Mature Content Warning: Bit of foul language and imagery, plus breasts are used as weapons of war.

Author's Note: No breasts were harmed in the making of this chapter.

Chapter 27:: Rainbow In the Dark

Aerune lounged in the sun as it beat down atop the roof of the shrine. It had been rather boring of late as the girls chattered and trained. Without Scott to ride their ass, both figuratively and literally, they did not seem to focus as much as they normally did. The training sessions turned into idle gossip sessions instead.

"I can't believe those girls. They fall all over themselves for that man, but they won't train on their own to save their lives. *Rrawr* It's stupid!"

Apollo scrabbled up onto the roof in time to hear the little black kitty's monologue and snorted. "Get over yourself."

"Wh-what?! Apollo!"

"Don't Apollo me. You've been bitchy for days. The girls rarely ever get a chance to actually relax. Let them enjoy themselves for once."

Aerune growled at him then performed a little kitty snort. "Bitchy?! I don't believe you! We are at war with the Dark Empire and you want to lounge around and gossip!"

"Don't get your fur in a twist now. Hey..." began Apollo.

"Oh, Hey yourself! I'm going for a walk. I can't stand watching all this chattering and lazing about for another minute!" snorted Aerune disdainfully before getting to her feet and lashing her tail to emphasize her point.

Apollo seemed interested in arguing the point some more, but Aerune snorted imperiously at him. She leapt down from the roof onto a nearby tree limb then worked her way down.

It would be several hours before he began to truly worry about her. There were a lot of Demi-Humans and other creatures in this world that would be a serious threat to the high-strung feline.

---

"Man, that's not good." stated Reina with a fearful tone. Before the group there stood dozens of haphazardly crafted statues. Each of them was in an intricate pose. Most of those poses had abject terror etched onto the faces of the individuals that were petrified.

Scott took out a restorative capsule and broke it over one of the statues. As he suspected nothing happened. It did not change into a human being. Whatever was causing the petrification was stronger than the restoratives or there was no life to restore. The petrified travelers were probably not going to regain human form, ever.

"Well, that was money well spent." muttered Scott. He watched the reddish goop that had been poured upon the nearest statue slide off the side of the forlorn structure then plop onto the ground.

"The capsules might still work for us. These people could have simply been petrified for too long for them to work." suggested P-chan.

Scott nodded thoughtfully while Reina acquired a hopeful expression.

"We can hope so. If these people are lucky once whatever is causing this is dealt with a proper white mage or sorcerer might be able to undo this mess. Whether they survive the transition or not, I can't say."

Scott glanced over at Pirouette after he replied to her and blinked. "Wait your people... Some of them could break this curse or whatever easily couldn't they?"

The incognito elf nodded. "Yes, it wouldn't be too difficult for the three arch mages I would think. We just need to deal with the cause of this mess and get to the shrine so I can contact them."

"So we can help them?" asked Reina with a hopeful tone. She really hated seeing these poor people like this.

"Honestly, I don't know. Usually with spells like this they can be removed as long as the bodies are intact without ill effect to the petrified individual. In fact, their souls are probably trapped inside these stone shells. It’s possible that they are unable to separate and go into the afterlife until their bodies are returned to normal or their stone forms are destroyed." said Pirouette

Scott sighed at the dark elf's answer. There was nothing they could do for these poor bastards at the moment. However, they could try to rectify the situation later and could work toward vengeance and justice for them now.

"Alright, let's get moving." said the man.

Pirouette nodded and chanted a short lilting verse that he could not quite understand. A globe of floating red light appeared above her head that shined brightly without causing too much glare.

"In case you're wondering it is red because normal sunlight would ruin your night vision. I don't really need this to see in the caves, but I thought it would be better than relying on a flash light."

"Thanks." said Scott with a soft smile. Reina noticed the smile begin with Scott and end with Pirouette. A small knot of annoyance formed and then began to draw tight within her stomach. Kitty jealousy was beginning to rear its ugly head.

