"You ain't gonna stop me?"

Hanzo looked up as the two other Charm Casters stared at him from afar. 

The Venti Charmcaster was lying on the ground, unconscious, her coffee cup spilling over the sewer grates nearby. 

Nova had her arms folded huffily as Hydra was just lazing about on top of her stone servant. 

"Of course not. Venti's the leader, but she's also the part of Charmcaster that sorta imbued all of our bad side. The power hungry parts, the parts that Uncle Hex grew through our abusive relationship." said Nova with a shrug.

"You mean you ain't the bad side?" asked Hanzo

Nova glared at Hanzo. "What do ya take me for!? I may be violent and a go getter but I ain't evil!"

"Then why the fuck do ya follow her?" Hanzo asked, pointing at Venti. 

"Well, sister is scary when she's angry.. " said Hydra uneasily. 

"There are two of you and one of her. And you all supposedly equally distributed your original power among the three of you. If you gang up on her, no way she can push you two around." said Hanzo. "You know that right?"

"S-sure, but.. but.." Muttered Nova. 

"But what?" said Hanzo. "Evil ain't just in the act. It's also the inaction of those who choose to witness it and do nothing."

Nova and Hydra both looked at each other, before Nova suddenly started blushing furiously.

"Y-yer even more annoying than Gwen you know that?"

"Whose she?" Muttered Hanzo.

"Ben Tennyson's cousin." said Hydra. "She's soooo strong.. but sooooo annoying.. like very.. aaaahhh.. but I don't think about it as much as Nova and Venti do.. I'd rather just sleep."

"Then do that.. if Nova wants you to sleep as much as you do, then Venti can't stop you, and Nova, whatever you want to do, if Hydra helps you out, then Venti can't stop that either." said Hanzo. "You might've been one person once, but now you're individuals who are also sisters. If Venti truly cares about you, she needs to learn that. The Original Charmcaster is gone, she has been for a while. 

The two Charmcasters looked at each other momentarily before Nova looked back at Hanzo seriously. "So.. w.. we can do whatever you want?"

"As long as it ain't evil, otherwise I'll find ya and cut ya down again." Hanzo said with a shrug.

Nova smiled slightly, her cheeks red as strawberries. It was astonishing how cute she was when she had this expression.  "Th-then I'll do that right now."

Nova leaned in to Hanzo and kissed him on the cheek, stunning the samurai in an instant, driving him speechless. 

"I-I'll be watching you closely you know!! I-I hope you know that." stammered Nova as her face became redder and redder. "Y-you're such an idiot.. b.. but a tolerable one. I hear your other two friends were recently captured. If I were you, I'd hurry over to school before you're late. 

There was a flash of light, and the three sisters vanished, even Venti. 

"Guess, they went off to explore this strange new world." Hanzo muttered as he put a hand to the area where Nova had kissed him. "Hmph, those damn nincompoops. Guess it's time for me to bail them the fuck out."

*************

"Those three are taking an awful long time." Grunted Eliza, her damaged mech armor sparking within the staffroom of the empty school. 

"Gak ra zeee goo gota." said SixSix from where he stood in the shadowy area of the room not alit by moonlight. 

"Oh shove it, I don't have a single idea what you're saying." said Eliza, glaring at the alien mercenary. "How many times do I have to say that!? I say we kill em now-."

"No." said Clint. 

He sat at the head desk in the staffroom, tossing an apple up and down in his palm, beneath the front of the desk, lay the unconscious Ben and Erice, Erice still in her Magical Girl form. "We wait. She will be here. She's still trying to ascertain that there's no other way out of what we're going to have her do."

"Which is why we shouldn't risk it!" growled Eliza. "Every fucking time I've left that dumb girl alive so that I could gloat or try an overly complicated plan of baiting its always been like a James Bond movie. She damn escapes and ruins everything. We can't make the same mistakes!!"

"The circumstances are different." said Clint. "I told you all about the Radiant War. There is no plan, there is no evil agenda. We're just here to make sure they continue to destroy each other. Effectively we don't have to do anything but watch."

