Scrapper Scuttler stretched his arms out, before turning to look straight at Bck Star. His gaze turo me, and the merary's red eye glowed menagly, as if daring us to make the first move.

  I felt a chill go down my spine.

  "Alright," he grinned menagly, his voice crag through his skull-shaped mask's audio modutor. "Let's get started."

  And then, Currant slowly stepped forward, standing protectively between me and Bck Star and Scrapper Scuttler. His purple cloak billowed around him, as his purple and bck tiger mask's eyes glowed in the night.

  "Wait!" Albert called.

  "It's fine," he replied calmly, briefly gng back at us. "Stay back, all of you.

  "Focus on the fight ahead. Keep your wits about you," Currant said, his voice steady and anding. "My teiques work best if I fun as the vanguard. If you see an opening in Scrapper's defehen you attack. But do not put yourselves in harm's way needlessly. In the event I fall ...tihe battle. Do not fear for me, but fight on."

  Bck Star, Cw Strawberry, Elysia, Albert, and I watched with wide eyes as the tiger-masked knight took a deep breath. He exhaled, his aura swirling as a surge of wind blew up and ruffled his purple cloak dramatically.

  "Heh. You think you stop me from taking what's mine?" Scrapper Scuttler asked, chug raising his arm and aiming the gau the boy.

  Strawberry limped forward with visible panic, her tail and ears standing up straight as her aura fred around her.

  "C-Currant!"

  Cw Currant stepped forward, now maskless and his aura tightly tained within him. He breathed steadily, calmly. His aura was a calm sea, and as I looked into it, I could tell his mana reserves weren't all that high.

  But there was a steely determination in his eyes that spoke volumes. His body was like a sword, and his aura moved through it with a practiced ease. It was a on honed and tempered through tless battles. He definitely fit right in with the Bravehearts.

  The world around us seemed to still as Currant locked gazes with Scrapper Scuttler.

  "It is an older brother's duty to protect his younger sibling," Cw Currant said, closing his eyes.

  He took up a loose bded stance as his dark purple aura densed around him. His mana was focused on a few points in his body. He breathed in deeply, his aura coalesg around him, before exhaling slowly.

  "Howling Fist: R Tempest!"

  Scrapper Scuttler fired a salvo of missiles, and they streaked through the sky, trailing smoke. Cw Currant stepped forward, a bst of air rushing from him as he moved.

  It took less than half a sed, but to me, it was like the whole se pyed out in slow motion. The air shimmered around Cw Currant as his body blurred with a torrent of mana.

  The moment Currant moved, his body vahe sound barrier broke in an instant, and the air cracked as he dashed ahead.

  Currant struck with such speed and power that it was like watg a lightning strike, and his fist smmed into Scrapper Scuttler's chest before I even realized it. The force of the punch sent the armored merary flying backwards. The missiles flew through empty space, exploding harmlessly.

  Scrapper Scuttler crashed down with a resounding boom, skidding and sliding along the pavement before ing to a stop. His armor was visibly undamaged as he regained his band steadied himself, but I knew Currant's strike had to have been powerful enough to do some real damage to him. Scrapper Scuttler growled, raising his hand to aim at Cw Currant.

  "Heh! You got a few tricks up your sleeve, don'tcha, boy?" he said. "That ain't enough, though! Yer outta your league!"

  The merary unched himself forward, flying towards Currant with a burst of fme from his boots, but Currant didn't flinch. He calmly shifted his stance, and the hing I knew, Scrapper Scuttler was crashing into the pavement again.

  Currant had used a throw a him crashing to the ground with impeccable timing. The impact caused a billow of debris and a loud thud that echoed through the empty streets.

  Cw Currant jumped bad rexed, taking up aand boung on his toes as his purple aura swirled around him. He cautiously circled the seemingly dazed and disoriented merary, as if sizing up his move.

  "His rhythm and timing are incredible," Elysia whispered.

  Stel had defeated Currant in one shot in her Eris persona.