The group entered the caverns along the well-worn path. The tunnel itself was three miles long with a few side corridors. In the past it had been formed to allow for the operation of trains through the mountains but no trains ran here any longer. It was a foot and wagon path now.

The group was incredibly silent for the first third of the trip until the tunnel began to grow lighter and they soon found themselves outside in an open area that once again was filled with statues. This was the halfway point of the tunnel. A small community of families that acted as local service technicians for the tunnel and hunters of the feral Demi-Human population had lived here.

Now the area was as silent as the most somber and sobering of cemeteries. Statues of all shapes, sizes, and types were scattered about and the silence was deafening. With a lack of sound this profound only the noise of blood rushing through his ears and the sound of their footfalls reached Scott.

"This isn't right." muttered Scott as he watched all the statues in passing.

"No it's not, but if we can get through the caverns we can do something about It." replied Pirouette.

"No. Well yes, but that's not it. I meant that this isn't right. What kind of creature can turn a small town to stone and all those travelers as well without it causing an uproar? This had to happen incredibly fast and something seems fishy."

"Fishy?" inquired Reina.

"C'mon, there are all of these statues here and a few dozen more at the tunnel entrance? No one back in town seemed concerned or even whispered about this. This would be big news in such a small town. That means this happened fast and recently, very recently."

"What does that have to do with anything? The old guide said it had just started happening." stated the dark elf of the group with a quizzical expression.

"That's just it. Do you remember how the shop clerks in the guild thought it was weird when we mentioned needing supplies to come up here? They acted like it was just a normal trip."

"Well, yes." admitted P-chan with a note of uncertainty in her voice. That had been odd now that she thought about it. How had that guide known about this when the guild did not? No one else seemed to have known about it either. There had been no gossiping about monsters in the caves and no signs of fear.

A loud GRAAAAH!!! resounded from the corner of a house and the trio were immediately put on alert.

"What the heck was that?!" exclaimed Reina before she subconsciously took up a martial arts stance.

"Our beast I guess." stated Scott as he ran down a mental list of the likely suspects.

When the creature wandered around the corner, his list side-stepped and immediately jumped to the only likely suspect. "A cockatrice? Fuckin hell, man."

"A what?!" exclaimed Reina as she tried to understand the idea of a giant chicken lizard.

Scott was about to answer her, but he widened his eyes in shock and lunged side ways to drag both her and pirouette to the ground. P-chan was already moving to the ground prior to his motion, so they simply completed said dive. Above them a wave of dense green and grey mist wafted by and floated up into the air.

"Fuck, fuck, dammit!" ranted Scott uncharacteristically. He had no issue with cursing and swearing, but he preferred to save it for special occasions. If he was in his armor he would not be too concerned since it would filter the air he breathed. He would be more or less immune to this thing's most powerful capability. Unfortunately, he was just as vulnerable as the rest of them and he was not sure their armbands would work even if the Cockatrice was probably an earth elementally aligned being.

"What?" asked Reina again curiously as her heart thundered within her chest.

"That thing's poison gas... It's what turned all these people into statues!"

"What?!" exclaimed Reina again intelligently, before Scott shoved her away and rolled sideways to avoid its downward striking beak. The beast was upon them.

Swords came out as dark elf and human knight took the fight to the monster. Its flesh was tough and turned their blades aside readily. It was not immune to physical weapons, however. The did do some damage, even if it was not enough to truly matter.

Scott found himself rolling forward in a dive a few seconds after his initial swing and just before the beast unleashed another petrifying mist. A nearby tree began to crack. It shattered now that it suddenly had a much greater weight. It could no longer maintain its size and branching nature under the constraints of its new existence.

Pirouette scored a solid strike that penetrated its ribs. She speared a vital organ, but the creature merely reared back then shrieked out an outraged BWAAAAAAK! of pain and anger. It ripped the sword out of the dark elf's hands and kicked her solidly with one of its armored and clawed feet.

