Guilty x Creatures Ch. 48

"I can't read your mind, Mica!" chuckled Anton "And I wouldn't even need to if I could. You've been projecting every move you're going make this entire time."

"...I'm doing what!?" cried Mica.

"Projecting. Every time you've made a plan you've been following the path you want to take with your eyes before you take it." explained Anton "It's been easy enough for me to tell what you're going to do next by just watching where your eyes go."

Mica was still for a moment as she stared back at him.

"...Look, there really isn't anything you can do about it right now, so I wouldn't dwell on it." said Anton as he folded his arms over his chest "You're too green to be able to really maneuver around an opponent without thinking. Once you've had some more combat experience, you'll be able to pull off your maneuvers by muscle memory alone, and be able to flow from one to another while in the middle of an attack. Right now though, you need to stay focused on what you're doing so you don't end up hurting yourself. So like I said already, it just can't be helped. So don't dwell on it."

Mica was silent for a moment before a sly grin spread across her face.

"Oh, I think it can be helped!" she said in a mocking tone as the end of her tail began to slowly coil back and forth as if she were wagging it "You said you're just watching my eyes, right?"

"...Yes?" said Anton as he tilted his head and gave her a thoughtful look.

"Well then! Let's see how well you can watch my eye's, when I've got more than one set!" exclaimed Mica as she hunched over and pulled her arms in close to her body.

"...Oh! Right. I forgot to ask about this skill." mumbled Anton as he watched Mica's body slowly darken until becoming a solid black in color.

Leaning forward in their seats on the log, the dark elves both watched intently as the kiochi's black form began to grow in size and then seemingly melt into a shadow-like cloud of darkness. The Mica cloud then started to swell and expand outwards until it became three times its original size. Having apparently reached some kind of crescendo, the cloud commenced to rip itself apart into three pieces which all immediately began to consolidate in on themselves before becoming fully formed again.

"What the Hell!?" exclaimed Fiona as three identical looking Mica's took shape out of the clouds.

The three Mica's were smiling broadly as they all looked up at Anton and began to speak in unison.

"So! What do you think of this!?" they asked as they all struck a different combat pose "Not so easy to watch my eyes now, is it!?"

"No, no it is not." agreed Anton as he nodded his head "Should be a bit more of a challenge now."

The three Mica's all began to laugh loudly before dropping out of their poses.

Suddenly swaying their hips to the rhythm of an unheard beat, they all began to dance in choreographed unison. With the two on either side taking a quick step back and acting as backup dancers to the one in the middle. They than commenced to put on a rather impressive, and quite provocative, performance.

After watching them for a few moments, Anton tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"...Hold on, are you really going to stop at just two clones?" he asked as his brow creased in question.

The three Mica's all froze mid-dance move and blinked.

"Uh, yeah?" they said as they held still and stared at Anton.

"Why?" asked Anton with a tone of concern "Can you not make any more than that?"

"...I can, technically. " mumbled the Mica's as they dropped to standing positions and folded their arms over their chests "But I'm not going to!"

"Why not?" asked Anton.

"Because it takes a lot longer to make more, and I don't have that much time to waste!" explained the Mica's "And also the new clones will be see though for a minute, so you'll be able to tell which one is the real me!"

"Oh, okay, that make sense." nodded Anton as he turned to the dark elves "Kianna, how much time do we have left?"

"Um..." mumbled Kianna as she looked at her phone "It's only been 9 minutes, so far. So you have 21 minutes left!"

"Okay, good. Can you go ahead and pause that timer then, please." said Anton as he turned back to the Mica's "How many clones can you make in total?"

"Uh, I can make 6." said the Mica's "Well, I can make more than that. But after 6 they start falling apart..."

"Hm, that sounds about right." said Anton as he nodded "Can you keep 6 coordinated? Or is it easier to work with just 4?"

"I can do 6 just fine." said the Mica's "Are you sure you can handle 6 though? Cause if not this is gonna be over right away!"

"Oh, don't worry about me!" chuckled Anton as he shook his head and turned around to look away from her "Just let me know whenever you're ready and we can get back to it."

