Chapter 6
The magical girl's voice—stronger than I'd expected—comes from right behind my back. "That's far enough. Let go of his hand."
Lion's voice is thicker and rougher than usual, giving off a real lion vibe. What the hell. A pathetic cat like you, talking big like that. What's the point of putting force into your voice? You can't even reach my waist, you pathetic Lion.
At times like this, just run away. "Worried about me, you pathetic cat? Why don't you just run away? I can totally beat a pathetic magical girl like this no problem. You'll just get in the way if you're close."
For a split second—a nanosecond—I flinch! My heart rate spikes just a bit, my breathing gets ragged, and my limbs nearly go limp. But that's not me getting scared! No, it's... it's that! I was just startled! Just surprised! As if I'd be scared of a pathetic magical girl like this? If I wanted to, I could shake off her hand right now, easy.
But pathetic Lion doesn't get my true feelings, apparently. "Shut up and stay quiet."
Ugh, ignoring me, you pathetic cat? I want to say something back, but the vibe coming from behind me feels off—dangerous—so this time, just this once, I decide to heed Lion's plea.
"Magical girl. Let go of that hand nice and quiet. Then we'll just leave."
Lion speaks again, and a cold tension flows between them. "Hmmm. Let go of the hand...? Nah, don't wanna."
Chae Sua's expression turns scarier, more sinister by the second. Her red eyes seem to glint—maybe it's my imagination. Caught in the middle, the mood between the two grows increasingly hostile. Calm down, you losers. Huh, this pathetic magical girl sure has a temper. Defying Lion's words—my subordinate's command. That's defying me, right? Daring to ignore an order from me, the supreme villain Tyranno-sama. She deserves death for that crime!
"Take this! Tyranno Bite—oww!"
Chae Sua's grip tightens. "Hey, loser! Let go! If you keep squeezing like that, my wrist'll turn red! My skin's delicate, you know!"
Treating my jade-like hands so roughly! Is this girl a pervert and an idiot? This is why uneducated losers are the worst! You can tell they weren't raised right from every single action! No choice, then. I didn't want to use this, but I have to pull out my secret technique.
"Ultimate move! Tyranno Glove Removal!"
I curl my hand into a little triangular horn shape and quickly slip it out of Chae Sua's grasp on the Tyranno hand part. It's already half-broken, so it slides off easy, revealing my small, cute hand. Luckily, no red marks on my wrist. Can't have scars on this national treasure body!
"Wha—hey!"
While Chae Sua's flustered, I prep my next attack. "Take this! Terrifying Chemical Bomb Assault!"
The Tyrannosaurus Suit's mouth gapes wide, and I spray toxic chemicals right in Chae Sua's face! Even if my wrist didn't turn red, this is payback for wrecking my beloved Tyrannosaurus Suit! Arrogant little shits like you get frost in December if they hold grudges!
The white gas laced with toxins assaults Chae Sua's face indiscriminately. That infamous stuff we see on the news all the time—CS gas. That's right. Hypnosis bullet? Nah, tear gas!
"Gah, cough! Cough! Guweeeek!"
Chae Sua, hit point-blank in the face, is a total mess. Tears and snot pouring out, coughing her lungs up. She rubs her eyes in agony, but it just makes it worse. Hehe, writhing on the ground, you loser♥ Super loser♥ Pathetic king of losers♥ This is what happens when you underestimate me. Got it?
"Hahaha! How's that, keh-luk! For calling me a loser, cough cough! Pay the price, guwaaaak!"
But this perfect plan had one flaw. The Tyrannosaurus head spewing the gas was right above my head, so inevitably, some drifted down to me too.
"Th—this, cough, this stuff! Kuluk! Chemical weapons, cough cough!"
"Hahahahaha! How's that, you loser—kyak! Loser!"
Coughing echoes everywhere. Tears blur my vision, but fueled by rage and revenge against Chae Sua, I kick her shin over and over. My tears are worth more than diamonds per drop, but revenge comes first!
"Tyranno Kick, kuluk! Incoming!" Die, you loser! Dieee!
"You little brat!"
Chae Sua reaches out to grab me, but no way! I roll sideways at the world's fastest speed to dodge! Her hand swishes through empty air, and I seize the opening to land a few more Tyranno kicks.
"Total loser♥ Crying tears just from grabbing a wrist, you loser♥ So dumb♥ Idiot♥"
"Kuh, cough cough, you... you damn arrogant little shit, cough!"