Reina leapt onto its back then started slashing at it with her claws. Unfortunately, she was not capable of cutting past its armor-like skin. The creature bucked at the annoyance and the Catgirl flew through the air to land with a thud upon the hard stone ground.

She did manage to distract the creature long enough for Scott to slam his sword forward. This time he was the one to skewer the creature's body. He did not manage to hit a vital organ but it did begin to bleed heavily. Unfortunately, its lizard-like metabolism allowed it to disregard the damaging blow and continue the fight.

He screamed out in pain and anger as the creature's tail lashed sideways to slap him away with brutal force. Stunned momentarily he would have been rendered into a lawn sculpture had Pirouette not acted quickly. She retrieved her sword while tearing open the wound she had inflicted upon the cockatrice when she had originally stabbed it.

Scott began focusing on his signature attack spell, while Pirouette ducked and weaved around the large creature's attacks. She narrowly avoided several near fatal misses with its petrifying breath.

"BLACK METAL!" screamed Scott as a coconut sized ball of force erupted out of his palms amidst the screams of an invisible electric guitar. It slammed into the side of the creature with a loud, explosive, crashing sound. It was rocked hard and nearly found itself knocked over by the force of the assault, but is bulk stopped its momentum. It turned a confused and shocked eye toward his direction. The spell had weakened it and knocked the wind out of it a bit, but had done little else to the creature.

"Shit!" snapped Scott as he rolled over and got to his feet. The cockatrice was not amused after it began to understand what was going on again and immediately decided he was the greatest threat to its life and territory. He had used the quick version of his spell, and it had not been nearly enough.

Scott found himself dive rolling forward again to avoid a petrifying blast that hit a flowering gardenia bush. The unfortunate shrubbery immediately became a fossil in his place.

Reina began to come around after a few moments passed. Her consciousness faded in and out, but soon she regained her senses and tried to understand what was going on around her. She immediately noticed several things. There were many assorted statues around. Her mas... Scott was fighting alongside that Pirouette woman that he occasionally called Analise in public. There was a fog breathing chicken lizard in front of her. One more thing garnered her attention.

She noticed a soft flash of light from a nearby building and she considered what that meant. Slowly she realized someone must be alive up there and if that was the case they were not likely to be survivors.

She got to her feet and jogged over to the building before leaping upward and scaling the wall to reach the balcony. Inside she was forced to immediately dodge a swift sword strike that came from the darkness.

"Who are you!" exclaimed Reina before she ducked another sword strike and tried to counter. She moved too slowly to complete the action.

"Your opponent!" snapped the feminine voice of the shadowed figure.

A GRAAAH! of pain outside caught the shadow figure's interest for a moment. It was a moment that would cost it dearly as the Catgirl jumped up and planted both feet into the assailant’s chest.

Since they had been ducking and dodging around in their attempt at fighting each other the strange dark figure had their back to the open balcony. They were sent flying backward to topple over the side and land hard upon the ground.

The cockatrice immediately stopped attacking. It started to wobble its head around in confusion. Scott and Pirouette took the opportunity to quickly assault the beast and its uncomprehending look turned quickly to pain as its serpent like neck was cut deeply.

It started to try and fight back, but it was far too late. Another swift strike carved a chunk out of its flesh and a spray of blood erupted out as a major artery was severed.

The creature thrashed wildly in its death throes and finally fell limp to the ground with a final “GRAAaaaah...a.hhh...”

"No!" snapped the formerly hidden individual that had been knocked out of a second story window and seemed to be no worse for wear.

"Who are you?" called Scott as he slung his sword downward to try and remove some of the blood drenching the blade.

"Me? Who am I? WHO ARE YOU? Who do you think you are?! I just caught that damned thing and now it’s dead!" snapped the armored figure in a somewhat masculine, yet still feminine voice.

"You caused all of these people to be turned into statues!" exclaimed the man in growing outrage.

"What kind of idiot are you! I said I just caught it. I subdued it and was going to keep it as a pet. These people were already like this when I got here." growled the masculine, yet feminine voice of the armored man and or woman.

