Team Mikey vs Brooklyn Squad, Part 3

Jin then moves to pounce on Austin, but before he can, Austin quickly presses the palms of his hands onto the sand floor and pushes, pushing himself upwards as Austin snap-kicks Jin in the chest from his place on the floor, halting Jin's assault. Austin then quickly springs back up to his feet.

"Well luckily for me, slamming me into all of those cacti gave me all the strength I need!" Jin smirks as he extends his left hand out to Austin, chambering his right.

"Crap, my attack must have activated his Shock Absorption and enhanced the strength of his Cursed Power!" Austin cries as Jin punches outwards, the force of his Cursed Power Barrier reinforced slamming against the atmosphere, sending shockwaves of air flying towards Austin. Jin's air-punch kicks up the sand around him, pelting Austin with sand and obstructing his view, as Austin is sent stumbling backwards due to the force of Jin's shockwaves of air.

"Damnit…" Austin grumbles as he waves the sand away. When Austin peers up again, he sees Jin directly in front of him, who punches Austin in the gut, sending him flying backwards and landing in the sand below.

"Look who's buried in the sand now!" Jin smirks.

Austin sighs as he brings his hand up and snaps his fingers, and as he does so, Jin hears a small "wrrr" noise come from behind him as glowing orange turrets made out of Cursed Power rise out of the sand.

"What?! When did you make those turrets?!" Jin cries.

"Do you really think that I'm so much of a fool that I'd punch you -someone who's strengthened by physical attacks- without a plan?" Austin asks. "I wanted you to knock me to the ground so that I can spread my Cursed Power throughout it and construct those turrets behind you."

"No way you planned that far ahead?!" Jin cries.

"Oh, but I did. I planned for alternate scenarios too," Austin replies as he opens up his clenched fist, revealing a small trigger of Cursed Power. "Now…fill with lead!" Austin shouts as he presses the button of his trigger, causing the turrets behind Jin to rapidly fire out Cursed Power bullets until Jin falls to the ground, defeated and shocked.

"Hmm…" Austin mutters as he stares at Jin's unconscious body. "I sure do hope I showed off my inventions well enough?" 

***

"It's cold…" Jamie thinks to herself, unable to speak or move her mouth, which is petrified under the stone. "Cold and dark…I can't feel anything. What's happening out there? I can't see…"

"We've lost, haven't we? I've been turned to stone, and Mikey has too. Is this how Mikey feels as well? Cold and dark? Uncomfortable and scared? And what about Austin? Has he beaten Jin? Is he confronting Medusa and Mercury now? Has he also been turned to stone?"

"There is a way to unpetrify us, right?!"

"What if there's not? Am I stuck like this the rest of my life? Will I die like this? Am I already dead? Just a sentient statue?"

"All I wanted to do was become a Pro Slayer to fight strong opponents in my teacher's steed, but now…"

"I can't even move."

But then…Jamie is struck with realization.

"Cold, hard, but strong…this…this feeling, it seems familiar, doesn't it?" Jamie asks herself.

"Familiar…like my Adaptability!"

***

"Well, that's all! We won even quicker than I expected. Now let's go find that glasses boy," Medusa orders as she turns and begins walking away from Jamie, leaving her petrified body behind.

"R-right…" Mercury sulks as she slinks after her sister. As she passes her body, Medusa turns and sheepishly peers up at the petrified Jamie, expecting nothing, but for a split second there, Mercury can swear that she saw Jamie's eyelids flutter.

Mercury pauses, and stares intently at Jamie's face, when bam! Jamie's eyes fling open, causing Mercury to yelp and hobble backwards.

"Um…sister!" Mercury cries.

"What is it?!" Medusa snaps. 

"Jamie, our opponent, she…moved!" Mercury answers.

"Impossible! She was turned to stone! Does stone move?!"

"No, but-" Mercury begins to answer, but Medusa cuts her off.

"Exactly!"

"BUT MY CURSED ABILITY LETS ME TURN INTO OTHER SUBSTANCES!" A voice roars, and Medusa turns to where she heard the voice, seeing the stone Jamie leap towards her, cracks forming in the stone as she moves.

"ADAPTABILITY: STONE CLOAK!"

"You moved?! You moved?!" Medusa stammars.

"After you petrified me, I used my Adaptability to turn my body into stone, like with my iron! Now that I think about it, I'm not too surprised that it worked!" Jamie exclaims as she continues charging towards Medusa. "I ought to thank you for this, because now, I finally mastered a full body transformation!" Once in front of medusa, Jamie launches her stoney fist towards her face.

"Adaptability: "Stone Gauntlet!"

