literature

HypnoBishoujoArena: Round 1 - Lucia Vs Barbara

Deviation Actions

VG-MC's avatar
By
Published:
2.4K Views

Literature Text

Mato Industries VR Combat Tournament

Round 1

Match 3

Lucia Vs Barbara

Setting: Kulon Island Laboratory

Test: Barbara's ability to think on her feet



Barbara awoke in a dark room. She tapped a small button on her glasses, activating the night vision mode she'd built into them. She recognised the lab as Professor Hatsu's on Kulon Island, though before her redecoration following Hatsu's apparent death.

With this, she concluded that this was not the real lab. She also had a sneaking suspicion that Professor Mato was somehow behind this. She sighed and got to her feet before noticing an odd table placed in the middle of the lab, that neither she nor Hatsu had had during their respective tenures as head researcher. But what really caught her eye was the person lying on the table.

"Lucia?" Barbara rushed over to find the unconscious angel lying atop the table, restrained by her wrists and ankles. Unable to release Lucia herself, Barbara rushed to a nearby work station and grabbed a flashlight in case her glasses' batteries died.

She tried to turn on the central computer system but it seemed that the power had been cut. She heard mumbling behind her and turned back to see Lucia starting to stir. She rushed back and shone the flashlight so Lucia could see her.

"Lucia? Are you awake?"

Lucia's eyes were unfocused for a few moments before she reached full wakefulness and her eyes fell on Barbara. The angel's face contorted into a look of abject hate, the likes of which Barbara had never seen before.

"You!" she screamed.

"Me?" Barbara had only met Lucia a couple of times before but she'd gathered enough of the angel's personality to know this was not like her and that feeling that Mato was somehow involved crept up again.

Barbara backed away as Lucia's body began to glow a bright white. Her body released a white hot blast of energy that knocked Barbara back across the lab. As she sat up, Barbara found that the left lens on her glasses had cracked, leaving her mostly blind in one eye. The right lens was fine and its night vision was still functional though.

Not that she needed it as Lucia was surrounded by heavenly light that lit up the lab like a Christmas tree. Lucia's clothes had changed though; her tank top, jeans and sandals were replaced by a metallic silver bikini, which was almost armour-like in its design, and precious little else. She had a belt with two objects she couldn't quite make out attached to it. But what concerned Barbara the most was that Lucia's eyes were block white.

"You said you were our friend," Lucia spoke in a hateful tone that seemed unnatural coming from her mouth. "You said we could trust you but it was all lies! You're just like Rosemary! You're evil!"

Barbara was taken aback. What was Lucia talking about? Barb had heard about Rosemary from both Mato and Jake, that she had won everybody over before betraying them and putting them through hell for her own amusement. What had Barbara done to make Lucia compare her to that monster?

She considered the possibility of it being over her moving out of the Mato House without explanation but nixed that idea as Lucia had arrived a few days after she'd left. In the few times she'd met Lucia, she hadn't done anything that might offend the angel so Barbara was at a complete loss.

"Lucia, what are you talking about? What have I done to upset you so much?"

"You know what you did! Capturing my friends and doing your evil experiments on them. I WON'T FORGIVE YOU!"

Lucia took the small cylindrical object from her belt and blades of white flame erupted from them. She swung one sword and a blade of energy flew towards Barbara. Thinking quickly, she dove behind a nearby work station, the blade striking the high heel of her shoe, burning the heel down to half the size.

Barb quickly removed the smouldering heel and took a look at it, realising she'd never seen burn marks like this. She needed to find a way to learn more about this holy fire if she was going to get out of this in one piece. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way out, before finally finding one: the door to the generator room was roughly five metres away from her current position, but out in the open and clearly visible despite the level of darkness in the room, thanks to Lucia's aura. It wasn't just a case of not getting hit on the way across; but also not letting Lucia know where she was going.

Lucia launched a second attack at the work station, shaking it like a great earthquake and knocking a few objects off and into Barb's lap. One item in particular caught her attention: a smoke bomb. Nothing too fancy but it was just what she needed right now. She removed her other shoe to increase her speed and crouched into a ready position.

She threw the bomb and gave it a few seconds for the smoke to build enough to make her move. Lucia noticed the smoke immediately and knew Barbara was going to try to flee. She focused her eyes on the smoke but couldn't see the scientist through the thick smoke coupled with the darkness.