"I don't have to listen to this. I'm gonna kill the bitch and take her damn DNA now!" Eliza made to step forward, but then SixSix stepped in front of her.

"Out of my way Boba Fett." growled Eliza. 

"Perhaps I ought to remind you honey, that without my sweet dandy powerup, you would've been completely outmatched against Ben Tennyson! Even with all the sweet energy I gave you, Astrodactyl still nearly crushed you, just look at how damaged your armor is." said Clint with glint in his eyes as he stretched luxuriously like a cat. "I can just as easily grant SixSix here even more power, or perhaps I should take the power I've given you already?"

Eliza backed up, scowling.  "I still don't like this. You said those Charmcaster sisters were the strongest out of all of us right? Why is it taking them so fucking long!?"

"Hanzo's particularly troublesome. He is not simply an enemy you can take down by being stronger. I have faith that the sisters will pull through. And while Ben Tennyson and Erice Tsukuyomi are both fully intended to be my bargaining chips, I have no problem with eliminating Miyamoto Hanzo.  He is a bit too unpredictable for my tastes as entertaining as My Lady finds him.. we will simply have to find a new hero to replace him for the War. "

"Just like that? Are ya sure you know what you're doing Professor?!" snapped Eliza. 

"I've spent hundreds of years organizing the Radiant War Doctor Eliza. "If I had a penny for every time these damn heroes tried to team up against us instead of fighting with each other like good little puppets, then I'd be a billionaire. I've reliably quashed these team-up upstarts so many times, I've lost count. You aren't the first of the villains from other worlds I've ever recruited.  I've recruited eldritch horrors, madmen, genius tyrants, even a Mad Titan and a clown man who just loved to laugh about some bat person. These people will be no different."

"Goartac mazee toge Omnitrix zamai." said SixSix. 

"I KNOW that." growled Clint, his eyes flaring as he stood up suddenly and gave the mercenary a large glowering look. "But Azmuth can't stop me now. He never could. "

"Somebody's here." said Eliza suddenly. "My armor's picking up a presence."

Clint went silent and smiled slyly. "Ohohoho. I take it she's arrived."

Sure enough, the shadows in the room shifted as from them swirled up shadowy tendrils that wrapped together and formed into Ophelia, her eyes burning scarlet, her fangs fully extended as she gave a deathly chilling expression that could've melted even the Mad Titan that Clint mentioned into a puddle. 

"Let them go." said Ophelia. "And I promise I won't make all your deaths slow and excruciating."

Clint made a hand gesture in a very feminine "Oh Puleez" sort of fashion. "Come now Ophelia, you know better than that. If I didn't have the means to counteract that course of action from you, would I even bother with this?"

Ophelia looked at SixSix and then Eliza. "I take it these are villains from their worlds?"

"Very perceptive honey. Yes. Eliza here was a formerly famous professor on Magic and the Occult Sciences." said Clint. "One day she witnessed Erice The Tsunami during one of her battles early in her career and became fascinated with taking her power and replicating it so as to serve the Criminal Underworld Boss, Morgan Le Fey. Using her genius in Biomechanical Engineering, she built that suit and became quite a frequent opponent of Erice-chan's. "

Clint gestured to the mercenary. "SixSix on the other hand is a Sotoraggian Bounty Hunter, one of the most feared in the Galaxy in Ben honey's universe. Just a nickname though. His name's a reference to the two blasters he always carries.  He also has two other siblings who together make up the Sotoraggian Tri-Terror, a trio of Mercenaries learn for their lethal skills and willingness to take on any job no matter how dangerous or dirty.  SixSix was probably one of the earlier of Ben's foes out of the three, the other two eventually met him, but SixSix's grudge is particularly fierce."

"You're an alien?" Muttered Eliza. "Tsk, explains the weird language. Can ya even understand what I am saying?"

