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spyderlondon · 5 months ago

Text

Vs. Maddened Princess

Harlequin AU by @iamespecter @tadc-harlequin-au

NOT CANON! JUST MY TAKE ON THE BOSS BATTLE!

----

A long abandoned theatre stood amongst overgrown weeds and other plant life that appeared ready to overtake the dilapidated building at any moment. This was where the last of the battle harlequin puppets found herself in front of. After some travel, defeating all the other bosses and doing a bit of training with Caine- she finally found herself at the boss arena. The Puppetmaster had dubbed this boss: The Maddened Princess.

According to him, this boss used her ribbons like a spider's web to feel and catch unsuspecting prey like marionettes or unwitting puppets who wander into her arena so she had to be cautious when approaching this boss. He made sure to advise her to use the skills she had honed during the last few boss fights and whenever she sparred against him. Oh, and to not to die *too often*. 'I am running out of supplies because of you.' He once joked.

Pomni scoffed at that memory but simply began her walk inside of the theatre, her steps becoming more cautious when she starts seeing red ribbons along with dead marionettes and puppets strewn around the floor. Something that caught her eye was how a few of the ribbons seemed to be connected to the corpses, it actually made her grimace at they seemed to be puppets awaiting for their puppeteer to control them.

She furrowed her brows and frowned slightly as she slowed her walk to a stop once she got into the main room so she could examine the arena as much as she could because it was extremely dark. She could see faintly were a few scattered ribbons lying around the room but, if she could hazard a guess, there were probably a lot more that she couldn't see. She followed one of the ribbons with her gaze to where it was connected to before she spotted a large boss puppet that was made of the ribbons. It appeared that The Maddened Princess hadn't realized that she had company as she simply looked forward at the puppets that she was controlling into performing some type of play for her.

The harlequin could only see the side profile but from what she could see- the boss was mostly made of ribbons that she had used to apparently decorate the theatre with, she had giant claws on the one arm she could see but it'd make sense to assume the other arm had claws as well, there was a shoulder pad that protected the top of her torso and a large mask that adorned her face with the side she could see having a grin. Seeing how The Princess was currently controlling puppets, it was fair to say that she could also fully control the puppets and marionettes that were all over the theatre which meant that she wasn't going to fight just the boss but also corpses that she could control as minions.

Pomni took a silent breath before letting it out, she wanted to get this done in one attempt but with how many disadvantages she had in this room, she had no doubt that there would be deaths but that never scared her. She crouched down as she began to quietly move forward, she hate how slow she had to be but it was better than being killed immediately by taking a risk. She kept her eyes down as she looked for ribbons that this spider laid for her prey and any of the victims that were already actors for the Princess.

One ribbon...

Two ribbons...

Three ribbons...

Okay, so far so good. Maybe she could speed up a-

She suddenly didn't hear a small click coming from her shoe and she couldn't hear the faint words coming from the boss' direction- oh no. The harlequin's eyes widened as she could barely turn her head in the direction of the boss before hearing the giant puppet screech as she began to very quickly spin like a top and the last thing Pomni saw was a ribbon coming straight for her and it looked razor sharp.

DEATH

Pomni grumbled as she placed herself right back where she was before she died, trying to ignore Caine's scolding and how Ragatha fretted over her back in the manor. As much as she cares for them, she didn't have time to sit around and chat right now- she had a princess to beat.

She rubbed her temples a little before she silently began moving again, making sure to remember where each of the ribbons were that she passed the first time around along with the ribbon she accidentally stepped on. Her head perked up a tiny bit as she hear a change in the area, she peeked around the obstacle she was hiding behind and noticed a few marionettes were now patrolling the room in certain routes with lights shining out of their eyes- probably doing so because of her last visit. She clicked her tongue silently as she ducked down in time for one of the marionettes to come by. Usually she didn't care much if she died since none of the other bosses changed their damn tactics like this! Little miss Princess just *had* to be the special one! Fuck. Okay, no more dying.

....hopefully.

