At the same time, a crazy cat fight was occurring. Toolbox and Leona leapt at each other again and again, their claws clanging over and over.

  “Mama! We can live a life together! Why-!” Leona’s claws flung Toolbox’s aside.

  Machua jumped in the way soon after and blocked the coming slash. The resulting force knocked her back though.

  “Do you have to be like this?!”

  “Because!” A clang. Shockwaves from their claws tore up the floor.

  “The world isn’t fair to people like us!” Another clashing of claws. Another shredded wall.

  It was almost like playing at a dance machine in an arcade. Four directions and a screen flashing the direction to press next. Playing them always came easy to her. The steps and timing was always in conjunction to the music. She could even try her hand at the highest difficulties.

  But here, it was completely different. She was trying to follow someone else’s flow. Toolbox’s.

  Toolbox dictated the direction, demanding she keep up. Her paw seals acted as the screen, but each step and direction was only there for a flash before Toolbox herself stepped on them. The directions blinked on and off, on and off.

  She had to predict. She could at least grasp her flow, but it was constantly interrupted with Leona’s. Leona’s own flow constantly interwove with Toolbox and sometimes broke it entirely. It was up to her to keep that flow going.

  ‘I’m so tired of it. I have to follow their flow constantly. The moment it breaks means I messed up, so I can’t let it break!’

  On and off. On and off. Over and over.

  “All we wanted to do was take care of the few monsters we could!” Leona yelled. This time they exchanged blows. Both spat out blood as they launched backwards.

  Machua positioned herself behind Toolbox. Toolbox spun in the air deftly and landed atop her tonfa. With their combined force, she rocketed forward.

  “That black company forced us to clean up the messes of their customers!” Leona caught Toolbox’s foot.

  “Over and over! They mistreated their monsters and yet they were allowed to be tamers!?”

  With a roar, Leona pushed Toolbox back. No effort was made for another attack.

  “Do you remember that there was a snake you once cuddled with?” She asked.

  Toolbox landed. She wracked her brain to remember. It wasn’t an important memory for her. She was still young at the time, but she did recall. The feeling of being wrapped in scales not unlike her dada.

  “I remember. I was surprised to find that guy. I thought he was there to take my place. So I beat him up and then I went to sleep,” Toolbox answered.

  “Scias stole that snake. He snuck it into our home. If it was healthy, it would’ve won.”

  “Its flesh was exposed past its scales. Its fangs were snapped off. It was blinded in one eye. And none of that was taken care of,” Leona stated with growing ire.

  “Monster taming regulations, the ZOO…”

  Leona’s body began growing larger. Flesh and black fur encompassed her. Her claws grew longer, her fangs grew sharper and her eyes began to look like that of a frenzied beast. Now, she looked like a humanoid lioness instead of a human with lioness parts. A crazed one.

  [Extreme Growth: One-Third of a Chimaera]

  Machua braced herself. She wasn’t even sure if one tonfa would be enough anymore.

  “None of that is enough! Why the hell do we have to watch!? Why did none of our reports go through!? It was a blessing in disguise we got laid off! Now we can punish those abusers and give their monsters a home!”

  Leona ran on all fours. Her speed was destructive, destroying the flooring beneath them. Her jaws, wide open, looked like she wanted to devour the two of them right there.

  Machua held up both her tonfas up and activated both of the barriers. Leona stabbed into the gap between them with her claws and simply wrenched them apart.

  ‘Crap! The barriers might work, but I can’t hold a candle to her raw power! She can just move the barriers aside!’

  Machua’s body completely froze. That lioness head neared hers, her fangs ready to tear her in two.

  Suddenly, Toolbox slid underneath Machua’s feet and with a jump, she slammed her mother’s jaw closed.

  [Pathway Paw: 5-Claw Smash!]

  “How does that relate to me!? Why are you forgetting me!?”