"SixSix's particular condition makes it rather difficult to speak other languages than his own, in spite of his knowledge of other languages." said Clint. "Quite the Star Wars logic I know, but there you have it."

"I see, using villains who already have a vast knowledge of their opponents and their fighting styles, and then accounting for the fact they still always lose by granting them immense power ups." said Ophelia. "Or did you switch it around  by having Ben and Erice fight enemies they weren't instinctually familiar with?"

"Again, you display that terrifying intelligence of yours." said Clint, still smiling. "Quite fitting of a woman who managed to rule a kingdom for hundreds of years while still maintaining your people's happiness, freedom, and practically vanquishing poverty. 

"You have no idea." said Ophelia. "So how is your mistress enjoying the show by the way? It's so interesting that the gods have this as their main 'TV Show' so to speak, or should I say, as 'her TV Show?'"

Clint's eyes widened a little, as his smile slid even wider. "Very VERY good my dear. How long have you known?"

"Does it matter?" asked Ophelia. "I've met gods before Clint. I know their power, I know their ideals. And while some gods are as sick in the head as whoever made this Radiant War, there's no fucking way all of them are. They have their own morals, desires, and principles, just like mortals.  But there's one fact that your Goddess hasn't accounted for this time out of the hundreds of thousands of Radiant Wars you have organized for her amusement-  the 7 you have now, are the most unruly, curious, and strangely unpredictable bunch you've ever gathered."

Clint's smile slid away slightly. "Indeed. That is true. I often wondered why my goddess chose you all.  A man willing to kill everyone to save the world, and somehow reaches to power beyond power in spite of his lack of supernatural abilities.  A woman whose known no tragedy in her time as a hero, and yet when the Lady of the Lake grants her such power, she flawlessly uses her abilities not for herself but for others  without the guiding hand of tragedy to keep her on the path, a hero of such selflessness that shouldn't rightfully exist.  A Vampire who turned from a massacre of evil upon the human race into the greatest force for good in her world.  A Demon Woman who fights against Demons, but possesses no hatred of any of them. A Lazy Time Traveler who only does what he does to earn a paycheck and pick up women.  It just goes ON and ON!!"

Clint shook his head. "There's always a formula to every Superhero. They gain power by some strange means. They experience a great tragedy, which if they didn't experience, would result in them actually becoming a villain.  And then hold out against enemies stronger than them against the odds.  But all of you.. becoming powerful enough that your enemies mean NOTHING to you, and yet STILL remaining uncorrupted. Fighting out against evil in spite of having no tragedy to speak of. Having BECOME evil and yet turning good in spite of having more blood on your hands than Hitler!"

Ophelia flinched at those words. 

"Don't get me wrong, heroes like these do exist all over the place. They are an uncommon sort in the Multiverse, but they still do exist, plenty of them." said Clint. "Heroes that defy the logic of mortals wielding the power of gods.  But they  are the most insufferable. My Mistress hates them because they always throw a wrench in the entertainment whenever we use them. I thought she'd have tired of those types by now.. sure enough for centuries since we used that damn Bat, she decided to just let me find the easy ones.. but this century of all centuries, she found YOU lot, and not only did she find you lot, she found the lot of you who all have the damn most insufferably Overpowered abilities to the point that we had to take away 90 percent of ALL your abilities when out of Radiance just to ensure your combined battle didn't destroy the planet."

Ophelia smirked. "Oh, sounds like your Goddess got bored with sticking to the formula, and now she's paying for her attempt to change things up a bit."

"Yes, I won't deny that. But in terms of how badly she's paying for it, I can't say that it's anything major other than a delay in her regularly prescribed programming." said Clint.  

"One thing I don't get though." said Ophelia. "Why Ben Tennyson? Does he not have a tragic past? Is he too immensely powerful? Overall, in spite of Erice being just as ordinary of a person as him, I can understand her, as she is strangely incorruptible, even after ages being in this war and actually being forced to kill.  But Ben Tennyson-.."

