Magical Warriors of Silvatica

Padma was still impressed, but Elvira was getting more and more annoyed. This pretty boy thinking he was the king of the castle. Sure he was powerful but... But... Ugh! She concentrated hard and created a small patch of ice on the ground where he was walking, just enough to make him slip and look a bit less cool. Heh, that worked. Elvira snorted and then charged after him. "Hey, you don't get to call us weaklings," she snapped, standing in front of him and blocking his way. He was taller than her but she was more butch than his flimsy lady body.

Padma had just leapt down from the building she was on and changed back to her normal form. Dae-Jung's attitude reminded her of the men in her village, and she was feeling a little submissive at the moment. "I'm not sure," she whispered in response to Maui. Elvira's face went a funny shade of red as she fumed. "Manly?!" she snapped. "Listen here, girly, I could beat your ass and hand it to you afterwards." She squared up and took a step closer to him.

"No!" Padma yelped. "Yes," Elvira said through gritted teeth, glaring down Dae-Jung just like he was her. She would happily spar with him or just kick his ass, and she didn't really care if it was here or anywhere else. "This is not a learning opportunity," Padma said to Foo, fretting. "We should be allies, not fighting one another."

Padma shook her head. "You are right but... I cannot be involved in this fight," she said, folding her arms. Despite feeling a bit submissive before, she was holding her ground in pacifism. Elvira was so stubborn, she probably wouldn't need help anyway. She flexed her arms and squared up to Dae-Jung. "Alright, princess, gimme your best shot," she goaded.

"This is my fight," Elvira growled at Maui, though she wouldn't mind sneaky back up. [Honestly don't care how this fight goes, just make sure she lands a few blows okay?]

In that fight, Elvira had mostly relied on her physical skills rather than her ice powers, hence why Dae-Jung's lip was bleeding the way it was. It had been so satisfying to punch his pretty face. Now she and Maui were feeling a little roasted, literally, on the floor. Padma went pale and looked down at the floor in shame. The fiery one had a point, and she felt such guilt upon realising it... "Yeah, r-real strong," Elvira rasped at Dae-Jung, sitting up and glaring at him. "Pickin' on a sweet girl like that. Reeeaaal strong." It sounded like she was goading him a bit, but that truly was the biggest dick move he'd pulled yet. But... Was Elvira standing up for Padma? What a surprising and kind thing to do. It made Padma's spine grow steel, and she clenched her fists together. "You haven't beaten all of us," she said to Dae-Jung. "So you can't leave."

Padma lost all of the confidence that she had built up in herself the moment she was disregarded without even a second thought. Without even a sideways glance. It was just like she was back in her village again, being pushed aside and treated like she was worth nothing. Her clenched fists by her sides relaxed and clutched each other, trying not to tremble. Elvira just spat in Dae-Jung's general direction, and slowly got up. "Ugh. I have never been so warm," she complained, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Hey, the only time I wanna see that guy's face again is when it's under my boot," Elvira protested, also getting to her feet and rubbing her stomach, which Dae-Jung had seen fit to batter the hardest. Padma had retreated into herself and so wasn't listening to Maui. She felt weak, not just because she'd done nothing and let her friends get hurt, but because she was reminded that young girl like her was really nothing, no matter how many shards she had to boost her.

"Hell yes!" Elvira cawed. Her brief enthusiasm faded with a wince and a grab at her sore ribs. "So, that girly boy was just taking shards that help his power? So he's not better than us, he's just a few steps ahead. S-so the one who'll catch up easiest is you," she added, stumbling over to Padma and nudging her shoulder. Padma acknowledged what she said by raising her eyes at least. It was weird, Elvira being nice, but she was only doing it for a chance to see Dae-Jung get beat down. Elvira took the shards that looked lightest in colour, and then handed some blue ones to Padma. They both connected the fragments to their shards and 'ooh'ed at the sensation of refreshment they gave.

Padma still wasn't in the mood to talk, but Elvira said what she was thinking. "Apologise?" she shot at Foo with a glare. "Why should we apologise to him? I'm not appeasin' him, or anyone. Next time we see him, I'm gonna make him apologise for callin' me weak. Uh, us weak," she added, realising Dae-Jung had insulted all of them. "Besides, he called you a cat," she pointed out to Foo. "Don't you wanna correct him?"

And so, the four of them set back out into the city, which was quieter now that it was the dead of night but still hummed and thrummed with activity. It was like a beating heart, ever-active even when it was quiet at night. Padma was quite entranced. It was quite difficult to locate Dae-Jung, as many of the young men they encountered out on the streets were feminine and pretty just like him. Elvira had just roughly grabbed yet another not-Dae-Jung and flung him away when they came across a street vendor, selling delicious smelling meat snacks. None of them had eaten in a while. Padma was staring longingly at it...

"Aww!" Padma whined at the loss of the food. "Ugh!" Elvira growled at the arrival of Dae-Jung. "Uh oh," they both mumbled at the sight of the huge creature looming over them. Something that could toss Dae-Jung around like a rag doll was not something to be trifled with. "Quickly, get out of here!" Padma urged, changing into her outfit and leaping over to the old man who had been manning the food cart. She helped him hobble to safety while Maui and Elvira readied themselves to fight the giant creature.

Elvira just snorted and clenched her fists, giving Dae-Jung the side eye as she blasted the beast with ice. Whoa, she hadn't meant to do that much! But she successfully froze the creature's feet to the ground and held it there, though it would probably be temporary. "Easy peasy," she said in triumph, with another sideways glance at Dae-Jung. Padma had set about clearing any civilians from the area, who for some reason wanted to hold up strange rectangle objects made of metal and point them at the creature rather than run away.