The Mica's stood motionless for a moment as they stared at Anton's exposed back. Taking a half-step forward, they all leaned into a stance as if they were about to move in and attack him. After another moment of stillness however, they stood back up and continued to stare before one of them glanced over at the dark elves.

The dark elves faces were both expressionless as they merely stared back at the kiochi.

The three Mica's all grimaced as the single one looked back at at Anton. They fully broke their unison movements when the Mica in the far back hunched in on herself and went black as she began to make more clones.

"Alright!" sang a chorus of Mica's "I'm done!"

Anton turned around and nodded his head as he looked over a group of seven identical looking shinoccubi.

The Mica's were all in the same pose with their hands planted on their hips and their tails waving lazily back and forth behind them.

"Or should I say, you're done!" sang the Mica's as mischievous grins spread across their faces.

Groaning at the poor joke, Fiona shook her head as the Mica's all lifted their left arms in unison and pointed their raised middle fingers at her.

Anton chuckled at the sight before turning to Kianna.

"Alright then, Kianna." he said as he nodded to her "As soon as you give the signal, we can finish this."

"Okay!" declared the dark elf as she held up her phone "3... 2... 1... Go!"

The group of Mica's instantly all disappeared at once and reappeared closer to Anton.

Anton kept his arms folded over his chest as he casually watched the advancing shinoccubi quickly dart across the ground in different directions as they made to surround him. He grinned as once in position, they, as one, leaped in to attack him en masse.

The Mica's all grunted in surprise as they suddenly smashed into the sides of a large, orange light bubble that had instantly winked into existence around Anton.

"Wha, what the Hell!?'" they all exclaimed as they realized what had happen "Not this crap again!"

As one they all leaped back at the bubble and assaulted it with a flurry of kicks, strikes and even slashes from their tails.

Anton yawned mockingly as he merely stood in the center of the bubble and feigned boredom.

"You ass!" cried the Mica's as they clamored around and continued to attack the bubble "This is cheating!"

"Cheating? This isn't cheating anymore than what you're doing is cheating!" laughed Anton as he absently glanced up at a Mica that had teleported to the top of the bubble and was stomping up and down on it "Or do you honestly think that 7 against 1 is actually fair?"

"Are you serious!?" cried the Mica's "Are you really gonna stay in there!?"

"No." said Anton as he watched the Mica above him drop down to all fours and begin to furiously strike at the bubble with her tail in the same manner as a stinging scorpion "I just wanted you to see that if I was actually going to be cheap about this whole thing, then there wouldn't really be any way for you to win this round."

"Seriously!? So what are you trying to say that you're noble or some shit!?" exclaimed the Mica's.

"Hm, I wouldn't go that far." said Anton as he looked back down at the Mica in front of him "I am about to beat up a bunch of little girls after all."

"...Wait, what!?" exclaimed the Mica's.

Anton grinned as he raised his left arm above his head and caught the Mica above him in his open hand as the light bubble suddenly disappeared from beneath her. He tossed this Mica to the side and slammed her into two other Mica's while at the same time he reached forward and grabbed the surprised Mica in front of him around the neck. Turning to his right, he used this Mica to block the kicks from two more Mica's before shoving her forward and sending all three to the ground. Still turning in the same direction, he spun around completely and stopped short as he now faced the last standing Mica.

"So, you're the real one, right?" he asked as he loomed above her and smiled.

"...Crap!" cried the Mica as she reached forward to grab at the key.

Chuckling, Anton caught her wrist and quickly lifted her up into the air by her arm.

"You know, I've always been curious to know if this would work." he mused as he reached forward and began to wiggle his fingers up and down along the Mica's exposed rib cage.

"WHA! Wait! S-S-STOP!" cried the Mica as she began to kick wildly and grab at his attacking wrist with her free hand "D-D-DON'T! A-ASS!"

The poor Mica began to laugh uncontrollably as her twisting and jolting tail began to jump from one lighting bolt shape to another.

All around them the other Mica's began to fall back over on themselves as they cringed away from the invisible hand that was seemingly tickling them.

"Oh, wow! It does work!" exclaimed Anton as he looked around at the group of struggling shinoccubi "...Well that's good to know!"

