A Demon's Tale

In a space of gray and black clouds sat a cat girl with short yellow hair and yellow fur along her arms, legs, and tail. In front of her, a pitch black shadow that mirrored her shape was seen. Not a single other being could enter this space, but it was only natural, as this was a place for the girl to speak with her true self.

???: [You have no reason to hesitate. Why do you continue to do so?]

Bachi: [The hell are n’ya talkin’ ‘bout?! I’m not hesitatin’ at all!]

???: [Though there are parts of you that have changed, you’re still in a similar position as before.]

Bachi: [Bullshit! I got way better! Schmiro said so herself!]

???: [Why do you continue to refer to her as that?]

A question that shook Bachi to her core was given.

Bachi: [W-what?!]

???: [You should be well aware how you feel about her. You should know how you view your position in her team. Your desire to refer to her by that name grows, yet you continue to lock it away by insulting her instead.]

Before she could answer, the voice had invaded each of the two ears on her head at separate times.

Does it bother you?

Do you dislike that you wish to call her that?

Are you upset about it?

Do you wish you could have done so from the beginning?

Do you now feel guilty over such a thing?

Are you afraid she won’t accept you?

Why would she not accept you?

Bachi: [S-shut up! Shut the fuck up!]

Clutching her ears with her paws, Bachi attempted to silence the voice speaking to her. However, no matter how hard she tried, it would still break past her efforts.

Are you afraid that she won’t accept you?

Are you afraid that she will get hurt like the others?

Are you afraid?

Why are you afraid?

What are you afraid of?

Bachi: [Shut the fuck up!]

What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of?

Bachi: [S-SHUT THE FUCK UP!

What are you afraid of?

Bachi: [I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!]

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼

???: [GOHOBA!]

Crashing through a nearby wall was a towering man of muscle with claws strapped to his arms. While intimidating in appearance, the man’s body was now littered with scratches leaking blood along his entire body. Meanwhile, before the wall he crashed into was a small cat-like figure that proudly landed onto the ground after kicking him directly in the cheek. Without a single scratch on their own body, they gave a playful smirk back to the man, with only a few front teeth visible beyond the slight open mouth. Waving their hands towards themself, the cat taunted her fallen opponent.

Bachi: [N’ya attackin’ or what? N’ya had a whole lot of good shit to say up until now, but I guess the floor suits n’ya best.]

Chima: [YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD, YOU LITTLE SHITHEAD!]

Chima Verde was a sadistic man. He took pleasure in torturing and killing those he had fought. Though he often scolded them or insulted their skills, there was a sense of formality within his words. That was until the sight of his own beauty being reduced to something far less, which would lead to a rise in his anger. Ever since the battle between Chima and Bachi at this castle had started, he had received blow after blow without being able to provide his own. Thus, his anger erupted, causing that formality he once had to crumble into nothing. Standing back up in an instant, Chima glided a claw across the ground, creating a trail of destruction as he went and charging full force at Bachi to cleave into ribbons.

Jumping into the air again, Bachi spread out her arms as she dodged the attack and followed it up with a dropkick to Chima’s face. The difference in their builds was immense, but in a battle of force, speed was a major factor. Bachi’s incredible speed allowed for the power behind her attacks to gain a much needed boost, forcing the vicious soldier into the air.

Bachi: [Haha! Mwahahahaha! Sah!]

As he was shot back into the nearby room, Bachi quickly kept up and landed on his chest softly, clawing at him several times before finishing it with a large swipe from both claws as she flipped back into the air and onto the ground.

Bachi: [Schmiro was right! I’m twenty times better than ever! Not so predictable now am I, Mister Cheese Man?]

Chima: [Chima… It’s Chima, you cocky brat!]

Bachi: [What’s that? I couldn’t hear that quite right. Could n’ya repeat that again, Cheese Man?]

With a hand placed near the ears on her hair, Bachi playfull acted as if she was unable to hear the response. Lifting himself back up, Chima carefully clutched his face and looked at Bachi with hatred filling his soul.

Chima: [I should have killed her in the last battle when I had the chance. She’s become a far greater annoyance than before. For now, you need to calm down, Chima. She’s trying to get you to attack her. As much as I wouldn’t like to admit it, she is correct. Her movements now aren’t like they were last time. It will be quite difficult to catch her in a pattern. For now, I should bait her into attacking me on her own. I can use my ability to withstand the blows, though it won’t be perfect. From there, I’ll use her close distance to my advantage and gut her to death. The agony on her face will be beyond cathartic.]

A grin of his own started to form as he imagined the torture he would provide to Bachi. While he did so, Bachi tapped a foot on the floor and kept her hands clenched in a fist to her sides.

Bachi: [Come on! Is that it, Cheese Man? S’real disappointin’ if all I came here for was this.]

