The Tower of Passion

Liddy was immediately aware of the change in Fiona, the same as last time. The pink glow raged around her, the eyes glossing over with pink. The shit-eating grin plastered onto her face.

The new part was the pink glowing around Liddy - and Qae. Liddy checked her profile.

"I... My dexterity has nearly doubled. My strength too" She hopped from foot to foot, light as ever. This felt amazing.
"My stamina and strength - these are the stats of a level fifty character. At least." Qae looked at Fiona, as the berserker hopped up and down on her tippy toes, on a hair trigger, ready to go at any second. She clearly didn't recognize the still petrified monsters as enemies.
"She is extraordinary."  The dragon queen found herself awestruck at this human berserker.

"Protect her... she will take every hit if we let her." Liddy was worried. But they'd taken their precaution, and this seemed a necessary use. 
"She nearly died the last time she used it. Don't let her" Liddy's heart wrenched as she looked up at Qae, remembering the terror she'd felt last time. Of losing her friend. Of losing a friend again, a party member again.
"I won't."

With a sudden, ear-shattering shriek the merfolk woman collapsed, her spell breaking. A shockwave burst - a magical ripple blowing outwards, sending an ethereal wind towards everyone in the room, a wave rushing through the oceans outside.

Eerie silence, for a heartbeat.

Two.

The hammerhead's arm twitched. The anglerfish's jaw snapped shut, opening again in a roar. The squid squiggled.

But the first to move was Fiona. Liddy looked at her friend, and then she was gone. As Liddy set off in a sprint towards them, she quickly registered Fiona suddenly yards and yards ahead, sliding on her knees underneath the nearest creature - the hammerhead. She flew between its knees, before launching herself upward, her hammer thudding into the side of its head. Hammer against hammer, sending the enormous creature flying.

And then chaos.

Seconds later the squid's tentacles would have grabbed Fiona, as she spun for a second swing on the hammerhead - Liddy, hoping Qae would be aware enough to use [Spirit Step] on the tank. Qae's shield was already raised, tentacles slapped against it, and she swung her sword in retaliation, leaving a shallow gash on the wriggly appendage. 

Another bone-crushing thud as the hammer crushed the shark's head again, Fiona going for a third spin, the momentum of her hammer, the power of her hips and muscular thighs turning her into a literal whirlwind. Timmy's activated blessing added even more to the speed, and as Liddy rushed past, launching herself off of Qae's shield, the third crush knocked the massive creature over - not dead, but incredibly angry. Not Liddy's problem right now, as the Anglerfish burst through the middle. Its strong body threw it into the air, as it barreled towards Fiona flying over the merfolk.

It met Liddy's fist mid-air.

Liddy had always been strong. For the next few minutes, she was the strongest person she had ever seen. Apart from her two friends. And she was definitely the fastest. Her first punch connected, the creature's jaw shattering as the claws on Liddy's fist tore through flesh, the hundreds of pounds of flesh spinning in the air. The monk spun on her momentum, bringing in her knee. Her second strike hit the underside of the anglerfish's mouth, snapping its head back violently, and shutting it off mid-roar. Twisting in the air, going for a third airborne strike, Liddy lifted her muscular leg straight up in the air and chopped into the neck of the creature with a heel strike, both of them crashing to the air in a sudden stop.

Landing with her leg pinning the creature, Liddy looked back at her companions. Fiona was pummelling the hammerhead while laughing hysterically. The creature was moving... Strangely. Like it was drunk - even more so than a repeated massive hammer to the head would dictate. It took a second for Liddy to realize that Qae must have used [Decelerate] on the creature, letting Fiona wail on it with nothing stopping her, the Monkey Shark too staggered to do anything. Qae herself was slicing and weaving, blocking the squid - tentacles, one now significantly shorter, unable to get purchase on her. Liddy could see the dragon queen's eyes glowing with an arcane purple. Right. She could see the future.

So the anglerfish was hers. She felt it moving, her leg still on the neck of it, as the creature many times her size tried to stand up. Strength was one thing - weight was another. She didn't bother trying to keep it down, instead, she wrapped her muscular legs around the neck of the creature.

It trashed, it wailed, the pressure on its neck causing the dumb, primal animal to panic. It tried to bat Liddy away, but every hit met a clawed fist. Liddy wanted to finish off quickly, and go and help Qae - she was doing well, but the dragon was not an offensive fighter.

She was small, and it had a thick neck - but her legs were just long enough and she squeezed. Before long the creature was sluggish, its fist bleeding after meeting Liddy's weapons too many times, and it was staggering side to side. As it was about to collapse, Liddy sank her claws into its head, releasing her legs and gracefully jumping off as it crashed to the ground.

Fiona was still entertaining herself by beating the Monkey Shark - Liddy wasn't even certain if it was still alive, having for once taken absolutely no damage herself. An immediate hammer to the head would stagger you, and Fiona kept it up. Maybe she hadn't needed to worry.

Qae wasn't fairing as well. She hadn't taken any serious damage, but little welts had appeared on her face. And she was getting pushed back, the squid occasionally getting her tentacles around the shield to lash at the paladin. The strong, clawed fists put more and more pressure on the shield, Qae was incredible - but she couldn't keep this up forever.

Liddy rushed in, trying a repeat of the anglerfish - she came from the side, fist raised, flying through the air to smash into the soft squid flesh. 

Before she'd even launched, she realized one massive squid eye was staring directly at her. At the zenith of her flight, she felt something grabbing her leg, and she was smacked into the floor - a tentacle wrapped between both her legs.
"Liddy!" Qae shouted in alarm as the dazed gnome tried to gather herself, before being lifted and slammed into the floor again. Fuck. Fuck. Fiona's buff didn't make her immortal - and she got no additional stamina. She tried uselessly to tear her legs free, but while they were strong she had no leverage as the creature lifted her again.

And flung her into Qae.

Qae had to move her shield out of the way to prevent Liddy from crashing directly into it, and both of them tumbled along the floor almost to the edge of the bubble, a tangled mess of limbs.
"Fuck, Shit, get up" Liddy exclaimed as the two tried to untangle themselves as the strange warbling noise the squid made, accompanied by its loud thumping charge came closer and closer. Liddy looked up and saw it getting closer and closer. 
"MOVE!" Qae screamed at Liddy, as the two still fully entangled were about to get pushed through the bubble, into the deep ocean by this marine creature. Even Liddy wouldn't want to fight it out there.

She would have to.

Qae would not make it.

Liddy braced for impact. Ready. Waiting.

Instead, she heard a strange, squidgy noise followed by a thud.

She looked at Qae, who similarly to Liddy was on the floor, braced for impact, holding her shield above them for whatever good it would do.

They both peaked back at their expected doom and saw Fiona, her hammer lodged into the neck of the Monkey Squid, tentacles flopped impotently to the side, the soft fleshy head pulverized by the berserker's might.

Fiona stood for a moment, Liddy scared she'd collapse again. Pass out again. She couldn't see any injuries, but as her friend stood there in silence, the passionate aura around her fading out she couldn't help but worry.

And then Fiona turned around and smiled at her friends, before sitting down. Laughing.