Pomni waited for the current marionette to pass by before she glanced behind the broken wall again so she could observe the routes each of the minions were taking and how fast they were moving. A couple things she noticed that gave her actual advantages were that the lights in the eyes were able to both tell her where they were looking and that the ribbons hidden in the darkness could be seen for a brief moment. She hid once again as she made mental note of that and silently watched as few lights passed by the current direction she was facing so she could see where to go to avoid upcoming ribbons.

Once the lights disappeared from her sight, she moved quickly and quietly to get past the ribbons and hide behind the next wall before any marionette was able to catch sight of her. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding once she got behind her next hiding spot and did the same thing she did at last spot.

----

It took longer than the harlequin wished it would've but she was eventually right behind a pillar that was next to the boss puppet and it seemed that she was none the wiser about her presence. It gave Pomni time to breathe and steel her nerves for the fight.

When she was ready, she went in front of The Maddened Princess with her sword drawn and pointed straight at her mask- which Pomni found had two different sides to it and wasn't just a grin. It had a grin on the left side and frown on the right side of the mask- comedy and tragedy in one.

She didn't get much time to focus on that detail as a spotlight suddenly shined down on her, making her lift her free hand to block the light. She squinted up at the boss in annoyance, who didn't pay any mind to her irritation as she spread out her arms to the stands that had a few lifeless puppets and marionettes in them, "OUR LATEST STAR HAS ARRIVED TO TAKE THE STAGE!" The Maddened Princess announced, clearly the comedy mask was in control currently.

"The hell are you talking about?" Pomni sneered at the boss, finally putting her arms down and glared at her, "I'm just here to challenge and *defeat* you." She hissed out, getting ready to attack, only to be stuck in place by a few ribbons, "Wha- HEY!"

"Now, now." The boss had her hands do a calm down motion with her metal claws uncomfortably close to the harlequin's face which made her lean back, "That's no way for the star of our play to behave, now is it?" She questioned as a few more ribbons made their way slowly up Pomni's body as a way to keep her still and a way to kill her quick if she didn't play along.

The harlequin bared her sharp teeth and she began to slash at the ribbons trapping her until a few ribbons caught her wrist, "I AM NOT GOING TO PLAY AS YOUR LITTLE ACTRESS, YOU BI-" She was silenced in an instant as giant claws came down and slashed her back, hard enough to kill her instantly.

DEATH

'Maybe you should've been her little actor-' Pomni could hear Jax' mocking tone inside her head, he had teased her the moment she came out of Caine's office. Apparently, that asshole of a rabbit was nearby when she died to the boss without even having a chance to fight her yet.

The Maddened Princess was waiting for her to return within the shadows, as if she didn't wish to get the spotlight on her, while tapping her metal claws on the ground, when she noticed the harlequin's entrance she seemed to brighten up, "Our star has returned! Not even death can keep her down!" She cheered, her ribbons made all of the puppets and marionettes clap in unison as well.

Pomni familiar feel of ribbons gripping onto her once more but this time, despite how much she really wanted to, she didn't fight the restraints. Instead she glared up at the boss, "What *exactly* do you need me to do?" She questioned through gritted teeth.

The Princess either didn't see how angry her new puppet was or she just didn't care because she had her dance and twirl around before having her stop, "I need you to play a very important role in my new play!" She announced happily as she had a few more puppets join her in the spotlight, probably her 'co-stars', "I need you to play as the Sacrificial Princess!" She cheered again.

"What-" She froze as she saw ribbons piece through the ground and broken walls nearby as well as one of the puppets holding a real axe, "...shit-"

The boss sent her a look for the language she just used but decided to ignore it, "I'll be sure to lead you the entire way!" It was obvious that if the mask could fully grin then it would in the instance, "And who knows? You may even be able to get out of your strings on time!"

Pomni desperately wanted to escape but knew struggling right now would lead to death and besides, it sounded like the boss wasn't going to stop her from trying to get out during this so-called play, "Fine." She grunted out in irritation.

"Wonderful! Let's get metaphorical curtain up then!"

-----

Before Pomni knew was happening, she was being dragged to the center of the stage by the ribbons holding her tightly. She bared her razor sharp teeth, she hated how this felt but knew that one wrong move would result in another death.