Chima: [Oh, believe me. I would love to kill you here and now. In fact, I plan on doing so with an attack that will take some time to charge. It’s quite risky, but I can easily tear you to pieces as long as I’m able to use it.]

Raising an eyebrow, Bachi started to stretch her back as she prepared herself to pounce again.

Bachi: [Oh? Well, in that case, I’ll jus’ kill n’ya before that happens! What then, huh?]

Both their smiles grew, but almost immediately dissipated as–

???: [He’ssss lying, Bachi!]

Entering through the wall behind Bachi was a blue snake woman. One she had seen before, who she recalled yelling at in the previous battle. Chima clicked his tongue at the sight of another individual entering the battle along with the decimation of his lie, but Bachi provided an annoyed look of her own upon seeing her as well.

Bachi: [N’yar that one lady… Pen, I think it was.]

Poi: [P-Poi! My name issss Poi, Missss Bachi!]

Bachi: [I said that. Anyways, the hell are n’ya doin’ here? This is my prey. Don’t go steppin’ into my territory, Pron.]

Poi: [Again, my name issss Poi! I’m here becausssse Lady Ssssilvia perssssonally requessssted it. I wassss told to help you with thissss battle. Assss for what thissss man ssssaid jusssst now, he issss lying. He wantssss you to get closssse, likely sssso that he may kill you.]

Turning back to Chima, Bachi raised another eyebrow.

Bachi: [N’ya lyin’?]

Chima: [No, no! Not at all!]

A few seconds of silence went by after his energetic response, resulting in Bachi looking back to Poi.

Bachi: [Alright, he might be lyin’. Still, that don’t excuse n’ya. I don’t need any help here so beat it.]

Poi: [But two of usssss verssssussss him would likely be to our benefit!]

Bachi: [And I jus’ mentioned not too long ago that my prey is mine. Go find someone else to kill if n’ya need to cool off.]

Poi: [It isssss not about anything like that! I wisssssh to help you! You ssssaved me during our lasssst battle, ssssso I would like to return the favor!]

Bachi: [Then buy me donuts or somethin’ when we get back, I don’t know. Jus’ don’t go interupttin’ my fight with this sh–]

Poi: [Ah! Missss Bachi! Look out!]

Moving her eyes back to the front, Bachi noticed Chima charging at her again with his left claw extended forward. As she prepared to jump, she noticed that something was shot from the side directly at Chima’s left shoulder, causing a great deal of pain onto him as he stumbled back several feet.

Chima: [Gaaaaha! Wh-what the hell is this?! Is this… poison?!]

Swallowing the remaining amount she had in her mouth, Poi gave a soft but mighty glare back to the soldier.

Poi: [It issss not nearly assss powerful nor assss potent assss Lady Ssssilvia’ssss. However, it issss jusssst enough to deal the correct amount of damage!]

Using his claws to pick at his skin, Chima swiftly tried to cut off any piece of his shoulder that was affected by the poison, then using his ability, he created a plate of metal over the wound with the palm of his hand.

Chima: [Damn it. This is even worse than before. The brat is one thing, but a venomous snake is something that my ability can’t handle all that well. If I have to deal with both of them at once, this could be a lot more trouble than what I was expecting.]

Moving his eyes back to the two, or rather what he thought was the two, Chima noticed a sudden difference. Only Poi remained, while Bachi was nowhere to be seen. Following Poi’s surprised look, he moved his eyes over to the side of his face, where he was then met by the cat girl from before with a raised claw.

Bachi: [N’yah!]

Chima: [Ghuk!]

In the nick of time, Chima closed his eyes and received the slash without losing his sight. At that same moment, however, the snake woman from before swiftly made her way towards him and slammed into his stomach with her tail.

Poi: [Yah!]

Chima: [Hk!]

Bachi: [Hey! I jus’ said… this is my… fight!]

Pouncing off the ground and then off the nearby wall, Bachi jumped towards Chima’s face and gave a kick to follow up her slash. Poi then joined in by striking the previously poisoned shoulder with her tail, resulting in a click from Bachi’s tongue, and a slash to Chima’s chest. In an attempt to help, Poi used the tip of her tail to jab into the same wound, causing a burning pain to sizzle through Chima’s body as his wound was opened further.

Finished with taking these attacks, Chima tried to cleave both of them at once. However, his attack was careless and failed to consider their speed, resulting in nothing but the air being cut. With a slap from Poi’s tail to the right cheek and slash from Bachi’s claw to the left, Chima was hit by a perfect cooperative attack between the two. One that Bachi did not mean to do in the slightest and was more annoyed that it had even occurred.

