Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 3: Bad End?

[Teal Mage]

Like a curtain being pulled back, the darkness vanished.

"Rah, rah, ah ah ah, romah, romamah." Colors swirled madly in the void of space around the Field of Honor, purples, golds and browns dominating the skyline, but punctuated by flashes of reds, greens and blues. "Gah, gah, oh, lah, lah!" The winding sidewalks and gardens had vanished, replaced with alternating marble tiles of black and brown marble. "Want your bad romance." In the corners of the Field, the massive oaks had turned to brown stone, and taken the form of towering pillars that supported an upper-level balcony. Spiral staircases, entirely enclosed by the stone of the pillars, could be seen at the towering structure's bases, seemingly leading up to the balcony-level.

"Walk, walk, fashion baby..."

In the Field's center, another structure dominated. Circular and raised at least three stories off the ground, the platform was surrounded by a spiral staircase of winding steps, open to the air unlike the ones in the pillars. Similarly unlike those pillars, it surrounded by an impossibly tall barrier crimson light, which pulsated like fire. Another structure, though a story shorter, block-shaped, and with a straight case of stairs leading to its platform-like peak, dominated the Field's East-side. As of that moment, no fire surrounded it.

"Work it! move that bitch crazy."

Now at a paino that floated in the mysterious space around the transformed Field of Honor, the Singer continued her song. Though her style was far more melodious than before, she didn't seem to have noticed the change that the scenary had undergone.

* * *

"Shuyin!"

Atop the tall structure that had appeared in the Field's center, Professor Landry stood, clad in a perfectly fresh and clean version of the black dress she'd changed into earlier. The Professor's fearsome finger was leveled at the figure that shared the platform with her. By his azure hair and her words, it seemed to be Professor Shuyin.

It also seemed that he had inexplicably changed his clothes.

His formal suit had vanished, replaced with broad sleeved and loose white robes, with a distinctly eastern feel. The prints of purple clouds and orange-yellow cranes in flight that littered the robes' surface contributed to that. More surprising though, was the fact that the bluenette Professor was sitting cross-legged, while floating several feet above the ground. From his back, four wings extended, seemingly made from oversized folding fans. The golden-yellow paper-like structures framed his white robed form, flapping slowly.

"So, you have revealed your true form!" Professor Landry declared, surrounded by a blazing cloud of black light. She tossed her head, then crossed her arms, "I always knew you were a monster in disguise! You did well to hide your true self for so long, but!" Her arm lashed out, dashing the air before her, "Now I, Professor Landry, your long time rival, will show no mercy as my students and I dash you and your sinister minions from existence!" The woman's finger stabbed forward. "Shuyin! What do you say to that!?"

A flicker of pale pink light appeared around Shuyin's winged form, and a delicate china mug of steaming liquid appeared before him. Faintly glowing pale pink eyes slid open, and he grasped the cup gingerly in one hand. Silently, he brought it to his lips.

"Don't just sit there and drink tea while I make dramatic pronouncements!" Professor Landry shouted, slamming her high heeled foot down on the stone surface that she stood upon. Fragments of marble exploded outward, a crater appearing where her foot had fallen. "This is your last -"

"Professor Landry!" Panting softly, the figure of Hannah Iriumi reached the end of the long spiral ramp that lead to the top of the central platform. A slim fitting dress, split up the sides, now hugged her body. Browns and bright greens mingled in flowing patterns - reminiscent of water - on the main body of the dress. A single sleeve of dark green rubber-like fabric covered one of her arms, while the other arm, and shoulder, was bare. Her blond hair, faintly wavy, appeared freshly styled and washed as it hung down to her shoulders, prestine and bright.

"Ah, Hannah!" Professor Landry clapped happily. "I am so sorry that I didn't call out to you sooner, but the drama of the moment would have been ruined had I broke character, even to say hello to one of my beloved Ex-Students!"

Well, that did make sense.

Hannah's expression, however, said that she was not amused.

* * *

Carved in the likeness of a woman, a pale blue crystal statue of a woman had appeared on the south-side of the Field on Honor. Standing on a pedestal, and with its arms crossed, the decoration had a strong resemblance to the Referee, Selena Brooks - who had vanished along with the blackness covering the field. A few paces in front of the statue, Astarte and Sao stood. Auras burned around their shoulders, yellow and green at the moment, and each girl looked about ready for the prom - their battling costumes had transformed into dresses fit for a ball.

Some distance to their west, Sean and Jack stood. Like the girls, they had undergone a spontaneous clothing shift; both were dressed quite formally for a battlefield. The cold, smooth stone of the south-western pillar was pressed close to their backs and the boys now stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing a growling Puma. The creature stalked back and forth, several meters in front of them. It was watching them carefully, though the growls that emanated from its slightly parted maw made it clear that it was anything but benign.

The puma in question did not seem to notice either Sao, or Astarte's presence behind it, but it was hard to tell with pumas.

Whatever would the girls do?

* * *

Dal found his rapier in his hand again, as the blackness vanished. He quickly realized his position had shifted slightly. Now on the top of the eastern-square platform, the Fae was nearly the perfect distance between the two pillars to the far north and south of him. It took him a moment to realize, but his clothes had transformed as well; he was in a suit of some kind.

"You are an abnormality." Flat, and devoid of emotion, a familiar voice sounded in front of him.