"We begin with a sole survivor in a destroyed town~" The boss narrated from behind the curtain, Pomni didn't even notice her get up and move. Probably because she was a tad bit too busy trying to struggle away from the ribbons and towards anything sharp. Something that was apparently allowed as there was no consequences. She kept that in mind.

"Many from outside of the town heard the horrors that had befallen this poor place and had rushed in to find out if there was any way to possibly give their aid." The boss continued as if she didn't feel any pull on her ribbons. She had multiple marionettes slowly enter the stage from where they were once patrolling on the ground, "To their shock, everything appeared destroyed and many bodies were strewn around the town, dismembered. All except one lone survivor. A woman that the town had declared their princess- covered in blood and surrounded by a bodies." She forced the harlequin to move her head to look at the marionettes that had swords, shields and spears made of ribbon.

Their lifeless eyes seemed to express shock before shifting into anger and disgust at the sight of her before their mouths seemed to move by the boss' voice came out of each one of the in different vocal ranges:

"She must've been helping those monsters!" One of them accused with a somewhat masculine voice, as masculine as the boss could do at least.

Another pointed at her in horror, "She must be a witch that disguised herself as this town's princess only to curse everyone!" This one had a light feminine tone.

"Look at her clothes!" Another exclaimed in anger, "Covered in blood! She must have killed some herself!"

Pomni's fingers twitched a bit, she had a burning desire to use her teeth to tear up the ribbons just to get the ACTUAL FUCKING BOSS FIGHT STARTED! She hated that she knew that that would be a stupid idea though.

Her thought process was interrupted when the marionettes surrounded her, the one that had the masculine voice approached her with a sword, "The outsiders approached the princess with anger and hate- wishing to purge the supposed witch to prevent the curse to possibly get further than the town." The boss' voice continued to narrate but seemed to pause and wait as the marionette used their sword to slash at the harlequin.

Pomni was quick to understand that The Maddened Princess was giving her a chance to cut some of the ribbons. She furrowed her brows as she quickly twisted herself a bit, a little shocked by how the restraints holding her seemed to a tiny bit more lax so she had a chance. Once the ribbon blade came down, she was barely able to move her body enough to have the ribbons holding her right arm be cut which allowed her access to her change her arm into her gun and attempted to shoot at the opponent in front of her... only to find there were no bullets.

"The boss removed your bullets when she was putting her ribbons around you." Bubble explained as he puttered over near her, "You were too blinded by your rage to even notice!"

The harlequin groaned loudly in displeasure by that, letting her gun go back to being her regular arm in defeat, "Of course-" She grumbled, going back to looking at the marionettes who looked shocked as if she hadn't just failed with her attack.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" The one with the feminine voice cried out, "SHE PROBABLY JUST CAST A SPELL ONTO US!" She was quick to rush away from the harlequin by a few feet.

"The outsiders of the town grew far more wary and cautious around the so-called princess as it appeared she was beginning her spread of powers to the heroes from the outside..." The narration continued in a more spooky tone to apparently make the harlequin sound more like a villain- which Pomni truly could care less about.

Another marionette approached her, this time with a spear in hand, "I'll stop her this time!" They announced before swinging their spear at her feet this time. Once again, the ribbons loosened a little but were a bit tighter than last time as to make it harder- it didn't deter the harlequin as she was able to jump a bit forward enough to force the spear to cut the restraints on her ankles. Although, she did end up falling onto her face as she moved a tad too quickly and slipped on one of the discarded ribbons on the ground. She huffed in irritation at that before using her free hand to try and push herself up but found she was being forced down by one of her 'co-stars' with a blade pointed at her neck which made her scowl.

She could barely hear stifled laughter from from behind the stage but it was quickly cleared up before the boss went back to telling the play's story, "As the spear from one of the heroes was able to make the villainess fall hard to the ground, another had kept her down." She announced, "One of the knights from the neighboring kingdoms had just arrived on the scene in time to force the witch down while his comrades were close behind to aid in her defeat!"