"Well him, his situation is ab it more complicated.. a bit too complicated in fact." said Clint. "But I have no need to discuss this with you further. I think you've delayed this negotiation long enough."

"Indeed, I have." Ophelia snapped her fingers and suddenly tendrils of shadows exploded from the black shadows in the room and made to spear SixSix, Clint and Eliza all at once.

But just as quickly, Clint flicked a knife out of his sleeve and brought it up to Ben's neck.

The shadows froze inches from each of their targets. 

Eliza actually  sweated slightly, looking at the shadow spears. "H-hey.."

Ophelia gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face, her hands trembling as she looked at the knife inches from Ben's unconscious throat. "Fuck.. "

Ophelia's tendrils retracted slowly as Eliza gulped.

"Sh-shit that one is something else, I didn't even have time to react." said Eliza.

"Unlike Erice or Ben honey, Ophelia isn't afraid to kill her enemies when it benefits her or those she cares for." said Clint. "She might be the strongest one in the Radiant War, but next to the Killer she can be considered one of the most intelligent and pragmatic. One does not get to be in her position in her world without immense intelligence."

"I imagine." said Eliza. "How's alien boy here not even peeing his armored jumpsuit."

SixSix merely growled something inaudible, holstering the gun he had already pulled out the moment a tendril had come close. 

"Okay, I take back any crap I've said about you before." Eliza muttered. "Nice reaction time."

"What do you want me to do?" Ophelia growled. "I'm warning you.. if you even kill one of them, I will rip you to shreds."

"Exactly, I won't kill them, you will." said Clint. "You will do what this war was meant for you to do or you will perish by their hand, and you will do so with full strength."

Ophelia smirked, sweat pouring down her face. "Like that's going to happen. I have better memories of my power as I've been around this War longer than even the Tsunami over there. They have a better chance of surviving if I attack you now than they do fighting me."

"That's only if they attack you directly in your territory." said Clint. "If it were that easy for you, Mistress would get bored and not even bother with trying to put you back on the path of this War. 

"Even so, what's to make me do what you want? Holding hostage the very people you mean to convince me to kill? Not very smart or well thought out. "

"Yes it would be not quite well thought out wouldn't it?" said Clint. "But you see these two were just a means of getting you here to listen. The real hostage, well, take a look for yourself."

Clint snapped his fingers, and suddenly, static fizzed to life on the Television in the classroom, usually there to watch the school's local news channel or to do presentations. 

This time there was an image of a vast stone castle in the middle of a sprawling metropolis of a medieval style city. 

Horses and carriages made of bronze and hissing with steam could be seen in the cobblestone streets. 

Ophelia's eyes widened with recognition. "No, you-."

"In the center of this dimension's planet is a certain device that I obtained from Ben Tennyson's Universe known as the Annihilargh."

"Utraaa!?" SixSix stammered, staggering back, his voice sounding stunned

"What kind of stupid made up name is that?" muttered Eliza. 

"Don't ask me, I didn't name it." said Clint. "It was used by the multidimensional race, the Contumelia for- well, I never asked the Mistress. The fact of the matter is, it is currently in the center of your planet, where an associate of mine waits to press the button. Ophelia, would you like to know what happens when this device is detonated?"

Ophelia was still silent. 

"The entire universe says goodbye." said Clint. "If you lose the Radiant War, your world will die."

Ophelia's body trembled. "I.. I can't betray him to.. I-I can't.."

"And yet you're a hero. Would you truly sacrifice all those innocents, your very subjects, for the life of another variation of your dead boyfriend?" asked Clint. "Besides. He doesn't love you that much. He's fallen for Erice. You already know that, and yet you've kept quiet and pursued him regardless. That's quite the devotion. But it's not the time to be in denial."

Ophelia bowed her head.

"Of course I could allow you to kill these two right now, their upstart alliance attempt is a nuisance, but the priority is the entertainment of my lady. And I won't deny she will also be quite entertained if you give them a fighting chance, which I know you will. You may act like an evil bloodsucker Ms. Anderson, but we both know that you believe in fair battle."