"Mercury, get over here!" Medusa shrieks.

"R-right…" Mercury stammars, and in response, she swipes her Cursed Power Barrier infused hands upwards, bringing a wall of metallic shrapnels up and forming a shield in front of Medusa's face. Jamie's Stone Gauntlet slams into Mercury's shield, slowly pushing it back.

"MERCURY!" Jamie shouts, demanding Mercury's attention. "Is this what you want?! I saw you crying when Medusa turned me to stone, are you just going to keep living like this? Living as a slave to your abusive sister?!"

"I…I…" Mercury stammers, her focus on her steel shield wavering, as cracks begin to spread through it from Jamie's Stone Gauntlet.

"Don't say anything or I'll turn you to stone, sister!" Medusa snaps.

"WHAT ARE YOU FIGHTING FOR, MERCURY?!" Jamie roars, causing Mercury's eyes to widen.

"Medusa, she…when we were kids, whenever people wouldn't do as she told them to, she'd threaten to turn them to stone…" Mercury timidly explains.

"MERCURY!" Medusa shouts.

"S-she turned our parents into stone…so I'm sure she'd do the same to me in a second!" Mercury wails.

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear," Jamie says before turning back to Medusa and smirking.

"What do you even get out of helping my sister?" Medusa growls. "It's not going to change anything. I'll turn her to stone, and I'll win the competition, and become the Queen of the world, and make a world where I don't accidently turn people into stone!"

This time, Jamie's attack falters. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you didn't want to be born this way, but-" she begins to say. "IF I'M GOING TO BE A PRO SLAYER THEN I NEED TO BE ABLE TO SAVE EVERYONE I COME ACROSS!"

With a roar, Jamie's stone fist slams through Mercury's Castle Fortress, before turning back to face Medusa.

"I've never lost a fight in my life. I'm invincible! My stone eyes petrify all!" Medusa exclaims.

"Well it looks like your weakness…IS MY EXISTENCE!" Jamie roars as she launches a second Stone Gauntlet to Medusa's face.

"MERCURY!" Medusa shouts.

Mercury doesn't reply.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! SAVE ME!"

Nothing.

"I'LL TURN YOU TO STONE!"

Mercury simply turns away from Medusa, cowering behind Jamie and trembling in fear.

"SHE'S NOT ON YOUR SIDE ANYMORE!" Jamie roars as her Stone Gauntlet slams into Medusa's face, causing Medusa's head to violently snap to the side as she's sent flying backwards and falling into the sand.

"Y-y-you dare harm my beautiful face?!" Medusa screams. "No one has dared to even touch me without my permission, and you-" but Mercury cuts her off.

"That's enough, sister," she apathetically says. Two large steel pillars constructed out of Mercury's shrapnels then rise out of the sand on either side of Medusa.

"Mercury, what are you doing?!" Medusa stammers. "We were saving this final attack for our opponents?!"

"Not any more," Mercury growls. "MAGNETIC: IRON MAIDEN!"

The two steel pillars then slam together, trapping Medusa in between them, who howls in pain. The two pillars then separate and dismantle back into Mercury's shrapnels bits, as Medusa limply falls to the ground, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and foaming at the mouth.

Defeated.

Jamie looks back and forth between the unconscious Medusa and the quivering Mercury, her eyes wide.

"Well, um…thank you…for that, but I have to take you out too now-" Jamie begins to say as she readies another Stone Gauntlet. But Jamie is interrupted when Mercury holds her hands up in surrender.

"Don't worry. I quit," she says.

"Oh, okay then-WHAT?!" Jamie cries.

"I only became a Pro Slayer because Medusa forced me to. Since birth, we've both had powerful Cursed Abilities, Medusa's, which accidently turned our partners into stone, and mine, which is perfect to defend and support her. We were cast out of our home as "demon children," after Medusa accidentally turned our parents into stone. After that, she became extremely bitter, threatening everyone who stood in our path to turn them to stone if they didn't do as she desired. I was scared of her. No one could stand up to Medusa because she'd turn them to stone, and I never got a chance to tell anyone, scared that I'd be turned into stone too," Mercury explains. And then…she flashes Jamie a smile, the first smile that Jamie's seen from Mercury, and her first smile her entire life. "So thank you!"

Jamie's eyes widen even further. "Um…no problem!" She replies with her own smile.

"What are you doing, Jamie, defeat her already!" A voice barks, and Jamie turns around, seeing Austin walk over the sand dunes towards her, shotgun in hand.

"Nah, don't worry. She already surrendered," Jamie replies.

"Huh? Why?" Austin asks.

"Long story!" Mercury awkwardly chuckles.