business lay. I’ll keep an eye on the model when I can, but I must insist I help Soarin deal with these beasts that are daring to show their misshapen faces here,” he replied firmly, and Twilight realized there was no arguing the point, so she just nodded.

“Where will you be?” Soarin asked, “Blast it, Twilight, my job is to protect you.”

“Your duty is to protect human life, and that’s what you’ll be doing by destroying those Hollows as fast as possible,” Twilight replied, “I’m going back to Camp Everfree, because if there’s an attack here, there may well be an attack there as well.”

“Crap, I hadn’t thought of that,” Soarin admitted.

“All the more reason for us to crush these Hollows here,” Filthy Rich said, “Besides, we can’t let the Soul Reapers do our jobs for us.”

Twilight was about to go to the elevator when Filthy Rich went to the wall and moved a hidden panel, pressing a button within. Then, an actual section of the office wall actually slide aside, opening a section to the outside. He smiled at her, “Who needs an elevator when we Quincy can make use of swifter exits?”

Despite the sudden dire nature of the situation, Twilight almost smiled, “Clever.”

And so the three Quincy all leaped out of the office, dozens of stories up, and rushed off into the midst of inevitable battle.