"You don't seem to understand the concept of lying. It requires a grain of truth to be believable. You expect us to believe you just got here and captured it? There's statues all over the place!"

"I don't care what you believe you idiot. A mere man could never understand the depths of true love and loyalty that I possess. I tracked that cockatrice for the glory of my empress!"

"Stop with the babble talk and turn these people back to normal right now!" snapped Scott in agitation. He felt tired from the fight, his recently healing, and the casting of his signature spell. He did not need to be arguing with a crazy cockatrice lover.

"Turn them back? How do you expect me to do that? Do I look like a priest?" asked the warrior snidely.

Scott snapped his sword up and said, "We're taking you in for what you did."

"What I did? Hello... The cockatrice did this and I caught it. Geeze, just like a MAN. They always talk but never listen." snarked the warrior.

Something about this particular warrior's appearance triggered a slow cascade of thoughts and memories but the man couldn't quite place what he was seeing yet.

"Look, come along quietly and tell it to the judge..." stated Pirouette as she lifted her sword. If Scott wanted to capture this weird woman then that's what they would do. Personally she would prefer simply to kill her and be done with it. The likelihood that she was telling the truth was quite slim.

"The hell I am! I didn't do anything, yet!" she snapped in reply.

Scott felt a distinctive rise in mystical energy from the armored figure and more thoughts about the familiarity of this situation trickled into his mind.

It wasn't until the words, "Titties! Turn Flesh to Stone!" erupted from the armored warrior that Scott's eyes widened comically in horror. He knew who this was now. It was too late, though. Her breastplate opened swiftly, exposing her pleasingly ample bosom. Her breasts glowed dangerously and magical energy raced outward.

He was knocked back half a step as a lightning crackle of etheric mana erupted around him with a brilliant flash of light. He screamed out in pain and panic as the electrical current subsided and he began to feel his body tightening and start to harden.

He had been struck by the power of the Titdusa, a parody of another girl from the ‘Bastard!! Universe.’ The Titdusa had the power to make a man turn to stone if he bore witness to her breasts! One look at her tits and he would become hard.

"Fuck!" he snapped as even the tear ducts in his eyes began to slow their production. Unlike the manga where he had witnessed a similar scene to this, he was definitely not the titular character of the series. He knew no deity off hand that could undo this spell even if he did suspect the source god of this power.

"HA HA HEEEHAAHAHAH! Now try and take me in! You men are all alike and weak! Weak!" she crowed at him before taking a double kick to the shoulder and side of her head. She was sent flying sideways and experienced a hard landing. Reina had acted a moment too late to save her master, but at least she shut the cackling bitch up.

"Scott!" called out Pirouette as she ran to him. He was slowly turning to stone before her eyes. It was not the first time that the dark elf wished that she knew any form of magic beyond illusion. She could not help him at all in that way.

"Try the capsules!" called Reina as she looked over her shoulder in a moment of distraction that would cost her. The fallen warrior kicked out hard and slammed the heel of her armored foot into her shin sending the Catgirl toppling to the ground.

"Of course!" exclaimed Pirouette as she ripped a capsule out of her little satchel and smashed it against Scott's forehead.

Unfortunately, just like before it simply ran along his skin and plopped to the ground without effect. The power animating this spell was too strong.

"Fool! You can't defeat my high ancient magic with medicine!" called the warrior as she got to her feet.

"Damn you! Reverse this spell!" snapped Pirouette as she turned on the black hearted warrior wizard.

"How about... No!" she called back snidely as she started to prepare another spell.

Reina lashed out at her with her uninjured foot, but found herself kicking only air as the warrior leapt away.

Scott cried out in abject pain as his body continued to petrify in a slow agonizing manner. It was hard to think but he knew how Dark Schneider, and by extension his own creation Dak Sneida, had gotten out of a similar situation.

Unfortunately, he had no ties to ancient deities based on rock and heavy metal bands. The worst part was that he knew the "deity" that was responsible for this spell.