Pomni's eyes moved to look up and behind her to see about four puppets in armor, helms, actual metal swords and shield taking the place of the more rural marionettes that had attacked her before. The Princess had decided to take the fight up a notch, it seems like the harlequin had proven to be strong enough to increase the difficult. It made her smirk some, boosting her ego to know her final boss found her tough enough to actually put in some extra effort to kill her. Well then. Bring it.

She ducked her neck as the knight holding her down swung his sword and she was able to have the blade slice off the ribbon holding neck which allowed her to freely move her head around now. She was able to use her free hand to grab her opponent's ankle and knock him off balance before quickly flipping herself around to use both of her feet to kick him away from her and quickly getting to her feet. She used her sharp teeth to tear the last bit of ribbons off of her left arm and whipped out her sword from her sheath to be more on an even ground as her opponents, even if they stand no chance against her. She grinned widely, looking like a shark searching for the next meal, "You want a fight? BRING IT ON!" She laughed, more than ready to get her irritation for being used as a literal puppet out on these puppet corpses.

The cut ribbons that were holding her back before were dragged back to their owner backstage and it almost seemed like the knights changed their stance to one that was far more aggressive, "It appears the villainess witch has shed her innocent appearance to show her true evil intentions!" The Maddened Princess narrated as the knight she knocked off of her stood back up, ready to attack as well, "Will our brave knights be able to overcome her or will more befall her curse?"

The knights raced forward and began their attack, not giving her the ease of fighting one on one- not that she really needed it. Her sword blazed with energy as she let her opponents close in on her before she quickly slashed her and had the razor light wave that came from her blade knock them all down.

Each of the puppet knights had a large gash in their armor from the attack, the ones who attempted to block it with their shields ended up having them sliced in half. The harlequin laughed, "You wanted a witch! A powerful, sword wielding witch you got!" She called to the backstage where she knew the boss was.

She received no response but the knights seemed to grow cautious in their attacks now, seeming to simply observe her for now. The boss seemed to fully understand that if she wanted to defeat this challenger without letting her fight her personally then she needs to start taking things more seriously.

Pomni twirled her sword in her hand as she observed her enemies, her gun had been emptied without her knowledge before this 'play' had begun so she could only rely on her sword and fists. That's fine, she could adjust and still win this. She just had to defeat these armored corpses then she can fight the actual Princess of this theatre.

'Don't be reckless.' Caine warned through the Bubble blimp, 'I really rather not patch you up for the *third* time during this fight.'

She scoffed at that, "Well, if I do then I'm sure you'll kiss my injuries better." She joked a bit as she clashed her blade with one of the knights who tried to catch her off guard while they thought she was distracted talking to the blimp.

'I-I, uh, well, I-I mean-' The puppetmaster stuttered- she could just see how flustered that comment made him, 'Just don't die again!' He commanded in his flustered tone before having Bubble float away to give her room to fight.

The harlequin couldn't help but snicker at that, that definitely gave her some much needed energy to keep going. She smirked as she knocked back the knight she had blocked before quickly knocking them down to the ground and sliced off the ribbon that was controlling them. That was one down, three more to go.

Pomni narrowed her eyes as she picked up the fallen sword from the puppet that she just cut the strings to. She grinned, "Well, you three are certainly fucked now~" She showed her razor sharp teeth to the remaining knights as she adjusted her grip on the newly acquired sword before activating her super speed so could get up close to the remaining opponents, "Hey there, motherfuckers~" She taunted them as she decided to put her face in the middle of them- she could already hear Caine scolding her about doing something as incautious as that but she really didn't care right now.

The knights gave no reaction other than to try and slash at her, and to their credit- two of them did get hits in on her, both on the shoulders but she ignored the pain as she did a front flip over all three of them while use her dual blades to chop off all three of their heads before landing behind them and slicing each of their ribbons off so they could rag doll to the ground lifeless.

Pomni let out a breath once she was finished with all of those puppet knights. She put both swords in one hand before staring at the darkness that was the backstage as it held her final opponent.

"Maddened Princess, I'm coming for you now." She said loud enough that she was sure that the boss could hear her clear.