  She'd hit him with some kind of energy bst and it'd just been ht then and there. Currant wasn't visibly stronger or more powerful than her, but I could see an incredible amount of trol in his movements and a focus to his aura that I hadn't seen from Elysia's fighting. His movements were effit, graceful, and quick, like he'd been perf them his entire life.

  Stel was also extremely skilled with martial arts, but Currant's movements were a step beyond what I'd seen of hers.

  Cw Currant tio circle Scrapper Scuttler, his eyes locked on his oppo's every move

  "Yer a real tough cookie, aren't ya, boy?" the merary said, orienting himself forward and beginning to stand. He dusted off his armor, shaking off the effects of Currant's throw. "But I don't lose. Never have, never will.".

  "I'm only getting started," Currant said, raising his fists and g them tight. He took a defensive posture, his arms raised and his feet spread apart.

  "An iin' one," Scrapper Scuttler said, shaking his head. "I don't know what kinda tricks you got up your sleeve, boy, but yer

  out of your depth. I've faced the best of the best, and trust me, you ain't got what it takes."

  Currant remained silent.

  "Yer fightin' style... I re I figure ya out. You wait for me to make a move, and then ter with one o' your own, eh? You've got the skills, but yer not gonna take any risks with me, is that right? And ye..."

  He raised a finger and poi at Currant.

  "About seventeeers. I re that's your limit. Yer quick, and I betcha you've been doing this for quite a bit, but not in the real world. Not too shabby fer a rookie, boy. Yer still an amateur, but you ain't bad."

  "Enough talking. e at me," Currant replied.

  I felt my heart rag.

  "e on, Currant," Cw Strawberry said, her eyes burning with determination. "Show him what you're made of!"

  Scrapper Scuttler ughed.

  "You think yer hot shit? Well, how about this? Let's try it my way," the armored merary said.

  A panel on his back opened, revealing the missile partments within, and then several of them fired off at Currant in a cloud of smoke. They flew through the air towards him.

  Currant's aura fred and he jumped, ung himself into the air and then leaping to the side, avoiding the missiles as they exploded in mid-air. Shrapnel rained down around him as the smoke and dust from the explosion filled the street, but Cw Curra moving.

  Scrapper Scuttler raised his gaus and began firing bursts of crimson and blue energy, peppering the dust clouds and sending shrapnel everywhere. Currant tio move, jumping from wall to wall as the ground shook beh him. Several of the energy bursts hit the walls around him, but he tio evade and leap away.

  The merary took aim with his wrist gau, which crackled with power as it began to charge.

  Currant leaped into the air, and the moment his foot hit the ground, he unched himself at the armored man. His body moved with such fluidity that it was like watg water in motion.

  His purple aura swirled around him, crag with energy and power, his arms raised as he dashed towards the merary with his aura bzing like a purple fme.

  There was a loud boom as Scrapper Scuttler unleashed his charged bst at Cw Currant.

  The bst owerful, but a split sed before it reached Currant, his aura coalesced around him and he vanished from sight. The bst exploded in mid-air, the shrapnel scattered into every dire.

  Cw Curra, twisting his body around and flipping in the air as the bst wave sailed beh his feet and into the nearby buildings. He nded behind Scrapper Scuttler in a roll and immediately sprang to a crouch.

  Currant lunged forward, his aura fring, and threunch. Scrapper Scuttler casually turned around, raising his hand to parry the blow.

  It was a feint.

  Cw Currant's fist stopped inches away from Scrapper Scuttler's armored hand, and in the blink of an eye, his other hand shot out. A surge of purple energy crackled around his fingers as he aimed directly for the merary's exposed side.

  Scrapper Scuttler's eyes widened in surprise, but he mao twist his body just enough to deflect Currant's strike partially. The energy dissipated harmlessly into the air, but Currant wasn't do.

  Before the merary could ter, Currant spun on his heel with impeccable precision and delivered a mana-infused roundhouse kick that ected with Scrapper Scuttler's midse with his shin. The impact reverberated through the armored suit, rattling the merary inside.

  Scrapper Scuttler was smmed in the chest as Currant unleashed his teique again, his fist striking the merary with enough force to send shockwaves rippling through the air.