  Leona staggered back, but just a moment later, her arms grasped Toolbox. Her large arms could now grasp her entire waist with ease. Toolbox tried her best to wriggle out but it was no use.

  “You’ll stay put. We’ll figure out what to do with you later.”

  The enlarged Leona tossed Toolbox away like a bag of trash.

  “But you. I’ll be killing you.”

  Machua stared back at the beast’s eyes. When she first saw her transformation, all she could repeat in her head was Lemuel’s guidance. She wasn’t allowed to flinch. She had to face danger and allow Toolbox time to recover. That was her role.

  ‘I have to defend against this beast… alone?’

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl. No, it was the opposite. Her mind seemed to work faster and faster. It was at this crucial moment, Machua needed to accelerate her thinking and find a solution.

  ‘My role…’

  Machua’s mind was blank. What solution? What role? What was she meant to do? This was worse than Dalan. She had always faced him with a group. And even when she was forced to land the killing blow, she knew she had her trump cards. But here. Here?

  All Toolbox could tell them of her family was what they did when they were on the run with her. A transformation like this wasn’t anywhere in the books. If she could’ve changed the pairings, she would’ve paired Carmine with Toolbox. Carmine would survive and she had a good relationship with Toolbox.

  But no. She was here. Alone. No one to rely on.

  ‘If I told him to stay…’

  Would this have gone better? Yes, it would. But why didn’t she then? She wanted the best for Toolbox, right?

  ‘Why I didn’t… Was also because I wanted the best for Toolbox. Because I wanted to see it through the end myself. And is that wrong?’

  No. It wasn’t wrong. For all of her brother’s faults, he simply highlighted the pitfalls in their path. She wasn’t going to just watch and help Toolbox. She was going to be a part of this conflict herself.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  ‘Believe in my own heart.’

  Leona clawed the empty space where Machua was. She slid under her legs the same way as Toolbox did to her and quickly, she stamped onto her tail. And struck at its base with a Mana Bursted strike.

  “RAAAAAAARGH!” Leona roared in pain. She swung her claws back haphazardly, leaving giant marks on the floor.

  “Hup!” Machua was already ahead of her. In fact, she was on top of her.

  “Hiya!” A tonfa, sheathed in a barrier, thrust straight onto the top of her head.

  “Listen to your daughter, damn it! Why can’t you make this all work out!?”

  Leona paid no heeds to her words and hurriedly clawed up. Machua was able to block it with both of her tonfas, though she was sent flying into the air. Leona chased her with a powerful leap.

  ‘Knew it! She’s slower! And when you’re big like that…’

  The flow guided her way. It was two claw strikes down. So, step just out of reach, and jumping off of the ceiling….

  “ARGHHH!” Leona growled again as Machua landed yet another blow on her head.

  ‘You’re not as aware of smaller targets.’

  Machua stepped again and shot downward. Leona leapt out of the way, far away from her. From that distance, she lengthened her claws even more. She was going to shred the entire room.

  Machua wordlessly dashed to the right. Seeing that, Leona hesitated.

  ‘Toolbox is behind me. I might be able to block her swipe but she doesn’t know if I’ll hold.’

  *THUD!*

  A large thud impacted the floor. No, it impacted the barrier’s underside, but the force of the impact rattled the floor here too. In fact, it had rattled it so much, everyone in the room was sent airborne.

  “I’ll finish this!”

  Machua jumped further into the air and heaving a deep breath, she tossed a tonfa into the air. She pressed mana into its trigger, ensuring its barrier stayed activated.

  With one strong thrust, she launched that tonfa with her other one. That tonfa, barrier still active, flew at Leona.

  ‘Huh? Why’s that barrier not translucent anymore? It’s blocking my view.’

  The barrier’s normally translucent orange had become fully opaque. Leona reached out to toss it aside anyway.

  ‘She must have covered it with her mana. A trick anyone knows how to do. But I’ll-‘

  A paw seal shone on her chest. Right where her actual human head was.

  And Toolbox was rocketing straight there.

