《My Ability》Chapter 14: Hegemony of the Queen
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Part 1
A swirl of sensations filled her mind both physically and emotionally as she struggled to stand up or even pick up her head. While trying to bring her thoughts together, she softly sat up and reached out for her thumping head. For a second there, she had completely forgotten where she was. It took a good ten seconds before she finally realized who she was and what she was doing. When she did, she immediately clenched her fist and growled in anger.
“Damn that bastard, can’t take it easy on a lady, can he?” She said wiping the dust off her now torn clothes. Luckily, it wasn’t enough to be too revealing. Despite that, she was still pissed since this particular outfit was very cute to her. Now she’d be forced to buy another. Casey quickly jumped to her feet but quickly regretted it as her head suddenly spun and the ground came up to meet her bottom. She reflexively threw her hands back with the little strength she had left and caught her upper body from falling back.
“M-.......maybe I should get up slowly….” She said after nearly passing out from a head rush. She rubbed her spinning head and felt her blood gently pump through her veins. She softly got to her feet and started to walk over to where she had crashed through. By the time she got there, she started to feel much better as adrenaline once again started to take over. She hung on to the broken wall next to her and looked down at the now dark ground. She could see next to nothing, the only thing she was able to do was hear the screams of dozens, no, hundreds of kids as fear plagued them.
It took her to squint in order to finally adjust to the darkness. When she did, she saw the figure of Pixelator holding on to the struggling Queen. In front of him, Katie who was biting her lip in frustration as she seemingly struggled with what to do next.
(Don’t worry, Katie, I’m coming!.............!?)
Her enthusiastic thoughts were suddenly thrown into disarray when she spotted the body of Caesar completely out cold on the ground. It looked like he had torn straight through the concrete ground. What’s more, she wasn’t sure how long she was out, but surely it wasn’t long enough for Caesar to go down so soon……...,was it!?
(damn it!!! It doesn’t matter!!!! He has to go down!!!)
That’s right, no matter how strong he was, he needed to go down. If they wanted even the smallest amount of hope, taking Pixelator down was the first step toward it!!!
As she thought this, a sudden burst of power tore through her body in the form of crimson flames. Her twinkling eyes set their sights on Pixelator and immediately took action. She knelt down and blasted through the air emitting a powerful sonic boom as she flew straight toward Pixelator. By the time Pixelator looked up, Casey was already on his other side. She swiftly landed and ricocheted herself back toward Pixelator. She placed all of that momentum behind her fist and launched it at his abdomen. A clear and gut wrenching sound played in the air as she made contact with his skin. As he spit out a wad of blood, Casey threw her next punch in the same place as the last. And then another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another!
She continued to throw one punch after the other with each one gaining even more speed and strength causing Pixelator to be lifted off his feet. Eventually, her arms were but blurs to the naked eye. When the final gut blasting punch landed, it had seemed as if time had slowed down for everyone as they witnessed Pixelator suspended in mid air, eyes wide as he gawked in pain and agony. His grip on the Queen was now loose and she was left to slowly fall as she too watched Casey in awe. Casey had a powerful glint in her eye as she stared at Pixelator with her brow furrowed. Within the next second, she spun on her feet and brought in her right leg. Using her left to jump up, she extended the right one out and firmly planted it on Pixelator’s shocked face.
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“How do you like my Dragon Rush!???!” She unconsciuosly roared as Pixelator was the next to be sent crashing a good ways away. Casey landed back on her feet and watched as Pixelator was suddenly lost in the darkness. Time was not entirely on her time so she quickly spun on her feet and made a dash toward Caesar who was a good distance away. The Queen, who had just finished falling, remained on her bottom as she quickly realized the raw strength that the girl named Casey somehow possessed. Katie, who was also thinking that, watched as Casey ran past her and knelt next to Caesar.
“Caesar! Quickly!! You gotta get up!!” She yelled as she shook him as hard as she could. Eventually, she got signs of ife as he flickered his eyes open. When she saw this, she stopped shaking him and held him gently in her arms.
“You good, buddy? I need you to get up for me.” She demanded rather than asking if he was okay. It was harsh maybe but there was no time for resting anymore, the battlefield forced this on them. Caesar seemed to understand this as he quickly came to and sat up on his own.
“Argh….sorry, I’ve gotten rusty…” He said as he held one eye shut and rubbed his head.
“Don’t worry about it, just come on!” She said helping him up to his feet. Although, she made sure he got up slowly as she didn’t want him to take another nap due to a head rush like she had. When he was finally up and able to move, she let him quickly assess the situation with his own eyes before speaking to him.
“Damn it, where’d that asshole go?”
“Don’t worry about it for now, I managed to get the drop on him and landed a direct hit. He may be strong but he can still feel pain. Now, I need you to focus on getting princess over there up to the top of this puppy, I’ll hold back Pixelator” She ordered. When she did, Caesar widened his eyes in disbelief. He just couldn’t imagine her actually taking on Pixelator and somehow managing to hold him back. Especially after he had seen her in battle earlier. She was useless!