  Currant followed up with another pund a leg trap, the merary staggering back, stumbling as he struggled to recover. The tiger boy's fists and legs moved in a blur, his attacks striking at critical ots on the merary's suit joints. His blows struck fast and hard, coated with mana, like lightning bolts. Currant was relentless, driving his oppo back with every strike and blow he nded.

  I couldn't follow the movements of their limbs with my eyes. Currant was moving so fast that he was a just blur of motion.

  Scrapper Scuttler stumbled uhe onsught, his arming loudly with each hit he took. Despite his advaeology and bat training, he struggled to keep up with Cw Currant's lightning-fast strikes.

  But, his reputation and threat rating didn't e from not being able to handle a little adversity. No, Scrapper Scuttler was not going down without a hell of a fight.

  "Hah!" Scrapper Scuttler shouted, suddenly diving under a pund smming into Cw Currant.

  Scrapper Scuttler was huge.

  His power armor's height alone made him intimidating enough, standing at about seven ht feet tall, aowered over the much smaller Cw Currant. Currant tried to jump back, but Scrapper Scuttler's arms extended with a whir and ed around him in the blink of an eye.

  "Tryinn' ta sprawl on me won't help you!" Scrapper Scuttler roared, ing his massive arms around Cw Currant's waist and lifting him up.

  "Gah!" Currant gasped in pain.

  "I wrestled Division One and I made mi outta every single one of them! You think you beat me?" Scrapper Scuttler bellowed, lifting Currant up even higher as his powerful arms held him tightly. "You're the one who's overreag, kid! You thought you could take on the best? Yer mistaken!"

  "Get away from him!" Strawberry shouted, breaking into a run.

  "Wait!" Albert reached out for her, his eyes widest I'd ever seen them.

  I moved out of instinct to join her, but Albert stepped to put his hand on my shoulder. "Don’t rush in, not until we have a pn. We 't just go in bsting and hope for the best."

  "But—"

  "Calm down," Albert said, his voice firm yet reassuring. "We have to think carefully, for their sake as well as ours."

  I took a deep breath and nodded. We all gathered in a er, away from the fight.

  "We need a pn," I whispered, my heart pounding in my chest. "Scrapper Scuttler's strong, but not invulnerable."

  "What's his oint?" Elysia asked, her eyes filled with .

  Albert tilted his head. "His power source, most likely in that bapartment he revealed earlier. Fat ce at getting to it, though. I bet he has a million redundant systems proteg it.

  Strawberry exploded forward, her body ed in fmes as she leapt at Scrapper Scuttler. But she was too slow. The merary arched his ba a picture-perfect German Suplex, and Cw Currant hit the ground hard. His head bounced off the pavement with a siing crack.

  Scrapper Scuttler ughed manically, t over Cw Currant as he straightened his gaus. "That's what happens when you mess with the big dogs, kid! You're done!"

  Strawberry smmed into Scrapper Scuttler's back with tears visibly streaking from her eyes, but the merary's suit absorbed most of the impact.

  His helmet fshed red as he seethed at the attack. But, he didn't seem hurt. Instead, he twisted his body and suddenly, Cw Strawberry found herself caught in a half nelson. Scuttler casually picked up the dazed Currant by his cloak with one arm, chug as Strawberry smmed him with explosive punch after explosive punch.

  The ground shook and cracks began to appear on the pavement as their struggle tinued, both of them grunting from the force of their blows.

  "Let. Go of him!" Strawberry screamed, her red eyes burning in anger as explosion after explosion bounced off his chest pte from her punches.

  Scrapper Scuttler let out a twisted chuckled, his red eyes glowing with power. "Is that an order?" He quipped, flipping the dangling Cw Currant upside down like a ragdoll.

  Then, he span around, both of them still locked in his hold, and threw them with all his might. The air around them crackled with energy as their bodies soared through the air. Both Currant and Strawberry's faces torted in terror as they realized their fate, but Scrapper Scuttler didn't show any mercy as he fired a salvo of missiles at them.