------

The backstage was darker than the main room was before the spotlight was turned on and completely silent aside from the clicks of her shoes on the wooden floor. The harlequin let her gaze wander around as she observed the area in which her final battle in this decrepit theatre would be held- and, oh, how she was hoping it'd be shorter than that shit she did on the actual stage. She noticed how there were spotlights overhead, connected to the catwalk, and recalled how she saw how the Princess hid away from the spotlight that was aimed at the harlequin on the main stage- as if it could burn her. She would have to keep those lights in mind in case the ribbon boss became a pain in her ass.

She felt her foot step on a some type of cloth, most likely a ribbon in the dark, but it didn't appear that the boss wanted to attack her just yet. Perhaps she was doing the same as the harlequin, observing and learning. That was fine- it would be more thrilling if the fight was more fair and harder for Pomni.

Her gaze moved upwards towards the large bundle of red ribbons next- her next target. One of the boss puppets Caine had asked to help so she had to be sure to keep the die in one piece as well as bring it back for him to work on it- if this annoying bunch of ribbons can be enlightened then so be it.

This boss certainly seemed to like hiding in the darkness- she could only really see a bit of the mask that adorned the top of the ribbons and the shine of the claws but not much else. She didn't like that, not when it gave her such a big disadvantage. She scowled, she needed a plan...

A few ribbons could be heard and barely seen shooting towards her in high speeds, "Shit-!" Pomni hissed out, quickly using her swords to slash the ribbons into pieces. She sent a look at where the ribbons came from, "That was such a cheap trick!" She snarled at the boss.

"Expect the unexpected,

As a puppet made for battles

that should have been know~"

The boss responded in a poetic tone, almost sounding a bit smug at getting the harlequin irritated. Although, the way she became poetic now was making Pomni even more annoyed.

"Really?" Her eye twitched, "First a stupid play, and now poetry? Are you trying to be the most irritating boss?" She grunted as she made note of how a few marionettes and puppets had slowly risen from the floor, beginning to go behind the large pile of ribbons that was controlling them.

"Performance arts

A statuette's purpose

to please and amaze

But now

I wish to just win and end."

With that, more ribbons bulleted towards the harlequin on all sides with the darkness making it hard to make it known where they were. Pomni's eyes widened as she swiftly cut the ribbons in front of her but was caught from behind and felt a sharp slash on either of her sides by what could've easily been invisible swords. She gasped as the ribbon from behind her rose her upwards before slamming her on the ground roughly but not enough to kill her or take too much health off of her. But the throw into the wall certainly didn't help much. She groaned as she slumped to the ground in pain, "Sneaky fucking bitch..." She grumbled as she took out a small vial that had a battery acid in it. She moved bell, holding it tight as to make sure it didn't jingle before unbuttoning her shirt until her die was exposed- she poured the acid onto it as a way to give her a bit more energy and health back. She didn't exactly know how it worked but Caine had always told her not to question it since, at least, it kept her alive a bit longer.

She sighed silently in relief as she moved her bell back in the center of her neck, put the vial away and stood up with a light huff, not worrying about buttoning her shirt back up since she had a feeling she'd need to heal again eventually. She scowled as she felt her now slashed sides but said nothing as she looked around before noticing that there was a broken ladder leading to the catwalks nearby, it didn't have a bottom but she should be able to jump high enough...

She suddenly went into a defensive position when she heard close by, no doubt The Maddened Princess was sending in a few minions after her. She narrowed her eyes as she was able to block the unseen attacks that came her way, using her ears to locate them. She might be blind currently but her hearing still worked just fine. She was able to knock them all back harshly before quickly jumping against the wall and pushing off hard enough to be able to leap into the air, grabbing the ladder. She had to move quickly because the rung she first grabbed onto creaked loudly before as she grabbed the next one breaking in half, clattering to the ground which alerted the boss to her presence. Ribbons were shot like rockets towards the ladder, aiming at the harlequin's head but she was, thankfully, able to scurry up onto the catwalk, barely having the ribbons miss her feet.

"Run, run, run

Try to flee and hide

but it'll be your hide

as my trophy at the end of the night."

The Princess mocked in her poetic tone as the ribbons began to wrap around the catwalk, feeling for their prey.