Ophelia's body continued to tremble as tears streamed down her cheeks. 

"So, Ophelia, what is your choice..?" Clint asked, his face twisting into a clownish wide smile. "Death.. or MORE death?"

**********************

Ben slowly opened his eyes. 

His head was throbbing fiercely, and his body hurt all over.  The last thing he remembered was.. was he fighting? Yeah, he had been fighting some crazy woman who claimed to know Erice.

"O-ow.."

Ben stood up awkwardly, clutching his arm and biting his lower lip. "SH-shit that felt painful. W-wait, Erice!?"

Erice was sitting up next to him on the floor of the classroom, groaning. She was in her Hero Form, her trident lying silently next to her hip. "H-hey alien boy, I guess they got you too huh?"

"You were attacked?" Ben asked. "Wait, then why bring the both of us to- to our homeroom?"

Erice looked around as Ben helped her stand up. "Yeah, this is weird. Why would that jetpack guy bring us here?"

"Jetpack guy? Don't you mean psycho mecha doctor?" Ben asked.

"Eh?" 

"You're both awake, good."

Ben and Erice both went silent, slowly turning their heads to look at the back of the classroom. 

Ophelia was huddled there on the floor, hugging her legs. her eyes were red, as if she had spent a great deal of time crying. 

"Ophelia..? D-did they get you too!?" Erice ran over to the vampire and knelt next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "H-hey are you okay?"

Ophelia smiled quietly. "Did I ever tell you-? That you two are the first friends I've ever made in over a hundred years? Everyone who makes friends with me always end in tragedy, so I always try to avoid making any more. But this time... this time.."

Ophelia sniffled as she gave Erice a teary eyed smile. "I just couldn't help liking all of you."

"O-Ophelia." Erice murmured. 

"And that's why.. that's why I'm sorry." said Ophelia.

"S-sorry?" Ben asked, taking a step forward. 

"For this." Ophelia's eyes turned a vicious scarlet as her fangs suddenly curved out from her upper lip. 

"ERICE GET BACK!!!!!!"

"ZOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!" A flash of green light exploded around Ben, and from the light, a new creature ran out at tremendous speed that was rivaled by none. 

A dinosaur-like alien with a slender dagger shaped head held inside a black helmet with blue skin and black markings around its lips and green eyes.  It had spear-like claws tipping its hands and dinosaur-joined legs, with two clawed toes on each clutched around sphere-like wheels. And its large tail was striped with blue and black. 

XLR8 grabbed Erice and zoomed out of the way at such high speed, that even Ophelia's enhanced vision could barely catch it as her black claw tendrils barely missed Erice's throat. 

"VMMMMMM!" XLR8 skidded to a halt at the back of the classroom, dust and wood splinters trailing from his wheels, holding the stunned Erice in his arms. 

"Wh-what!? Ophelia! I-I thought.." Erice stammered as sweat poured down her face, which was a mixture of horror and betrayal. 

XLR8 narrowed his eyes. "Ophelia. What did they do? The people who captured us. They threatened you with something didn't they? Tell me! Let us help you!"

Ophelia laughed out loud, her eyes going wide and deranged as a twisted vampiric smile spread across her face. 

"Oh Ben, you really are smarter than you look. Unfortunately, even if I wanted it, which I don't, there's nothing you can do. This is a Radiant War, and we are opponents!"

Ophelia licked her lips and pointed a clawed nail at the alien. "So if you don't want to die, THEN KILL ME!"

Ophelia turned into a blur, black bat-like wings exploding from her shoulderblades as her arm morphed into a hidious black tendril the size of a truck, which she slammed down at Erice and XLR8. 

XLR8 tossed Erice out of the way as he exploded forward at hypersonic speed, a shockwave blasting out behind him as he easily broke the sound barrier. 

Wind surged all over the classroom, destroyed and torn apart desks flying everywhere as XLR8 zoomed past. 