  [Pathway Paw: 10-Claw Dropkick Special!]

  Toolbox’s giant white claws sunk into the grown lioness body of her mother. Her knees bent and she kicked her claws out with force.

  “Hah… hah. Mama… haven’t you had enough?’

  Leona’s constructed lioness body stumbled to the ground. It began to break apart, revealing her true body underneath.

  “A mother and a daughter should be able to have a normal conversation right? Even if they disagree with each other?” Machua came up and asked.

  Leona clawed her way out of the construct of her own making. She harrumphed and shook off the bits of flesh still sticking to her. She looked at her daughter and her friend. Her daughter had such teary eyes.

  “… Fine. We can sit here and talk. But you felt that thud at your barrier.”

  Machua’s eyes widened at what that meant. One of them had broken the barrier.

  “I’m sure… my family will have won when we’re finished.”

  ———————————————————————

  ‘Wake up now.’

  Carmine’s eyes shot open. She had fainted when she broke through the barrier and now she was-

  “ARGH!” She crashed through another floor and made another hole in the building.

  “Carmine?”

  “No time for that! Scias is heading down!”

  Mikoko shot a lightning bolt at the escaping Scias before dragging Rasa with her into the hole.

  Carmine turned her head back. It was a long way down. And she was still hurtling up.

  Mikoko and Rasa just crash landed into the group. Gilliam took the hit and fended them off, just barely. If she was gonna make it in time, she would have to take the direct route down.

  ‘I’m gonna fucking pulverise him!’

  Carmine flipped up. All the blood she spat out, all the blood she shed from crashing into the floors, all of them shot up as if dripping upwards.

  Blood ‘pooled’ at the bottom-side of the barrier. It almost looked like she was falling up.

  *THUD!*

  Carmine’s feet stamped onto its underside. The blood pooling above her rippled.

  “Jut!”

  [Blood Crystalline: Agate’s Pillar]

  The blood shot downwards and launched Carmine. It became a compact and sturdy red pillar. The pillar was glistening, filled with inscriptions and little cracks, almost like it had veins on its own. Of course, no one had time to see its design since it broke apart soon after.

  Carmine encased her axes in the typical blood crystals. She could feel her velocity getting faster and faster. It was almost like she was becoming a meteorite. A meteorite with two sharp and shiny axes.

  “Incoming! Gill! Up!”

  Gilliam reflexively stepped back, but his huge horns were still in the way.

  A red streak smashed him into the floor. The horns broke apart into a thousand bits.

  ‘Haven’t broken my axes in a long time!’

  Carmine sported a maniacal smirk on her face. Her legs had broken and they were bending the wrong way. A bit of bone had even pierced the skin. But she pushed through the pain.

  Blood rushed to her legs. Plue’s. Rasa’s. Gilliam’s. These were from blood splatters of the short fight that ensued when Scias descended.

  The blood encased her legs in crystal before pulling it straight with an audible crack. They then seeped into them, almost like water to a dry rag.

  Carmine shoved one foot onto the ground and then the other. They were fully healed. A waterfall of blood that was once Agate’s Pillar descended onto her. The blood crystallised into two ferocious axes in her hands.

  “Hey, snake… aren’t you alone right now?” Carmine asked slowly.

  Gilliam was still on the floor. It was difficult to tell if he was conscious or not from all the bees swarming his body. Their wings moved just as frantically as before.

  Carmine took one step forward.

  “Gill-“

  Everyone in the squad moved to strike him. Carmine leapt at him, Plue dashed, Mikoko threw a lightning bolt, and Rasa sent forth a cutting gale.

  “-iam!”

  Suddenly, the swarm of bees moved. A large tile shot up in the air, blocking the projectiles and forcing the squad to dodge out of the way.

  “I knew you’d be able to do it. And now…”

  [Extreme Growth: One-Third of a Chimaera]

  “I got you.”