It was not until Kaina Harm, the Titdusan woman who he suspected they were fighting, called out, "Nipple's Sensual Flame Strike!" that his eyes widened in recognition. The spell missed Pirouette by a hair's breath as she dodged away from it. She was left with a dark red burn on her arm with some singed hair as a reminder of the occurrence, however.

The spell traveled in a tightly compacted beam of raw fiery energy that eventually impacted with a house and struck it like a mortar rocket followed by a raging bonfire. The house was devastated, but Scott did not notice.

Scott was not sure what to do but his only hope was in a dream that he'd had while riding the bus. He called out loudly in his mind, 'Dio can you hear me?'

A dream-state version of the rock and heavy metal legend had been part of an incredibly strange dream not long ago when he had promised to help him out if he ever truly needed him.

There was no answer and Scott chided himself for his stupidity. It must have been a dream after all. He saw Reina get up and attempt to attack Kaina again only to receive a very nasty slash across her torso that sent blood flying into the air.

He screamed out in emotional turmoil. There was nothing he could do, but watch and curse as his body continued to petrify. It was up to his chest already, strange that he was still conscious during this process.

Scott was at a loss for what to do, if anything, while he watched two of his friends being beaten and battered around by one of the lieutenants of yet another friend. Well, sort of friend... acquaintance maybe?

He could feel his anger, pain, and sorrow rising inside of him and desperate for anything he tried calling out once again to his Imaginary friend Ronnie James Dio. This time, however, it came out as a song in his mind. Perhaps his mind was finally giving out, or then again he might have instinctually recognized a mistake that he had made.

In his mind he sang out, 'Dio can you hear me... I am lost and so alo-o-one...'

The world slowed to a crawl. Time began to move with the speed of half-frozen molasses. A familiar dream voice answered him this time by singing out, 'I hear you brave young soldier... you're turning into rock... to free yourself from evil the world you now must shock...'

Scott blinked with the speed of a half drunk snail and sang back, 'I hear you noble master, your song comes through loud and cle-yar... Do you know how to save my ass, and Get. Us. Out. Of. Here?'

While that might not have been the most elegant of verses it did convey his meaning well enough for whatever force he was speaking to, to answer him again.

"Brave soldier to grow much older you'll need to learn to rock. To cast off the stone you are becoming my power you must be strumming. Three keys I grant to you to get your power flow-ing... but know in time that a favor must be retu-uu-urned... When I call to you my desire, you can't spurnnn-nunn unn unn yea-hah-yeah!"

Scott understood this to mean that whatever he was working with was offering him a deal. He would get some power, but he would have to perform a favor at a time unspecified of a manner he will not know. He answered in the only way he could.

'If Dio you are, then gladly I accept your POW-WAAH... A promise made in time to keep even if it means my soul you might DEVOO-WAH...'

Dio's voice sang out in mirth, a must delightful song, "Never fear of darkness here, it is not your soul I crave. Rock on soldier, you must be brave! With our strength things will be set to right, but forever you must fiiiight!"

With that last bit of impromptu singing having been performed Scott suddenly felt knowledge and power flood through him. He understood far more clearly now about his power, his ability to turn rock and heavy metal songs into magical spells and reality altering effects. He had gained a patron and as such the powers of that great rock divinity were his to command to an extent.

Immediately, he knew the way to save himself. For the first time he used his capacity for white magic via his unique power and called upon one of the most powerful of all Dio Songs.

~There's no sign of the morning coming...~

He sang out strongly causing the stone petrification to slow its progress. Radiant light and sonic resonance began to build up around him that was soft but building steadily in power.

~You've been left on your own...~

He continued causing the petrification effect to stop all together. The light grew brighter still, and the resonance took on the distinctive sound of an electric guitar with a solid drum and keyboard in the background to add extra effect.

"What the fuck? Are you kidding me?" gasped out the warrior as she stopped fighting with Pirouette and Reina long enough to get their attention to shift as well. All three turned in time to see Scott's light and sound ramp up to the next level.