He ran up the wall and across the ceiling, defying gravity with speed and friction alone, before meeting Erice in mid air where her tendril was still smashed into the spot where he was before.

"S-SO FAST!" Ophelia had just enough time to stammer, right before XLR8's hyperspeed kick exploded into her gut and she was sent smashing through the walls of the school. 

"Ophelia!! I told you once before!" XLR8 roared as he skidded to a halt in the next room over, watching the vampire push wooden rubble off her body, climbing out of the hole she had smashed into existence with her own body. "That even if my friends refused it, I would help them no matter what! Remember when I said that!! In that Broker's shop!? I ain't giving up that easily even if you try and kill me!! TALK TO ME! Please! Y-you're.. you're my friend!! And I care!"

Ophelia's eyes filled with more tears as the air trembled around her with extreme dark power. "Don't.. DON'T.. DONT DONTDONTDONTDONTDONTDONT!!"

A shockwave exploded from Ophelia's body, and the entire ceiling of the school.. actually the entire top floor was suddenly incinerated by dark shadowy power mixed with red aura, like some sort of smoke combined with plasma energy.. 

XLR8's eyes went wide before a blue visor slid over his face like a motorcycle helmet and he zoomed back, grabbing the still stunned Erice and leaping out the window and into the school yard as the entire building was incinerated by the eldritch blast. 

"What happened!?" Erice stammered. 

"I'm thinking that Ophelia was probably much stronger than she really let on.." XLR8 said. "And she might've been holding back the last time she fought us.."

Ophelia rose above the ruins of the school. Black energy was twisting around her as a pair of black feathered Raven's wings spread ominously outwards.

"That's eldritch magic. " said Erice. "Holy shit."

"Is that bad?" XLR8 asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Necronomicon?" 

"That thing from the Call of Cthulhu and that shit?" XLR8 asked. 

"Yeah, turns out plenty of the monsters from Lovecraft's works are maybe a teensy bit real." said Erice. 

"Oh, that bad." XLR8 said. 

"OPHELIA!" Erice yelled. "PLease! Lets talk about this!"

"You? Erice? Want to talk about this? You were the one always telling Tennyson that it would eventually end this way, didn't you?" Ophelia said, black shadows leaking from the corners of her mouth.  "What is with you!? I thought you'd at least understand! At least don't let this alliance be pointless. Work together and kill me!! I know you have the power! Show me the true power of the ocean!!"

Ophelia exploded into the yard, landing on all fours before turning into her giant shadowy wolf form, slobber hissing from its mouth as it dashed at the two heroes, ready to rip them to shreds. 

Erice shut her eyes furiously, tears streaming from her cheeks as she clenched her hands into fists. "I thought we had come to an understanding. When I saw you locked up by that mad detective.. worried for Ben's wellbeing to the point you ripped the limbs off a guy.. I thought.. you truly did care. But if this is the conclusion you come to even after somebody like Ben gave you a chance- then.. "

Erice's eyes flared open, and to XLR8's shock, a massive wave of water grabbed him and swept him away.

"ERICE!?" XLR8 yelled. 

"I won't allow Ben.. to be the one to have to kill you!! I won't let him turn into what I am now!" Erice roared. "I won't let this war twist him!! If you have to die, if ANYBODY has to die, then I'll be the spear who takes on all that sin!! AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"

Erice drew out her trident and pointed it at the massive bounding wolf. 

Tremendous ocean water tore along the ground pulled out of the sewage system, sweeping into the wolf and pushing it back. 

Black energy swirled around the wolf, and Ophelia's dragon form erupted from the waves, black flames pouring from its mouth and vaporizing the water. 

But watery portals were already opening up overhead as a dozen of Erice's giant coy fish swam into view, firing tremendous high pressured water geysers into the beast. 

The earth shattered from the excessively high water pressure, and a dome of water erupted around Ophelia like a depth charge near the surface of the ocean

The dragon was sent sprawling against the rubble of the destroyed school building. 