Using his ability, Chima turned his wounds to metal by pressing his palms against them. In the midst of doing so, Poi puffed her cheeks up and was ready to attack. After his previous experience with this, Chima stopped using his ability and braced himself to dodge, as he had already known that the poison was coming. What he did not comprehend was that Bachi was on the move again, running past his thigh and gashing into it, leading to the same leg falling to the floor in pain as he now kneeled. He attempted to swing at Bachi in the air on her way back, but due to his now reduced height while kneeling, he could not reach her.

The fight was to their advantage already. Chima was enraged by his situation and concerned that he might lose. Poi was pleasantly motivated. If she and Bachi were to finish this battle, not only could she prove herself to the lady she served, Silvia Bloodfire, but it would also mean that she had repaid what she owed to Bachi. However, the final, third person in this fight felt neither concerned nor happy. The only emotion they shared was one that her opponent glared back at her. Rage. No matter what she said or what she did, Poi would not leave. This battle was hers and hers alone. Why did someone else need to interfere? This was what frustrated her so much. Chima had nearly killed her during the previous battle, so now was the time for Bachi to pay him back in full. With Migi fighting his own battle, she was gifted with the opportunity to do so. But then, she appeared. The snake woman. Had she not done so, Bachi could have received the glory that she wanted. It was all she needed at this moment.

What frustrated her more was the question the woman gave while their foe knelt down.

Poi: [You’re ssssspeed issss incredible, Misssss Bachi! Perhapssss thissss issss not the correct time to assssk, and I know we got off on the wrong foot, but would you like to be friendssss? I don’t have very many, ssssince I’m quite ssssshy with the othersssss in Lady Ssssilvia’ssss team, but I believe the two of usssss ca–]

Bachi: [Why the fuck are n’ya still even here?!]

Taken aback by the sudden shout from a now furious Bachi, Poi jumped in place holding her chest.

Bachi: [For once in n’yar fuckin’ life, can n’ya leave me alone?! I tell n’ya this is my fight and n’ya still won’t piss off! I dish out way more damage than n’ya ever did and n’y still won’t piss off! Speakin’ of piss, all n’ya could do last time was piss n’yarself and run away! N’yar gettin’ on my fuckin’ nerves! Hurry up and fuck off so I can finish this fight on my own!]

Tears started to slowly form in the snake’s eyes. Her words were quiet and stuttered.

Poi: [I… I jusssst thought that I wassss helping… I wanted to pay you back…]

Bachi: [Pay me back?! Helping?! N’ya’ve done nothin’ but be a pain in my ass ever since I met n’ya! N’ya want me to be friends with n’ya?! I don’t need friends and especially the type that are like n’ya! I can see why none of the others wanna be n’yar friend either! N’yar completely fuckin’ useless!]

Receiving Bachi’s harsh words, Poi’s tears started to move down her face, blurring her vision as she could no longer control her sadness. While she cried, a third person entered the room. That being a kitsune with short white hair, five white tails and clothes like that of a miko. As she entered the room, she prepared herself to deal with Chima as well, only to then notice the state Poi was in.

Kagami: [Miss Poi! Are you alright?! What happened?!]

Poi: [Hk!... Ghk!...]

She did not respond, continuing to unleash her tears onto her own hands that desired to wipe them away. Kagami took the opportunity to try and console her while their opponent was down.

However, at Kagami’s entrance, a certain individual’s rage grew to even greater heights. That being–

Bachi: [... More of these people are tryna steal my fuckin’ kill.]

Amplifying her body completely, Bachi was surrounded by a bright light as a sphere of electricity formed around her figure and sparked against her body. The ground in front of her became clawed and charred as she slowly moved her nails along it. In her eyes, an immense hatred was reflected back to the soldier that despised her.

Bachi: [Every single person in this place is tryna steal my glory. My moment. I’m takin’ down this bastard on my own, even if s’the last thing I do. I won’t hear any complaints or cries over this shit, ‘cause s’mine and only mine!]

Kagami: [Miss Bachi!]

Bachi could barely be seen at all as she zipped forward and created a trail of lightning as she moved. Pouncing off every wall, she attacked Chima from all sides. Kagami had tried to stop her, but the girl was far too fast for the kitsune to do anything. While Bachi glided through the air and struck at Chima, he slowly began to rise while observing the scene before him.

Poi: [Hk!... Ghk!...]

Kagami: [It’s alright, Miss Poi! We can handle this together if you are afraid! Tell me what’s wrong!]

In his spiteful eyes, Chima gazed at the two of them and smiled.

Chima: [I really am lucky. I’m not sure what led to this, but the brat is at it again. Predictable attacks, and shallow at that. I’ll have no issue at all taking a bunch of these and using that time to my advantage. With that said…]

He moved his eyes over to Poi.