  Scias’ tail grew to a humongous size. Its azure scales shone as it grew and grew and grew. Bigger and bigger. The end of the tail grew a giant snake’s head, more than large enough to swallow a man whole. And that was exactly what it did.

  “He swallowed… his partner?” Rasa muttered.

  Scias’ giant snake tail had gobbled Gilliam and all the bees up. The squad could only watch as a bulge moved down the snake’s ‘body.’

  And then the snake’s body squeezed. The bulge grew small. Then smaller. Then smaller yet.

  “He’s crushing my bees! They’re all gone!”

  Finally, the giant snake head spat Gilliam back out. Gilliam, covered in body fluid, landed hooves first on the ground.

  “Agh, disgusting! Why the hell did you do that!?”

  [Extreme Growth: One-Third of a Chimaera]

  Gilliam grew in size, much like Leona. Flesh and wool grew from all around him and encapsulated his body. His legs in particular, and hooves, grew the greatest. Those hooves, now huge, looked like they could pound anyone into the ground.

  “Best way I can think of to get rid of all those bees. And it worked, didn’t it?”

  “Rrrgh!” He couldn’t argue with the results. “Anyway, now that we’re together, it’s over for you brats!”

  “Sorry I couldn’t finish him off!” Plue apologised as the squad dodged their attacks.

  “Don’t sweat it. Just gotta change targets! The snake guy didn’t transform!” Carmine pointed out.

  “Not if I can do anything about it!” Gilliam jumped into the air. His hoof was poised to stomp all of them into the ground.

  Mikoko formed a stormcloud as she dodged away. She raised her staff to command it to throw a lightning bolt, but Gilliam intercepted it. He threw a ball of wool into the path and it absorbed the lightning bolt completely.

  ‘That was expected. But it still stings to have your spells nullified,’ Mikoko thought.

  She mentally quickened her thoughts as the group engaged in combat with Gilliam. They were all trying to make their way to Scias, but he blockaded their way. They also had to be on the lookout for the giant snake that Scias had growing out of his tail. It if gobbled one of them up, that could spell the end of the fight.

  ‘Scias’ main body cannot move. With the immense amount of musculature needed for the giant snake to move on its own, he’s stuck there,’ Mikoko noted.

  “Oh, you’re a sound guy! Easy solution!”

  Gilliam stuffed wool into his ears. All four of them.

  “Hey, what if I need to… ah, never mind.” Scias gave up.

  ‘And now two of our primary spells are countered by Gilliam alone. Though, it isn’t like we can’t do anything.’

  Mikoko took a deep sigh. Carmine held back a hoof while Plue ascended Gilliam’s body to try to strike his neck. She was quickly knocked off.

  ‘This is probably their strongest technique. And it must use a tremendous amount of mana too.’

  Carmine dashed past Gilliam as Stagosaurus Tee held him off. She encountered the giant snake soon after. It took an axe to the head, but it managed to swat her away.

  ‘Scias flinched. It has nerves attached to it. And if it does… Then I can fry it. Just like Rei does.’

  “I’m attacking the snake! Cover me!” Mikoko ordered as she ran in.

  “Gill, you hear that!? She has something up her sleeve! Gill!” Scias yelled.

  Rasa shot a few spells at Gilliam to keep him distracted. While his favoured spells were sound-based, he could still cast other spells by playing. Plue sent out a swarm of other bugs to obscure his vision. Carmine simply attacked with a frenzy.

  “Get ready to hit Scias!”

  Mikoko locked eyes with Scias. It was a gamble for him. If he made his giant snake tail swallow her, it could be exactly what she wanted. Or she was bluffing and he should be swallowing her anyway.

  “Here we go.” Mikoko sucked in a deep breath.

  Scias made his choice. He was gonna eat her. The snake opened its mouth to devour her.

  Mikoko crouched and placed her staff upright. The giant snake closed its mouth around the staff, unable to fully swallow her. Its forked tongue slithered around trying to wrestle her from her staff.