Barb sprinted as fast as she could towards the door, which she could no longer see but she was sure it was straight ahead. She reached the door as planned and flew through it before slowly and quietly closing it behind her. She hoped Lucia hadn't notice the door's position beforehand or her position would be given away. She sprinted down the hall and turned the corner.

She waited a few moments for the angel to come blazing after her... but nothing came. She snuck a glance back down the hall with the good lens and saw the door still perfectly intact at the end. She could hear Lucia's screams as she searched high and low for her but she was safe for now. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed into the generator room not far from her position.

Barb knew the facility like the back of her hand but still took a map from the wall of the dark generator room to properly plan her next move. She knew Lucia would be on her as soon as the generator powered back up and she wanted to be somewhere safe when that happened. She had a sudden brilliant idea. She took out a marker and drew out the path on the map. She hovered her hand over the lever to turn the power back on and took a few deep, calming breaths before she yanked it down and was out the door at a sprint.

Lucia was surprised when the lights came back on in the room. She could now see beyond the limited range of her aura's light and it was clear that Barbara was not in the room any more. She looked around and caught sight of a map on the wall. She quickly scanned the map and took not of a room labelled 'Generator Room'. She recalled a time when the professor had sent Jake and Jessica to the generator room of his lab to restore the power to the house, leading her to conclude that Barbara was now in this lab's generator room. She took note of the route and blazed through the halls towards her destination.

She swung at the doors with her sword, burning a large hole through them, and flew through the new opening. She quickly scanned the room and found that Barbara was not here anymore. She found another map on the floor and saw the bright red arrow leading from the generator room to the weapons testing lab. She once again took note of the route and set off at incredible speed.

Barbara inserted her broken heel into the device and it scanned the scorch marks. Fortunately, it seemed that the computer was still connected to Professor Mato's computers and he had some data collected on the blades from an incident a while ago, the one with the lockdown of Yoto and that Midori girl... She looked through his notes on the subject and found that he hadn't had a chance to run any tests beyond the samples taken from the damage Lucia had caused during the incident. The notes included a few hypotheses on potential weaknesses for the blades, and Barb quickly read through them, hoping that the professor really was a smart as he so often claimed to be.

Lucia saw the door ahead of her and knew the one that had caused her friends so much pain would soon be within her grasp. Again, she burned through the door and flew up towards the ceiling to look over the room. Barbara was not in the open but there was a nearby firing range. She destroyed every target in the range, earning a high score but Barb wasn't there. She searched the prize booth as she picked out her teddy bear prize. Nothing. The weapon lockers. Nothing. Finally, she noticed the large computer nearby. Of course a smart science lady like Barbara would be using the computer. She walked over, both swords in one hand, teddy in the other, and blasted a hole through the monitor, causing a massive explosion of sparks. She walked around the other side of the computer but found nothing there. She then proceeded to angrily tear the place apart, looking for Barbara but found nothing.

Barbara could hear the sounds of Lucia's rampage, even in the chemistry lab on the opposite end of the facility. It seemed her fake out had worked and she'd bought herself some time. Hopefully, it would be enough. She finally finished mixing the chemicals she needed and carefully poured the mixture into a canister. She carried the formula over to the nearby connecting tube to the sprinkler system. According to the lab's files, Professor Mato had insisted that such a thing be constructed to allow chemicals to be easily added to the sprinkler system. Naturally, everyone had assumed the worst and only thought of the potential harm is such a system but had relented when the professor had threatened to cut the funding of the lab.

Barb had to admit that the professor's eccentricities were a good thing from time to time as she watched the chemical dissolve into the water supply. The notes suggested that the chemical was harmless to organic life but would hopefully be able to extinguish Lucia's flame swords. Barb had performed a quick test beforehand with a nearby ham sandwich and it had had no effect on the meat at all. Even so, it seemed rather risky but Barb didn't have a lot of options. She'd been drawn to the professor's intelligence for a reason, and she had to trust that her judgement hadn't been misguided. The sprinkler system would be offline for a few minutes to allow the chemical to spread throughout the system, but Barb grew concerned as the sounds of destruction grew closer and closer at an alarming rate.