The harlequin growled silently as she felt a tiny bit of silky fabric under one of her feet as she got close to the spotlight nearest to the ladder. The silk slowly began to go up her leg but before it could go much further, she was able to turn the spotlight on and turn it towards the pile of ribbons.

The boss screeched and covered her mask as the light shone bright down at her, she seemed to freeze for a moment and the ribbon on the catwalk unwrapped itself and fell. It gave the harlequin a perfect opportunity to dive down and put energy in both of her swords to create two powerful light waves that broke a few ribbons off of a few of the puppets as well as slice a dent into the boss by breaking numerous ribbons on the boss herself- it didn't make enough damage to expose the die within the silk but it made it where she could do a few more strikes like that and expose it for good.

"HISSSSSSSSS!!!" The boss screeched like a cat being sprayed with water as she finally got out of her slight blindness before skitter skattering away from the bright light and back into the shadows as if they protected her. A couple ribbons grabbed onto to Pomni and threw her opposite of her while another ribbon rocketed upwards, shattering the still shining spotlight so there would be no more light on her.

The harlequin used one of her swords to help her not hit the ground too hard by stabbing it into the hardwood floor and spun around it a little as a way to help catch herself. She smirked as she pulled out the blade- she found the weakness. But she's have to make sure to defeat the boss with the last three working spotlights left on the catwalk or else it'd be back to doing everything blind and hoping she doesn't get caught off guard and die.

"Tis but a scratch

Surprise by the light

that does not belong onto me

Oh, dear actress,

the spotlight merely belongs to you."

The Maddened Princess continued reciting her poem although a small angry hiss came through in her tone this time. A few more puppets rose from the ground but it looked like it was less this time- looks like slicing a dent in the pile of ribbons did give her more of an advantage.

The harlequin kicked away a couple puppets that sounded like they got a bit too close to her before front flipping over the ones that sounded to be right in front of her. Only to have her feet land on both of their heads which made her almost lose balance, she had to put her arms out to try regain it.

Which only left her wide open for a few ribbons to grab onto her arms tight before once again slamming her into the ground a couple of times, making her lose her grip on her swords and having them clatter onto the ground a bit further away from where she was tossed.

"Running and jumping,

Can get you far

but can you see

where you're going

to make it?"

"Oh, COME THE FUCK ON!" The harlequin slammed her fist into the in irritation, feeling one of her sides break a bit more due to the slams onto the ground. She took a breath as she stood up and sped towards where she heard her swords land, not liking how she was unarmed currently. She heard a marionette slice their sword in her direction and she was scarcely able to duck under it, half of her ponytail was cut off as it bounced upwards from the swiftness of her movement. She felt how she lost some of her hair but couldn't be bothered to care at the moment as she simply kicked the marionette to the ground and used her teeth to tear the ribbon off of them before somersaulting on the ground to get to her swords faster. She grabbed them right as she heard a couple puppets slash down towards her- she reacted swiftly by using both of her swords block where she heard where the blades were. She laid on her back as she struggled against the weight on both of the swords on hers. She bared her teeth as she shoved hard against the two and forced them away from her, knocking them off balance which she was quick to use to her advantage. She hopped onto her feet before quickly slicing at their ribbons.

The harlequin made use of the time where nothing was currently close enough to attack her rush up on top of the catwalk again, speeding towards the farthest light from her since she didn't feel like risking getting there after pissing off the boss three times. By the way she could hear the platform squeaking a little bit- she definitely made enough noise to alert the boss enough to have more ribbons race towards her. She gritted her teeth as she ran bit faster before sliding towards the spotlight and having it shine on on the pile of ribbons once more.

Like before, the boss screeched and covered her mask with her ribbons which left her wide open for Pomni to dive down again. Maybe not wide open because this time one of the boss' claw reached up to slash at her. She moved slightly to avoid it and make it where she could do another double light wave attack that both sliced off the the ribbon arm that had the claw on it and increase the size of the dent she made on the pile of ribbons initially but it still looked like she had a ways to go.