"S-S-STOP! P-P-PLEASE!" begged all the Mica's at once as tears rolled out of their eyes and they all pressed their thighs tightly together "I-I-I'M! G-G-GONNA! P-P-P-PEE!"

Anton laughed loudly as he stopped tickling the captured shinoccubus. All around him the other Mica's began to sigh in relief as they each collapsed in on themselves.

"...I hate you." mumbled the captured Mica as she hung limply from Anton grip and relaxed her legs "I hate you so much..."

"What an awful thing to say to somebody." smiled Anton as he dropped the Mica to the ground and planted his foot between her shoulder blades.

"Hey!" cried the Mica as she whipped her tail up at him and struggled to slip out from under his weight.

Anton caught her flinging tail midway up its length with his right hand and began to twirl it around like a lasso as he pulled up on and stretched out the rest of the tail with his left. Twisting to the side he kept his foot planted on the downed Mica as he turned to face a group of them that were just getting back to their feet.

Smiling, Anton began to shift his torso back and forth as he flung the captured Mica's tail around and around and used it as if it were a rope dart weapon. Twirling it up, over and around his shoulders, arms and neck he tightened the length of the tail down until he could pull it back and grab the bladed spade at its base before pointing its tip at the other Mica's.

All of the Mica's were staring at him with the same dumbfounded expression on each of their faces. As one they all glared at him and began to fan out around him.

Still smiling, Anton reversed the tension on his captured tail weapon and began to fling its spade out at any of the Mica's that came within his range before pulling it back and catching it back in his hand.

"What the Hell!" cried out all the Mica's as they tried to figure out how to get around what was essentially their own weapon turned against them.

"You are actually the real Mica, right?" asked Anton as he looked down at his Mica prisoner.

The Mica grimaced and tightened her eyes in anger as she pushed up against him and refused to answer.

"Hm. Well, regardless, putting you out of commission will still be one less to deal with." said Anton as he crouched down and began to tickle the downed Mica.

All of the still standing Mica's immediately cringed away from the sensation before doubling over with uncontrollable laughter.

Acting quickly Anton swung out a coil of his tail weapon and looped it around one of the captured Mica's kicking legs. Pulling it back in over her back, he quickly wrapped the thin tail around her ankle a few times before looping it under and then over itself, thus effectively tying it off. Curling her leg in even further he stopped tickling her as he grabbed her wrist from the opposite side of her bound leg, and bent her arm back before planting her wrist against her ankle and looping her own tail around them both.

"H-HEY!" cried the Mica as she registered what was happening and began to struggle "No! Let me go! Stop that you ass!"

"Alright." said Anton as he let go of the now tied together limbs and began to tickle both of her sides at once.

Laughing, crying and cursing at the same time, the Mica began to buck and curl in on herself as she tried desperately to cover her open sides. With the other Mica's out of commission for another moment, Anton set to work on tying his prisoner's other two limbs. Within the span of just another few seconds he had finished his task and stood back up.

The two watching dark elves began to clap at the show of skill.

The now hogtied kiochi was laying on her belly and not only had all four of her limbs curled over her back and tied together at the wrists and ankles with her own tail, but a coil of her tail had also been looped around her head and fed through her mouth before being tied off completely.

"Oh shit! You really can hogtie her with her own tail!" cried Fiona "That's so awesome!"

Snarling though her tail gag, the tied up Mica glared at the cheering dark elves before falling over on her side as she frantically struggled to free herself from herself.

"Kianna, how much longer do we have left?" asked Anton as he watched the group of Mica's begin to quickly recover.

"Um, one sec!" mumbled Kianna as she looked at her phone "...It's been 18 minutes, so you only have 12 minutes left!"

"Okay, thank you." said Anton as he nodded thoughtfully "Alright then Mica's! Let's get a few things straightened out real quick!"

The group of shinoccubi turned to him as one and although glaring angrily, it was still clear they were all listening.

"Unfortunately, since we didn't discus this particular ability beforehand, we never determined how it would play into the rules of the challenge." explained Anton.

The Mica's all creased their brows in confusion as they continued to listen intently.