Chima: [The poison woman is absolutely disheveled. I could easily kill her right now, but it’s always better to use the shock of murder to my advantage. With the sorry state she’s in, I’ll have no issues at all bringing her further into despair. Maybe then I can torture her as well, just like that brat. But first…]

Finally, his eyes arrived at Kagami.

Chima: [I have no idea what the kitsune will use, nor do I want to learn. If she’s anything like the snake, I could be in a whole lot of trouble. So as such, I’ll kill her first while she’s distracted by that snake!]

Kicking off the ground, Chima gave a twisted smile as he thrusted his right claw towards Kagami. Noticing just too late, Kagami turned with a terrified look in her eyes. Before she could dodge, two hands pushed her out of the way and replaced her.

The person who both pushed and replaced her was the blue snake woman, Poi… who was stabbed through the gut by the claw.

Kagami’s eyes widened in horror, but she was not the only one. Stopping dead in her tracks, halting the attack she was soon going to deliver was Bachi. Her eyes wavered as she saw Poi stabbed. She recalled a memory from her past. A kind individual who was willing to teach her. She was a nobody in the village, a mere animal. Thus, she was kept in a cage for all to see. But that person, they were one of very few that wished to care for her. It was due to this that, several days later, three soldiers had spoken with the kind woman who helped her. Two of them had held the woman’s arms back, while the last stabbed her in the gut with a spear. She died shortly after, bleeding out on the street, far away from Bachi who tried to reach out to save her.

At the sight of Poi being stabbed, she was reminded of that memory.

While the claw was retracted and Poi fell to the floor, the annoyed Chima attempted to cut Kagami after failing to do so before. Without a moment of hesitation, Kagami’s eyes sharpened and a paper seal was slapped onto his arm, causing him to fall into a paralyzed state before being kicked far back into the room by Kagami. After doing so, Kagami shouted to Bachi.

Kagami: [Miss Bachi! Help Miss Poi! Now!]

Bachi: [I… But… I–]

Kagami: [NOW!]

Hearing Kagami’s sudden shout, Bachi jumped up and ran over to Poi’s position.

Bachi: [R-Right! Y-yeah!]

While Kagami jumped towards Chima and continued the fight, Bachi kneeled down next to the motionless Poi. Bachi’s eyes trembled as she looked on at the injury.

Bachi: [B-blood… That’s… That’s a lot of blood… Ummmm… Okay… When it comes to this, n’ya have to… I think n’ya have to apply pressure? Fuck! I don’t know! There’s so much blood… Holy shit… Holy shit, okay… All I have to do is apply pressure!]

Placing her hands firmly on top of the wound, Bachi noticed the small streams that continued to move past Poi’s clothes.

Bachi: [Oh no… Oh no oh no oh no oh no! She’s still bleedin’! Fuck! No… I’m not doing it right… I think usually s’done like this… right?]

Each second, Bachi tried to do compressions to the wound on Poi’s body, resulting in more blood being spurted and pushed out.

Bachi: [Fuck! No! That’s killin’ her more! No… No… She’s not dyin’... She isn’t gonna die… I jus’… I jus’ have to… I don’t know… I don’t know what to do…]

In her mind, the memory of a woman stabbed by a spear had returned. Looking down at Poi’s body, Bachi could no longer control the sounds she was making. Her fear, despair, everything. It had all caught up to her.

Bachi: [Aaaaaaaaa…. Aaaaaaaaaaaa… Aaaaaaaaaaaa… Aaaaaaaaaa…]

She raised her hands so she could see them. Her yellow fur was now drenched in blood. Between them, she could see the wound from the claw, still bleeding profusely.

Bachi: [Aaaaaaaaaa…. Aaaaaaaaaa…. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa…. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

Dying. The helpful woman was dying. Poi was dying.

Bachi: [AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]

Screaming as loud as possible, Bachi picked Poi up as best as she could and tried to sprint out of the room. Her body was much smaller than Poi’s. The muscle on her body and the difference between their weight was a major issue. There had even been the problem of Bachi occasionally tripping on Poi’s long snake tail. Regardless, she ran and ran, screaming her lungs out as she descended the staircase she had so confidently risen from before.

Bachi: [H-HELP!]

Her pride had faded. Her boastful ego was no longer there.

Bachi: [SOMEBODY HELP!]

If her past self saw her now, she would likely be made fun of. Not a smile in sight, only that of tears and snot.

Bachi: [PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!]

What are you afraid of?

Bachi: [SHE’S DYIN’!]

What are you afraid of?

Bachi: [HELP HER! PLEASE, SOMEBODY! SAVE HER!]

Entering the fight with a grin and leaving in tears, that was how Bachi’s fight against Chima Verde ended.

A pitiful display in image, while her heart became much stronger.

△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼△▼△△▼△▼