I recovered quicker since I got less gas, but Chae Sua, hit dead-on, takes longer. And I don't miss that split-second opening.
Take this! Rage-fueled five-hit kick combo! Daring to nearly scar my jade-like hands? In the name of all humanity, for almost costing me my precious treasure, feel the punishment!
"Hya! Take this! Take it! Take it!"
"Stop, stop it!"
Lion interrupts my righteous, totally justified revenge. "Why stop me, Lion? Do you know what this bitch did? Huh? Don't stop me! I gotta get revenge on this loser!"
"What nonsense! Use this opening to run! That bitch is already recovering!"
Come to think of it, Chae Sua's coughing has died down a bit? "Then I just gotta attack once more!"
This time, I'll douse her in pure tear gas extract!
"Attack what! Run now!"
Lion bites the tail of my Tyrannosaurus Suit and yanks. I ignore it to keep attacking Chae Sua, but the pull is stronger than expected, and I end up flat on my back.
"Huh?"
Was Lion always this strong? "We're heading back first."
Then Lion activates the dimensional gate, and we return to Darkness. The weird nausea from crossing dimensions fades bit by bit. Chae Sua, writhing in front of me, vanishes somewhere, replaced by Darkness's pristine white marble floor.
"Ugh. Pathetic cat! What the hell was that!"
I was one step away from snapping Chae Sua's neck! I was pretending to be scared, stabbing at her weakness—my plan was working!
"Get your head straight."
Lion raises a front paw and flicks my forehead. This—daring to hit my forehead with your paw pad? If you weren't that cute pink jelly paw, I'd shave every hair from head to toe. I'm only putting up with it 'cause it's fluffy pink jelly.
"That magical girl. Chae Sua, right? She's no ordinary magical girl. Should've known from the start—she's Korea's #1 ranked."
"Hmph, still just a loser magical girl. Just watch. Next time I'll wear the Tyrannosaurus Suit properly and win. Get my whip back, and Chae Sua'll be easier than cold porridge."
"No, seriously, snap out of it. Think! If she was ordinary, I wouldn't say shit. Check your energy tank."
At Lion's request, I pull out the emotion energy tank built into the Tyrannosaurus Suit. It's about the size of a 1.5L plastic bottle, covered in weird wires and machine parts. I check the gauge on the side—huh? Weird? It was only at 90% after collecting from the park hostages, but now it's overcharged to like 500%?
"Eek! It's gonna blow!"
In movies, this is when it goes boom! I freak and chuck the tank far away, but Lion's giving me this super pitiful look.
"That tank won't explode no matter what. More importantly, doesn't something feel off?"
Yeah, it does. "How'd the Doctor make a tank that doesn't blow even at 500% overcharge?"
"You absolute moron..."
Lion covers her face with a paw. "That's not the issue right now? The emotion energy we stole from a dozen or so civilians in the park was 90% total. So where'd the extra 410% come from? You and I don't emit emotion energy. Who does that leave?"
"Hmm..."
The civilians gave 90%, so between me, Lion, and Chae Sua, one filled the remaining 410% to hit 500. A being strong enough to output that much emotion energy...
"Me, right!"
The humiliation of losing to Chae Sua. Bone-deep rage! Irritation! Those intense emotions must've turned into energy and overcharged the tank.
"You idiot!"
"Eek! Why—why yell!"
Lion... yelling?! "You and I have no emotion energy! It's an energy only Earthlings can produce! So who? Chae Sua! That bitch overcharged it 410% all by herself!"
"Is that... a big deal...?"
I could probably charge 5000% if I felt like it, right?
"Sigh. Let me spell it out for you. We had like a dozen civilian hostages. Squeezing emotion energy out of them—even calling you an arrogant little shit—got us 90%. But Chae Sua dumped 410% in that short time."
"Uh, yeah. Okay."
"Be careful. I've never butted in on your plans before 'cause I was with you—I could handle anything. But Chae Sua? I can't cover for that."
"So?"
"Don't get tangled with Chae Sua. I'll handle getting the whip back somehow. She's a total monster. Keep messing with her, and it won't end well."
"Fiiine... okay, okay. If a pathetic cat like you insists."
Of course, total lie. As if I'd listen to a pathetic cat♥ Don't meet Chae Sua? I'll just meet her behind Lion's back. I'll get that whip back no matter what! But... feels like I'm forgetting something. Nah, probably nothing.