Like a rainbow...~

The light radiated strongly to the extent that he was becoming hard to look upon. The very clear and incredibly powerful waves of sonic force rocking from him began to cause that light to shift and flow in time to the guitar and percussion beat. The light shifted into separate colors... reminiscent of a rainbow that worked in point and counterpoint to the song radiating from his body.

"RAINBOW IN THE DARK!" he cried out in a clear powerful voice that sounded nothing like DIO but got the job done never the less. Inside his mind the words 'RAM IT DOWN!' echoed brightly as the stone on his body erupted outward as though it had never been anything but mud caking his form.

In the riotous fury his song was never dulled. The power of Dio's Rainbow in the Dark had defeated the spell-work of Kaina Harm utterly.

"Not again! Does every damn wizard in the world know how to break that spell?!" snapped Kaina in annoyance and frustration.

She immediately powered up and cast Nipple's Sensual Flame Strike again only to gasp in outrage as Scott raised his hand simultaneously and thrust it forward strongly. The sound of a guitar wailing furiously was heard as light flared in front of him and stopped the incoming spell dead in its tracks.

While the light around the newly empowered wizard dimmed considerably after stopping that powerful force, he did not seem injured in the slightest.

Pirouette blinked as the student she had taught over a year ago began to use magic in ways even she could not. She watched and listened as he sang out strongly.

~Holy Diver... You've been down too long in the midnight sea... Oh what's becoming of me...~ he sang out with a fine soft voice that maintained a quiet power about it.

A soft white light began to form in front of him that rapidly spun itself taking on a different shape as the moment and words passed his lips.

~Ride the tiger... You can see his stripes, but you know he's clean...~

The trio before him widened their eyes in surprise as the light grew substantially in time to the music radiating out of the core of Scott's being. Soon a tremendously large white tiger complete with black stripes, horns, and overly large white bat wings, appeared before the man.

The Tiger was a ghostly image until Scott sang out "HOLY DIVEEEEEER!!!" to complete the song. The moment that happened, the tiger solidified into a form larger than a typical pickup truck, and he immediately began looking around as though searching for something.

Scott nodded to the tiger and the tiger nodded back. Unlike the cockatrice that Kaina Harm had captured, the tiger was a willing companion and not a mind slave. It would serve its master happily. Of course, since it had a material form now it would have to eat...

"Kaina Harm. My friend is hungry. Are you going to come peacefully?" asked Scott with an edge to his voice. He wanted this to be over. He might be much stronger spiritually now, but using this much high level magic so quickly in succession was still draining on the man.

"I... I.." she began to babble as she back-stepped. She was normally willing to die for her duty, but the site of a giant demon tiger was not something she was prepared to deal with today.

"Wait, you know her?" asked Reina incredulously.

"After a fashion, I wasn't certain until a few minutes ago when she used that spell." admitted Scott.

"H-how do you know me? I'll never give in... I..." babbled the proud woman, only to find herself suddenly born to the ground by the front left paw of a multi-ton demon tiger that was quite in need of a snack.

"That wasn't a request. I asked if you were coming peacefully, not whether you were coming at all. Either way, you will be taken into custody until this mess is sorted out." replied Scott as he tried desperately to fight off the drooping of his eyelids.

"Uh, oh... OK. Yes, fine." she finally replied as the tiger began to press a little of its weight forward slowly starting to crush the armor clad sorceress into the hard packed earth.

"Glad to hear you make some sense. Let's get out of here. That damned cockatrice is starting to make me gag." replied Scott. He was not exaggerating about that much. The thing smelled like it had crawled inside of its own ass and died.

"OK." said Reina as she tried to piece together what had just happened. All she could come up with was 'Big big kitty... Big kitty... Big.'

Pirouette nodded at the man and she set about cleaning off her sword. The sooner they were away from here the better. Her senses were stronger than Scott's and she would be vomiting up breakfast if they stayed here too much longer.

Considering the fact that she never wanted to be seen doing something so undignified, this was not something she was willing to allow just so they could all banter wittily with each other.