Erice levitated into the air and swiped her trident downwards at Ophelia, and the water gathered into a single point, turning into a giant sword made of ice, shimmering with strange sparkling diamond-like magical aura. 

"I see you've been holding back too." said Ophelia. "All to avoid killing in front of Ben. Were you trying to avoid exposing him to the violence of this war? All to preserve his innocence as a true hero?"

"He is no soldier.. He does not need to fight a war. Even if I can't go on being a hero after what I've done here, he can still do that. I will make sure he wins by any means necessary!!" Erice growled wrathfully as her massive ice sword shot down at Ophelia. 

"ERICE WAIT NO!" XLR8 yelled as he struggled against the massive waves slamming him around and keeping him at bay. 

Ophelia's dragon eyes narrowed as she charged black flames in her jaws in preparation to counter the sword. 

But..

The sword stopped inches from its target as the dragon's eyes widened.

"I see." said Ophelia's echoing voice. "You claim that you're no longer a hero after what you've done, but right now its plain as day, that's not completely true."

Erice was sobbing as her body trembled, looking down at her former friend, unable to go through with killing her. 

"D-damnit. Ophelia.. I've only known you for such a short time and yet.. FUCK YOU! WHY!?"

"Because I'm also still a hero." said Ophelia. 

Ophelia morphed back into humanoid form and levitated high into the sky on her Raven Wings. 

"Azathoth's Call." Ophelia's eyes glowed with tremendous dark power as she hurled a powerful eldritch blast from her eyes. 

XLR8 let out a roar, spinning his body at hyperspeed to create a powerful cyclone that tore the water holding him apart. 

He leaped into the air and grabbed Erice, throwing her out of the way before kicking off a nearby telephone pole, inches past the eldritch blast. 

"YOU want to fight!? Fight ME! And ME alone! OPHELIA!" XLR8 hurled a clawed hand at Ophelia's shoulder. 

Ophelia's eyes moved with astonishing reaction time, slashing a black tendril hand at XLR8's body. 

XLR8 twisted in mid air at super speed, barely avoiding the slash before sending in a hyperspeed kick barrage. 

Ophelia's eyes suddenly glowed violently, and a powerful eldritch shockwave erupted all around her body, sending XLR8 flying back. 

Ophelia's arms extended into vicious black claws that grabbed XLR8 by the throat and pulled him back in until Ophelia's normal arms were now the ones holding XLR8 up by his neck. 

XLR8 choked, gasping as his tail twitched, whipped around.  

Ophelia's thumbs began to press into XLR8's throat, willing herself to finish it all, to unleash her first casualty upon the innocent. 

There was a flash of green light, and now Ophelia held the human Ben in her hands. 

Ben looked at Ophelia, a bit of blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. And to her shock, as she continued to choke this boy, he held up a thumbs up to her, grinning in spite of his imminent death.

"I.. I'm gonna save you... I don't care.. how.. long it takes.." Ben gasped. "I'm going to save you.."

Ophelia's lip trembled. "Sh-shut up.. shut up.. no.. please JUST SHUT UP!!"

Ophelia threw Ben down at the street. 

A blur appeared and a pair of strong samurai's arms caught Ben before he hit the street, his clogged feet skidding across the asphalt. 

"Oi oi.. this is some friend's dispute that I've come across." Hanzo growled as he held the gasping and barely conscious Ben in his arms. "So Vampire, what's the big fucking idea?"

Ophelia went silent for a moment. 

"Three days.." she said after a pause.

"Ehhh?" said Hanzo. 

"Tell him when he wakes up, that I'll be waiting in my territory at the largest house at the edge of Minoto street in three days. If he thinks he can kill me, then I'll welcome that challenge. Then, and only then will I believe his words."

Ophelia locked eyes with Hanzo. "For my only salvation is death."

With that, shadows obscured the Vampire quietly, and a black raven soared into the sky from the shadows, leaving behind only a single black feather that floated down to rest gently on the unconscious forehead of Ben Tennyson..