"Technically, this was a huge mistake on your part, Mica." said Anton as he looked down at the hogtied kiochi "Since once this challenge proceeds into the second half, I won't just have a single Mica that I need to catch, but 7 that I can choose from. Which makes things exponentially easier for me."

The Mica's eyes all widened at the realization.

"Again, considering we didn't discus this already. I don't think it's fair for me to have such a sudden advantage." continued Anton as he looked back up at the group "So to keep things fair, let's go ahead and set the rule that I still need to catch the real Mica in order to win. Everybody agree on that?"

The Mica's all immediately nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good, I'm glad we got that settled. Now, there are 2 reasons why I believe that I've got the real Mica tied up right here, and the first is that since she's been gagged none of you have said a word." said Anton as the Mica's all began to look back and forth at each other "And the second reason, is because this is the only Mica that has the cuff on her wrist..."

The Mica's all immediately looked at their empty wrists before turning and staring at the wide eyed kiochi laying next to Anton.

"Wait! Are you serious!?" cried Fiona "Did you really forget about that!?"

"I'm hoping that wasn't an oversight on your part, Mica. And that maybe, since there is a magical element to that item, it was just something that you couldn't duplicate?" offered Anton as he looked down at the kiochi.

Blinking in surprise at being given an opportunity to save face, the tied up Mica quickly looked up at Anton and nodding frantically in agreement.

"Mm hm... That's what I thought..." said Anton as he gave the dark elves a pointed look and turned back to the group of Mica's "So, it being the case that I've got the real Mica right here, your goal is going to have to shift a bit I'm afraid."

The Mica's all gave him a questioning look.

"Since none of you have a cuff to unlock, getting a hold of this key is going to be a fairly useless endeavor for you." said Anton as he looked down at the tied up Mica and grinned "And since it'll be an exceptionally easy action to simply reach down and grab hold of this Mica's tail. My advice would be that rather than continue to aim for the key, your goal should instead be to rescue her before the time runs out. Otherwise, the next round is going to be a very short one..."

"And you only have 9 minutes left to do it!" exclaimed Kianna.

Anton raised his eyebrows at the captured Mica. Staring back at him for half a moment, she whimpered and started to frantically struggle as the other Mica's all began to move in for another mass attack.

Anton forced the group of Mica's back by creating another light bubble, which he then dropped almost immediately. Standing over the hogtied kiochi, he began to fight off the attacking Mica's as they came at him in ones and twos. Twisting, turning and using Mica's to both block with and even attack other Mica's, Anton kept a steady rhythm of motion going as he playfully fought off the increasingly desperate shinoccubi. All the while the tied up Mica tried and failed to wiggle her way away from him and free her bound limbs.

"2 more minutes!" cried Kianna as she kept her eyes darting back and forth between the action and her phone "Hurry, Mica!"

The tied up Mica groaned loudly in desperation and anger as she pulled herself taunt and began to thrash wildly.

Anton kept an eye on her as he fought and fearing that she may actually hurt herself, he stepped back and bent over her.

"You do realize that I'm not actually holding on to you, right?" he stated calmly "So you should be able to just teleport away."

Eyes going wide, the kiochi froze mid-struggle before suddenly disappearing. She reappeared nearly twenty feet away and landed on the ground with a grunt. Immediately, all the other Mica's descended on her and frantically began to untie her limbs.

"You have got to be kidding!" cried Fiona as she planted her hands on either side of her skull and shook her head in disbelief "You could have just done that this whole time!?"

Anton threw his head back and laughed as one of the Mica's stopped what she was doing just so she could turn to the dark elf and point her raised middle finger at her.

"1 more minute!" exclaimed Kianna.

Kicking and struggling as she was freed, the hogtied Mica finally scrambled up to her feet. Rubbing at her limbs and twisting her stretched out tail back into shape she turned to the watching dark elves as she fought to catch her breath.

"...Times up." said Kianna as they locked eyes with each other.

As one, the dark elves and all the Mica's slowly turned to face Anton.

A broad smile across his face, Anton let his arms hang loosely at his sides as his aura spread outwards and filled the entire area with his message of power.

"My turn." he whispered.