Facing him, at the edge of the square platform, was a tall woman clad in a broad-sleeved and billowing white dress, trimmed in deep violet frills. Golden curls tumbled down her neck, extending just past her shoulders and contrasting vividly with the dark purple shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes, the iris of which shone faintly white, were the only visible part of her face. A featureless plaster mask covered much it.

"Tuatha De Danann, Dalbhach Nuada." She spoke, gesturing crisply with a white gloved hand. Her aura flared, "You will be deleted." A wall of crimson pulsing light appeared between them, the barrier reminiscent of the one around the central structure.

Around Dal, three identical matrices of three-by-three, three-dimensional, translucent and dark green cubes appeared. Small pixels of data raced to fill them, taking the form of like giant worms, made of ball-like segments. At their tips' a large mouth, lined with jagged fangs, gapped widely. From it, green liquid dripped freely. The stone the liquid touched was swiftly eaten away - leaving only quickly deepening holes in their place. Each summoned creature came up to Dal's waist, approximately.

Loosing a feral hiss, the north-most of the three worms sprang forward, leaping for the Fae's stomach. Simultaneously, the worm to his south and the one at his back fired thick jets of that green acid-like liquid, aiming to strike where the Fae's illusion hidden wings should be.

Meanwhile, Johanna found herself standing a few paces north of where the stairs to the eastern platform began. Like the Fae, she too had undergone a wardrobe change, and now appeared to be a dress of some kind. Further to her north, Johanna could make out the crystalline forms of two more statues. One, pale blue and in the likeness of a broad shouldered male, stood protectively over the other, a much darker crystalline form, shaped like a woman, which lay prone on the ground.

How strange.

* * *

Hannah vanished, thwarting Shin's attack. The Oni's strength gave out a few moments later, as the loss of the majority of her Demonic Power hit her. Jay felt a similar drain, though to a much lesser degree. The baseball player just found it hard to catch his breath momentarily; his magical reserves had at least another two bursts in them, more if he used them sparingly.

These details seemed less significant as everything went black.

When it cleared, Jay himself in a formal suit, while Shin was clad in more formal eastern wear; a kimono. Similarly inexplicable, where Al and Zet had lain before, statues had appeared, in poses similar to the vanished boys. They were both crafted from pale blue crystal. To the pair's north, a strange pale-blue mist had appeared. Within the confines of which, they could make out flashes of fire and the suit-clad figure of Dean, as he dodged and weaved attacks from a gold-scaled reptile from above him. He didn't seem to be having much trouble though.

A light impact sounded directly in front of Shin.

Tall and slim, one of the robots from the orchestra – which was now nowhere to be seen – appeared a pace before Shin. A black wrap of cloth surrounded the machine's featureless face, leaving a gap where its eye would have been, if it had been human. A similarly coloured jacket and pair of dress pants adorned its frail-looking form, oddly reminiscent of a butler's costume.

A computerized voice reached Shin's ears, as the machine began to rock back and forth, seemingly trying to imitate a brawler. "You are the prettiest girl at the ball." It stated, as large cleaver knife was withdrawn from one its sleeves. It struck a pose! "We must Kung-Fu fight!"

It looked stupid.

But it had a knife!

* * *

The second level of the transformed Field of Honor consisted of spacious, dimly lit, stone corridors. A solid wall sealed off the outside edge of these hallways, while the wall around the inner-edge was little more than a railing-lined balcony. Three figures stood in the north-western corner of the balcony-hall.

Clad in a slim-fitting, thin white, sleeveless and vee-necked gown, Hie giggled softly. Her short-cut sandy hair was once more crowned with a pair of black-tipped, tan, triangular ears, and short, curved, tail of similar coloration extended from her backside, visible through a perfectly fitted hole in her dress. A dark blue sash was belted at her waist, covered in the same white patterns that had adorned the bandana that she'd sliced off earlier. A pair of similarly coloured bands of cloth rested on each of her upper arms, while a pair of empty knife sheaths hung off the belt at her waist. An aura of, almost white, pale green supernatural light hung around her shoulders, as she danced in place.

To her west stood Diana and Kohana. Both of them had undergone spontaneous changes into formal clothing like everyone else, Kohana into a suit of some kind, and Diana into a more feminine piece of formal wear. At the backs, the two weapons Hie had stolen before remained imbedded into the wall.

"Hahahahahahahah!" Seemingly caught up in her own world, Hie twirled, her dress's hem twisting her body as she moved in circles. "Heheheh!" Her laughter, while not quite constant, seemed almost brittle in its tenor, as if she wasn't quite in her right mind.

Before Diana or Kohana had much time to think of this however, her pale aura flared, and a faint white-blue haze of light seemed to fill the air. Behind them, the stolen weapons shivered. The trident-turned-pretzel seemed to melt into liquid, running down to collect into a thick coil on the marble surface below. Moments later, the head of a white and gold snake rose from the center of the strange mass, hissing softly.

Meanwhile, the sword thickened and condensed. A pair of black, bat-like wings, flared from its hilt momentarily, before flapping powerfully, as the animated weapon broke free of the stone. Four newly formed feet landed heavily on the floor, beside the snake. Fixing its red reptilian eyes on the backs of Diana and Kohana, the small black dragon breathed out a wisp of smoke from its nostils. It seemed to be thinking.

They were surrounded!