  Strawberry screamed in terror as the missile approached, her hair whipping wildly around her fa the wind.

  "No!" Bck Star shouted.

  The explosion was deafening. A pilr of fme shot out of the missile, sending shrapnel flying as the fireball engulfed the area around it.

  "Strawberry! Currant" I shouted.

  A fsh of light. A green blur. The wind roared like a hurrie, and Braveheart Kitsune suddenly appeared in front of me with Strawberry slung over his shoulder and Currant cradled in his arms.

  The three were battered and bleeding, their auras flickering weakly. Cw Currant's aura was flickering and fading fast, while Braveheart Kitsune was visibly exhausted but still had plenty of fight in him.

  "Hah! You're a real fast one!" Scrapper Scuttler said.

  "To save a friend? I'd say that's a worthy trait," Braveheart Kitsune said, his breath ing out in ragged gasps, narrowing his eyes as he turned around.

  Kitsuled Strawberry dowly, her aura still flickering dangerously. Elysia rushed over to her side, her eyes wide with . She pced a hand on Cw Currant's forehead, whispering soothing words as she infused her own energy into the injured boy, trying to stabilize his fading aura.

  Scrapper Scuttler watched the se unfold with amusement, his gaus casting long shadows across the trembling ground. "You know, I'm really starting to enjoy this," he said, voice thid distorted through his helmet. "Re we’ve got seven ht minutes ‘fore helps to arrive. But if you'd like, we end this early a me put you out of your misery. What do you think, huh?"

  "Shit. What are we going to do?" whispered Albert in a trembling voice, eyes dartiween the fallen allies and the looming figure of Scrapper Scuttler.

  Elysia paused, her eyes locked on Scrapper Scuttler's menag form. She took a deep breath, her hand still restily on Cw Currant's forehead, feeling the steady ebb and flow of his fading life force.

  She closed her eyes and focused, eling all her energy into a single point. My aura sight told me she was flicted, and I couldn’t tell exactly wat she was thinnking. But then, her eyes shot open and they were on fire with a newfound resolve

  I watched as she slowly stood up and took a step forward, then another.

  "What... what're you doing?!" Currant hissed, nursing his injuries.

  But she didn’t respond, her gaze unwavering as she approached the t form of Scrapper Scuttler and summoned her crystal swords.

  The air crackled with tension, the ground tremblih her feet as if sensing the impending frontation.

  "Lux. The move you used when we cshed," she whispered, turning to me.

  I blinked.

  "I o know. Do you have any ditions or limitations?" Elysia… no, Stel asked. I didn’t know why, but I felt like this was Stel talking, not Elysia.

  "I... I only do it two or three times, and in short bursts. It's too expensive."

  Stel hen turo face Scrapper Scuttler, her eyes narrowing. She was silent and focused.

  "Kitsune. You know Lightning Overdrive. Do you also know Raijin's Odori?" Stel asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

  Kitsune's eyes went wide. "H-How do you...? I mean... I don't... It's..."

  Elysia’s twin bdes glowed.

  "You don't o uand," she said.

  Scrapper Scuttler's visor turo us as his missile pods retracted into his back, and then he chuckled. His gaued hands ched, and his aura swirled around him. The armored suit was massive. It looked like something from an apocalyptic sce fiovie. Its bulk, its weight, its sheer size, made it almost look like an armored vehicle, a war mae.

  The merary stepped forward, and the street shook beh his feet.

  "Nightingale Eclipse's Shadow Dance was created to help her keep up with her teammates, and as she became one of Star Celeste’s… Arcadia Vox’s closest allies, Star Nightingale developed her teiques further, incorporating them with her’s, Star Monarch’s, and Star Foxtrot’s. Raijin’s inal move that was developed after she and Storm Vixen perfected their partnership, a move desigo keep up with her and act as a partner, even without Arcadia Vox. It's said it took them a year to develop. This teique was only ever used in a few fights, but you’d undoubtedly have trai, wouldn’t you, Kitsune?"

  Kitsune looked like he’d seen a ghost. His hands shook as he gnced down at his own, then back up to Elysia. He looked like he wao say something, to deny it or firm it, but in the end, he seemed at a loss for words.