Pomni landed on the ground, avoiding the ribbons that attempted to grab at her this time. Only to be caught off guard as she felt some silk underfoot, "Oh, come on!" She yelped out as her ankles were grabbed, making her trip and fall on her butt and was forcibly slid her towards some spikes that were made on the wall. Her eyes widened and she had to quickly spin herself so her back was facing the spikes instead of her exposed chest and die. She clenched her teeth as a harsh gasp came through them, that definitely left some awful holes in her back but they didn't go through her body enough to hit her die at least. She hissed through her teeth as the ribbon spikes suddenly came out of her back and were used to destroy the spotlight that was currently still on. Turning everything dark once more.

The harlequin listened for any nearby enemies before taking out her last vial of battery acid and poured it onto her die like she did with the first one. She grumbled as she forced herself up, using the wall as support. If she got hurt that badly again, she won't have anymore battery acid to heal her again- she had to be extremely careful now. Being careful sucked though.

"Difficulty increasing

Tension raising

How much longer

will you be able to survive?"

Pomni ignored the threatening poetic tone the boss used as she forced herself to move towards the ladder as fast as she could despite her injuries, countering any puppet or marionette that tried getting in her way. She didn't feel like putting up an effort to make it more of a show anymore. At least not until her pain numbed.

She grimaced as she looked up at where the lowest rung of the ladder was and how she knew she had to force herself up there again. She grunted as she moved back again before giving herself a running started and wall jumped up to the ladder again, barely making it. She grunted as she got up on the catwalk once more. She panted a bit as she crouched down to take momentary breather- she should have about fifteen seconds before the ribbons start wrapping around the platform.

She went through the charms she had on hand but weren't currently using as she didn't like boosting herself unless necessary. She found the one that boosts her jump height and placed it onto the collar of her shirt, she could tell this one was fully necessary now. She put the rest of the charms away as she could hear the silk ribbons climbing up the ladder and frowned as she began to speed off towards the second furthest spotlight from her.

Once she turned it on, turned it towards the pile of ribbons and began her dive down, making sure to avoid the metal claws aiming at her and used the light wave attack to slice off the claws as well as make dent even bigger- she could start to see a shine coming from the boss' chest, the die. She felt a sense of relief as she knew she was almost done.

The Maddened Princess let out a loud, angry, catlike snarl as she destroyed not only the spotlight that was on but also the one that the harlequin was supposed to turn on next- ...well, that blows.

"Darkness surrounds,

You had your fun,

Now it's- ARGH! IT BURNS!"

Pomni had her right hand shift into her gun and had the rest of her energy go into to create a laser to burn the pile of ribbons from the bottom up- interrupting another irritatingly, smug poem from the boss.

She only used it for a few seconds until her energy felt like it was going to run too low for her to walk any longer, or even stay standing. The gun went back to being a hand as she watched The Maddened Princess lean down to try and attack her a bit more. The harlequin gave an exhausted look as she simply used the last bit of her energy and her charm to jump high enough to slice off the mask that the boss wore before letting herself land on her butt on the ground in exhaustion.

Once the fire got to the point where the boss' die was fully shown, she was quick to grab it before running as fast as her body would let her out of the theatre before the flames could reach her.

------

"Here's the stupid die heart, Caine." Pomni grumbled in exhaustion as she got back inside the manor and weakly gave the item to the man who had been waiting anxiously at the door for her, swaying a bit as she tried to keep herself upright.

The Puppetmaster didn't even hesitate to simply pocket the die heart before putting his arms on the harlequin's waist so he could pick her up bridal style gently. She didn't even fight it, simply collapsing in his arms as soon as she felt herself become weightless.

Caine felt himself blush a tiny bit as he brought her to his office table to start repairing her body. He paused a moment before deciding to take a small advantage of her being unconscious right now to give her a quick peck on the forehead.

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A/N: Yes, the ending is *extremely* rushed. But after writing 6k+ words in the span of three days? I got too tired to care much longer. Hope y'all still enjoy the read.

#the amazing digital circus #tadc harlequin au #tadc pomni #tadc caine #caine x pomni #tadc showtime #boss battle concept pretty much #violence #action

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