Chapter 114-Mary vs Margarette, Part Three

"Remember me, Mary?"

Mary gulps as she stands in the blazing cavern of Mt Fuji, staring across at her supposed older sister in front of her, Margarette Prometheus.

"Margarette…" Mary trembles, "Why did…why did you try to kill me…?"

"The better question is how you survived," Margarette smirks, "I was for sure that I landed finishing below."

"Khione found me, and used her Ice Charge to freeze over my wound to seal it off and numb the pain," Mary explains, "From there, I gathered enough strength to heal myself so that I DIDN'T die while waiting for the strength to heal myself even further."

"Damn," Margarette spits, "Looks like I should have been more thorough."

Margarette wiggles her fingers, and as maroon sparks of energy burst and swirl around her body, Margarette's two puppets -the corpses of the Blue-Fire E-Charger and swapping Devil Eye user- take a step towards Mary, who shrinks back in response.

"What's the matter, lil' sis?!" Margarette cackles, but Mary drowns out Margarette's words. Instead, Mary raises an eyebrow at Margarette's two corpse puppets, and notices that -haphazardly wedged into the disfigured flesh making up their burnt faces- are two eyeballs.

In the taller of Margarette's two corpse puppets is a tan eye with a royal blue pupil in the shape of a symbol. In the short corpse puppet, is a dark reddish-brown eye with a blueish-green pupil, also in the shape of an unknown symbol.

"Your puppets…?" Mary asks.

Margarette looks away in shame.

"After many of us were defeated by Team Noah, Prometheus…" Margarette begins to say, then pauses and shudders, "Rather than…DISPOSING of us and recruiting new E-Chargers, due to time constraints, we were all given…a POWER BOOST instead."

"CONTROL!" Margarette then shouts as she holds both hands out towards her puppets, and one red string-like thread of blood shoots out of each of Margarette's fingertips and wraps around her corpse puppets, one thread per figner for each limb, and then the fifth string of each hand for the neck.

"Blood Charge: Puppet Manipulation!" Margarette shouts as she wiggles the fingers of her left hand, and the taller of Margarette's two corpse puppets thrusts its hand towards Mary, firing off a ball of blue fire from its hands.

Mary enters her Charge Stance.

"Blood Charge, Level Three: Rapids Talon!" Mary shouts as she swings her hand towards Margarette, firing off a blade of blade from each finger.

Mary's and Margarette's spells collide, and the cold blue flames of Margarette's second puppet causes Mary's blades of blood to freeze over and pause mid air, then fall to the ground and shatter.

"What?!" Mary cries, "Fire with the effect of ice?!"

"Blood Charge-" Margarette begins to shout as she wiggles her fingers again, but before Margarette can finish chanting her spell, Mary sticks a hand out to Margarette then clenches it shut.

"Blood Charge, Level Four: Paralysis!"

"Crap…" Margarette grunts upon feeling herself unable to move. But then, a moment later, maroon sparks of energy burst and swirl around Margarette's body, freeing her from Mary's spell.

"Blood Charge: Puppet Manipulation!" Margarette shouts as she wiggles her fingers again, causing the flame-manipulating corpse puppet to fire off another fireball at Mary.

"HUP!" Mary cries as she hops to the side to dodge Margarette's spell. Meanwhile, the fireball flies past Mary and collides with the cavern wall behind her, exploding in a burst of blue flames.

"Blood Charge: Puppet Manipulation!" Margarette shouts as she wiggles her fingers, sending her flame-manipulating corpse puppet charging towards Mary, who resumes her Charge Stance.

"Blood Charge, Level Five: Savage Red!" Mary shouts as blood begins to leak from her pores, then hardens, forming a layer of solid red armor along Mary's fists and wrists.

Mary exchanges a few blows with the puppet, hand to hand, before knocking it back with a powerful blood armor-covered jab.

Mary then launches a second haymaker towards the puppet, but Margarette smirks and yells: "SWAP!"

A moment later, the puppet before Mary disappears.

Mary's eyes widen. "Did it…disappear…?'

But when Mary realizes what happened, her eyes widen even further.

"No…" Mary says to herself as she frantically looks around, "I MOVED?!"

As Mary swiftly turns and peers over her shoulder, a powerful kick sends her flying forwards, just as Mary notices the puppet standing behind her.

"We…both moved…?" Mary asks herself, before crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Ohh…" Mary grows as she begins to push herself up, only to be met with Margarette looming over her.

Mary gulps.

"Blood Charge: Puppet Manipulation!" Margarette cackles as she wiggles her fingers again, and her flame-manipulating corpse puppet sends another fireball flying towards Mary.

"EEEPP!!!" Mary shrieks as she ducks under the fireball.

But then, Margarette shouts: "SWAP," and yet again, Mary changes location, and finds herself staring down Margarette's fireball, with her puppet standing behind it.

"No way-" Mary begins to say as the blue fireball BLASTS into Mary before the girl has the chance to react, sending Mary flying backwards and crashing to the ground.

Mary coughs as she waves away the smoke.

"Those flames are cold…" Mary shivers.

Mary then peers over at the shorter of Margarette's two corpse puppets, which has yet to leave Margarette's side.

"Everytime Margarette says "swap"...I find myself switching places with the taller puppet…" Mary says to herself, "That must be the Devil Eye ability of the short puppet. Margarette positioned the taller puppet behind me so that when I dodged the fireball, she can just switch our positions once it's close enough so I still get hit. But that's not the issue here-"

Mary peers over at the taller puppet.

Margarette wiggles her fingers with a smirk, causing her corpse puppet to lift a hand and wiggle its fingers at Mary.

"There's still a third Devil Eye ability unaccounted for…" Mary says to herself.

"Either way…I know what I need to do now-" Mary grunts as she pushes herself and resumes her Charge Stance, then narrows her eyes at Margarette.

"Blood Charge, Level Three: Rapids Talon!" Mary shouts as she swings a hand towards Margarette, firing off a blade of blood from each finger.

"Blood Charge: Puppet Manipulation!" Margarette cackles as she wiggles her fingers again, and Margarette's taller corpse puppet fires off another blue fireball.

When the spells collide, the blue fireball freezes over Mary's blood blades. But then, Mary thrusts a hand out to her frozen blood blades and shouts: "Blood Charge, Level Two: Toxic Blood," and Mary's blood blades continue flying towards Margarette.

Margarette wiggles her fingers again, and all of a sudden, she and Mary swap places, and Mary is staring down her own attack.

"Blood Charge, Level Four: Paralysis!" Mary cries as she sticks a hand out then clenches it, causing her blood blades to fall to the ground.