Nothing was left after the flames dissipated, not even a bit of remaining the ice woman. Then, breaking the following silence, Homura landed nearby on the ground, the force she built while falling resulting in a loud bang.
Her eyes were focused on the spot the woman was just at, keeping her guard up for any sign of her regenerating once more. But as the seconds passed and nothing happened, we slowly began to let it fall once more.
“Think we got her this time.” She said, releasing a pent-up breath.
“Yeah.”
We kept looking for another minute, before we turned around towards the now frozen dome.
“Think we’ll need to get inside.” I rested my hand against the ice in an attempt to melt it as suddenly the voice we heard moments before rose again, screaming loudly in anger.
“Stay away from him!”
I turned my head, looking for the source of the voice before the ice beneath my hand started to quiver. Barely in time I sprung back before needles shot out of the dome, turning it into a crystalline sea urchin. Then, from the spot I had placed my hand upon a moment prior, a hand made of ice pushed out, grabbing hold of one needle to pull out the rest.
First another hand, then her head, followed by her upper body and finally her waist and legs. Little by little she pushed herself forward, her hands resting on the needles to pull her along whereas the rest just passed through them, more liquid than before. But that changed as she made her final step, leaving the last needle behind her body froze completely once more, the air around her seemingly freezing with her.
But there was one other thing that changed with her reappearance. Where she was cold and disregarding throughout the earlier fight, now there was a burning fury in her gaze.
“Beasts like you are what drove him to do this, I won’t let you lay a hand on him again!”
Raising her hands, she released a blast of wind, filled with ice shards.
“We’ve already seen that trick!” My flames burst forth crashing against the wind.
Homura, instead of waiting for the aftermath to disappear, rushed forward through the dissipating fire and ice, standing before the woman shortly afterwards. Her claw rushed forward, clinging onto the woman that just began to float upwards again to smash her into the ground once more.
The icy body cracked, only to completely shatter when Homura’s other claw smashed into her chest. Then, without waiting for her to reform Homura’s body began to glow lightly as she released her own fire powers. Yet, instead of them scattering to rebuilt at another place the shards sped towards Homura, their unanticipated movement allowing them to catch her off guard, wounding her all over before they finally melted.
As the needle-covered dome began to shake once more Homura jumped back, landing beside me. Her breath was heavy, her body taxed by the fight and the healing it needed. Even though each wound was only minor, stopping to bleed after a few seconds when the healing set in, the sheer number of them made them far worse.
Once more an arm reached out of the dome, then another. Soon them woman’s face followed, her lips twisted into a maniacal grin.
We can’t go on like this.
She didn’t show any signs of stopping soon, if ever, even if we destroy that body over and over.
There has to be something else.
Thinking so I began to reminisce about the fight. Her unfocused gaze. Her disregard. It changed when we laid hands onto that dome.
“Hey Homura, can you take over for a minute and defend us?”
She looked over, her gaze filled with confidence, smiling to show her feral teeth.
“You really think I couldn’t?” Once more she flexed her claws, her fur shining brighter than before like it was set ablaze. Dragging her feet through the ground she steadied herself. Then, as if let loose she sprung forward, standing in front of the dome.
Her feet left the ground as she spun her body around, heel crashing into the face of the woman before traveling onwards. Before she touched the ground, a needle shot towards her, only for her body to come to a stop mid-air with her other foot resting against another needle.
Pushing herself away the incoming needle shot past her earlier position. Instead of taking her distance however her hand reached out for another one, her forward momentum changing in an instant as she was lifted upwards, only to deal a devastating drop-kick towards the rest of the woman’s body.
With a blast of fire she pushed herself backwards, scattering the ice splitter before they could shot towards her. Stabbing her claws into the ground she slid over the ground before coming to a stop, scars left behind by her nails.
She rolled sideways, her eyes never having left the dome in front of us, letting an icicle crashed down next to her. It began to splinter, but she had already left her position by then, shooting forwards once again.
The icy woman didn’t even come out of the dome anymore, at least not completely, as only her upper body was outside at the moment, one icicle after another coming into existence around her. All at once they shot towards Homura, but instead of dodging sideways, she dove forwards, her body lining parallel to the incoming attack to offer as little area as possible.
Stabbing forward her claw smashed into an icicle directly coming towards her, landing just below the tip to deflect it. But even then, it was just barely enough, the attack cutting along her arm before it passed her completely, leaving a long gash behind.
That however was far enough to stop her, as she continued onwards. Tilting her head slightly she passed by a needle, before her other claw shot forwards, piercing through the chest of the woman and into the dome behind, cracking it all around the point of impact.
Before the icy body even fell apart another pair of hands shot out of the dome, reaching out towards Homura, only for her to push herself away, leaving them nothing to grab upon as she gained her distance.
“Your minute’s over!”
“How can you call that defending!?”
I pushed my hand out. Flames covered my vision before I even began to release my attack, accumulated over the last minute without letting anything out, making my own flames enshroud me. Then, finding a point of release, they gushed forward.