  Strawberry squi the se, her eyes narrowed with urgency. "O, e on. What's even going on?" she growled, legs now steadying her for a charge at Scrapper Scuttler.

  "I... I barely remember how to do it," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the din of chaos that surrouhem.

  "Kitsune. Ready your teique, but wait until you see an opening..." Stel whispered, before taking a step forward. "Watch me and follow Lux's lead."

  Her aura swelled, the silver and white mingling and mixing with a bright pink that emerged from her core, her power surging out in waves. It was like watg an eclipse.

  She took aep.

  "Get ready."

  And then, raspberry pink lightning charge sparked and crackled in the air, ing itself around Elysia.

  Elysia raised her bde and took up a fighting stance, her eyes narrowed and her body tensed, like a spring wound tight. The air around her shimmered with heat as her body radiated mana. Elysia was a whirlpool of mana. She looked like she was going to explode with all her pent-up power, her aura a bzing inferno.

  The air itself seemed to be charged with electricity, her mana swirling around her.

  Stel's eyes were fixed on the armored merary, who stood there, unmoving, his arms at his sides.

  "Lux. I need you to follow me. Follow your intuition," she said.

  "I'll... I'll try," I replied. I wasn't sure how much use I would be against a merary like him, but I'd be damned if I didn't try.

  Her aura pulsed, and her mana began to swirl around her in a whirlwind of silver, pink, and white light. It was so thick I could practically see it.

  "I, Elysia Veritas, solemnly swear to protect this world and all its inhabitants from any and all threats. With the power of light and darkness, etched forever within my soul as a magical girl, I shall stand as a symbol of hope amidst despair, upholding justid righteousness even in the darkest of times. My heart shall be a bea of love, light, and passion for those who have lost their way. I take on this responsibility freely, uanding the gravity of my itment to keep this world secure."

  And then, she transformed. A brilliant fsh of light erupted from Elysia's core, engulfing her entire being and transf her into a breathtaking sight to behold.

  A whirlwind of light swirled around her as her hair began to grow out from the back of her head, the long strands growing to reach past her wait, and the color ging to a bright, bubblegum pink, and then the silver and pink light mixed together, creating a vibraric magenta.

  She was glowing. Her body was shining with mana and energy. It was like looking into a refle of a suhat had just been refracted through a prism. Her silver dress shimmered, turning a bright ruffled pink her shoes shifting from heels to a ft shape. Her skin glowed as she stood there in a blinding light, and her eyes became two glowing pools ht raspberry, the irises and the pupils shining brightly in the dark of night.

  She looked beautiful.

  "A f-Form ge?" Albert whispered.

  Her dress was different, with a high nee and no shoulders. Her sleeves had shorteo just past the elbow, with a bck cuff on the wrists and a red ribbon on her back. The front of the dress had shorteo mid-thigh while the back reached her knees, a slit in the back of her skirt, with a white waist cher. Her gloves were elbow-length ahe same shade of pink, and her shoes had transformed from silver heels intht pink fts.

  I stared at her.

  "S-She... she looks a bit like..." Albert started.

  "Yeah.... She does," I whispered.

  Different colors. Different eyes. A more serious demeanor than the legendary magical girl ever had.

  But if it were not for the e, she was almost a doppelganger of her mother.

  The transformation ended with her holding out both hands, and a pair of twin swords formed, eaade of a pink crystallierial with silver edges.

  Scrapper Scuttler looked up, staring at her as he ched his fists. His armor ked as he shifted unfortably.

  "Those eyes... I've seen 'em... takes me right back."

  And for the first time, Scrapper Scuttler faltered, taking a step back.

  Stel's aura pulsed, and her mana surged.

  A pink glow emanated from her body. It wasn't her mana. It wasn't an attack. It was a feeling.

  She took a step forward and her pink and white aura pulsed and swirled, the white and pink mixing together, f a whirlwind of mana around her.

  "I am Magical Girl Rosaria Celeste! And in the name of love and hope, you will be brought to justice!"