  ‘That earlier snake tail had a very simple brain inside of it. I’ll make sure to fry this one’s.’

  Mikoko exhaled. Her breath was dark and stormy and it was crackling with lightning. A stream of clouds shot down the giant snake’s ‘throat.’

  “ARGH!” Scias yelped.

  The giant snake began shaking around in a frenzy, trying to wrest her loose. It slammed itself on the floor, onto walls, and even hit Gilliam at one point. Mikoko gripped her staff tight and blew more storm clouds down its throat.

  ‘You must want to shed that tail. But if you do, that second line of defence drops. At which point…’

  The giant snake stopped moving entirely. It was detached. Mikoko took her staff and stabbed it in the area where it was supposed to have a brain and then electrocuted it.

  It was Plue that took this opportunity to strike. She dashed behind the snake, using it as cover so Scias didn’t notice her approach.

  “Gilliam, you idiot! Defend me!” Scias yelled out.

  Gilliam was busily fending off Carmine and Rasa. His wool fur was already bloodied again and he had unwittingly been tripped.

  Scias’ blue tail, now in original form, was long and thin. He looked around uneasily and took out his kukri.

  Plue launched her strike. She leapt out from behind cover and aimed for the neck.

  Scias, spotting her at the last moment, tried to dart away.

  Gilliam shook Carmine off too late to stop it.

  But he didn’t need to.

  The shed tail spontaneously grew another giant snake head from the back. It darted at Plue and with a snap, it swallowed her up.

  “Alright, stop! Stop or I crush your friend right here!” Scias shouted.

  Mikoko, Carmine, and Rasa froze.

  They lost.

  Gilliam sneered and dug the wool out of his ears. “Finally.”

  ———————————————————————

  Plue was suffocating. The snake hadn’t started squeezing, but it was a tight fit. Especially with her scythe.

  ‘I… I need to cut my way out.’

  None of her summons could help her here. Without enough space, the bigger ones couldn’t be summoned. And the little ones were woefully weak.

  If there was one silver lining, it was that she wasn’t being digested. This flesh construct didn’t have a digestive system. It was only meant to trap an enemy and crush it. It was kind of like a summon in that regard.

  ‘If I knew he could do this, I would’ve made little bombardier beetles…’

  In this current situation though, it was a bad idea.

  Plue pushed against the giant snake’s body as much as she could. Nothing was working. If she could only reach down to her waist, she might’ve been able to grab a spare knife and stab the snake, but who knew what good that would do her? It wasn’t a real snake. It bended to the will of Scias. Who knows, it might even be able to grow a head anywhere on its body.

  “Argh!” Plue let out a shriek of pain. The snake was tightening.

  Plue closed her eyes. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to fail everyone. Papa, Auntie El, Uncle Rollo, Master Auntie, Machu and Machi. She told them she’d be fine. She told them she could do it. She had gone through so much pain before but she always stood back up. But now, this was the end. It was over.

  ‘Huh?’

  Plue felt the snake’s body suddenly loosen. What looked like a metal plate had wedged itself in front of her and was pushing back. Two black and metallic legs appeared around her, also pushing back.

  “Kafki?” She whispered.

  Plue could feel Kafki’s tattoo thrash about. She had forgotten about this feature of him because she had only ever summoned him whole. Kafki was designed with 33 segments, 64 legs, 2 mandibles, and 4 antennae. And each part could be summoned independently of each other.

  Another segment was summoned beneath her. Then one above. They each came with two legs. And with each segment added, the space Plue had to move expanded.

  ‘Kafki could definitely burst out by now if he summoned his mandibles. So why?’

  The summoning process quickened. More and more of Kafki shot out of her and more and more of Kafki was physically summoned. Soon, he would be summoned in his entirety.

  ‘Master Auntie told me to keep a segment stored on me at all times. If he’s summoned in his entirety… I can’t control him!’

  “Kafki, wait!”