The door burst open and Lucia entered the room, swords ablaze and ready to strike. Barb's only option at this point was to try talking to her until the sprinklers came back online. "Lucia, please, stop this!" she practically begged. "I don't know what you think I did but-"

"I saw you with my own eyes! You took my friends, OUR friends, and did your evil experiments on them! I won't forgive you for that!"

"Lucia, this isn't like you! You're kind and sweet, not angry and vengeful! Someone else must be messing with your head and- AH!" Barb ducked and just narrowly avoided one of Lucia's attacks and took cover behind a work station, bringing her back to where she'd started. She could only pray that the sprinkler system would come back online soon or she would most likely die. As if some greater power had headed her prayer, the sprinklers came back online and the chemical rained down on the two. Barb spared a glance around the side of the work station and saw Lucia struggling with her swords. She flames were starting to die out while the angel tried in vain, shaking them to get them to reignite.

"Well, I'll give the professor one thing," Barb muttered to herself. "He really is a genius." She then noticed that her lab coat had some holes in the sleeves. Not just the coat, but her shirt, her dress, even her stockings were littered with large holes that were growing larger by the second. "It dissolves clothes. Of course it does. I take it back; that man is a perverted idiot." She did note that her underwear at least survived, as did Lucia's battle bikini. Her mind quickly returned to the matter at hand though, as Lucia's blades were now completely gone, small misty streams emanating from the hilts being the only remnants of the once great flames. Believing this was her best chance, Barb stood back up and started talking while slowly inching towards a nearby stun gun that had been knocked loose from its locked cabinet by Lucia's entrance.

"Lucia, please hear me out. I know you think I did something horrible to you and the others but they're like family. I would never do anything to hurt them."

"Rosemary said she was our friend too," the angel replied, almost bitterly, her eyes returning to normal but their initial flame still burning brightly.

Barbara was nearly there now, just a few steps away. But somehow, she found that she couldn't do it. She could feel the angel's emotions. She was hurt. Rosemary's betrayal, or perhaps the idea of betrayal, had impacted Lucia more deeply than probably even she knew. Barbara now found herself drawing closer to the angel, not further away. "Lucia... whatever you think I did, whether I did it or not, I'm sorry. I can see that Rosemary's betrayal really hurt you in a way you've never known before. But please know that I would never hurt you or any of the others. I love Jake like a son and your girls like daughters or sisters. Please believe me, Lucia. I love you."

Lucia was stunned. She could see the sincerity in Barbara's eyes, hear it in her voice. She didn't fully understand these painful feelings she had but as Barbara drew closer, she felt a warmth she never had before. It was comforting, soothing. The heavy feelings that had been weighing on her heart now felt much lighter as Barbara embraced her and told her everything was going to be okay. Lucia's knees gave out as she began to cry. Barbara helped her slowly descend to her knees and allowed her to cry into her chest until she was done. Barbara stayed with Lucia until the angel finally fell asleep in her bosom, like a child comforted by her mother.

Barbara was declared the winner. The simulation ended and Barbara was vaguely aware of it as her mind became hazy and she lost consciousness.


Professor's Notes
I'm very proud of Barbara's ability to think quickly. There never will be an assistant quite like her for the rest of my scientific career... Still, she seems to be putting what I taught her to good use. The world of science will have a great driving force once I'm gone. The scenario was perfect for testing Barbara but... then there is Lucia. The scenario I presented to her may have been too much for her to handle.

I have performed many actions I am not proud of throughout my long life. Some in the name of science, others... for not so noble reasons. Yet none have affected me quite so much as my decision to hire Rosemary. I had not considered the psychological effects her actions may have had, especially on such a youthful and child-like mind as Lucia. Henceforth, I will only seek the most trustworthy of minds as my assistants, for Lucia's sake, if nothing else.
Battle 3 of HypnoBishoujoArena was an interesting one. Around the time I cut the deadline short, Lucia was winning but, when I restored the original deadline, Barb pulled ahead and came out on top. I'm happy for that because I feel Barb can bring more to the table and be a more interesting fighter. Honestly, she's my pick for the overall winner.

The final poll result was Barbara 13 - 11 Lucia

The winner will face Midori or Washina in Round 2.
© 2013 - 2024 VG-MC
Comments2
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
godzillahomer's avatar
Barb is my pick too, with Dawn as a back up