“Are you kidding me? There’s no way you can hold him back! It’s suicide! Let me handle it! I can do it better!”
“No, trust me, I can do better.” She confidently said. Caesar felt his jaw slightly drop as he listened to her speak. However, he wasn’t angry. Just…..shocked. Why? Because there wasn’t a hint of a bluff in her words. She was completely and utterly SERIOUS. Her face said it all, not even a pinch of worry in her eyes, she was confident, but this wasn’t what she exhibited earlier...Was it all just a farce? Regardless, there was no time to waste in pointless squabble since time was running low and she was clearly dead set on fulfilling her duty.
“Don’t you fail me” He said before running past her and toward where the Queen was sitting. Casey giggled and clenched her fist as she turned back toward where Pixelator was last at.
“Ha, that’s my line.”
As she said this, she noticed a patch of white smoke oddly swirling in the distance, someone was in the middle of swiping away the dust in the air. She took this time to wipe away some dust she caught sight of on her skirt and even took a moment to check for any hard rips or tears. Luckily, the damage done to her clothes wasn’t all that bad. Thus far at least…
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“Hey, what’s up with you? Why does it feel like you are hiding a ton of power?” Pixelator suddenly said as he appeared from the cloud of smoke a good distance away. As he laid her eyes on him, she clearly saw that he had taken a substantial amount of damage. His lip was bleeding and his body was covered in scratches. There was a hole in his shirt and a tear in his pants. This made her relax a bit since she could see for herself that he indeed was not invincible. However,Since he was pretty far, her immediate thought process was why she could hear him so well. It was like one of those moments in a movie where the main character is suddenly somehow able to blurt out all sound except for the person talking to them, regardless of the countless explosions or battles going on around them. It was…...very bizarre.
“I wish I could fuck with you and say that I am hiding my true power, but this girl has no secrets like that. I’ve shown you all I got.” She said as she adjusted her footing.
“Really? Could’ve sworn your fists were holding back something. Either way, you managed to break a couple ribs and even ruptured one of my intestines. It was pretty fucking painful I’ll tell you that. If I wasn’t me I’d probably still be writhing around in agony but well, as fate would have it, I am me so there’s not really much I can complain about. But now, I’m gonna make sure you experience the same pain you stupid bitch!!!!”
Pixelator’s face turned into something cold as he immediately broke apart into thousands of tiny pixels. They scattered into the air and flew all over the place, making it hard for her to attack as she did not know if she could actually cause damage like this.
(His body is seemingly made out of pixels, that probably explains how he was able to heal himself. But he has to have a limit, there is a limit to him! I just have to find out what….)
As she thought this, Casey jumped up into the air in an attempt to get some higher ground. She was very weak, and her muscles weren’t properly trained, but with the help of her powers she was able to boost her strength 10 fold. As a result, jumping up to about six feet was within her realm of possibilities. As she was in mid air, she gave a quick glance up and was able to see that Caesar had made it up to the top of the gates. Seeing this made her tension simmer down just a tad as she crossed her arms in front of her face and braced for impact. Just a second later, a small cloud of the pixels materialized into that of an entire arm. It smacked against her crossed arms and she felt the sharp vibrations travel to the core of her being. After taking that hit, she threw her hands upward and caused the floating arm to fling upward. After that, she swung her leg at the mass of pixels in front of her and felt herself make contact with multiple tiny blocks. Other than making them move a couple feet around her leg, her kick seemed to do nothing to the pixels.
Though, this was halfway expected. Using the last bit of her momentum, she threw her body backwards and flipped back down to the ground. Once there, she immediately jumped back as she noticed the large pool of pixels dive back down for her. While sliding on the heels of her feet, she raised both arms and launched a massive ball of fire at the small cubes. However, they moved out of its way and the large ball proceeded to ram the large steel gates. She bit her lip and snapped her fingers as she saw her attack slip by. Pixelator then attacked Casey once more but this time by materializing once again and launching a volley of punches aimed at her upper body. Casey was forced to go on the defensive as she tried to block the incoming punches. However, due to the pressure of the situation, she slipped up multiple times and caused many punches to land. As a result, she was starting to take heavy damage and was not sure how much longer she could last. To make things worse, it was getting dark to the point where she was starting to struggle to see.
“What’s the matter? Come on now! You gotta beat me remember? Hurry up and do it!!!!” Pixelator started to yell as he saw her slowly lose focus.
“Grrr….!!!!!” Casey growled as she pushed forward and swung her foot up again, only to have it completely hit nothing. Pixelator suddenly appeared behind her and laughed as he planted his foot right in between her shoulder blades. She was forced to meet the ground as she began to slide for several feet. She felt her skin burn due to the friction and let out a yell of pain. Her back eventually crashed against something smooth and cold. She slowly picked her upper body up with her hands and felt for burns. Just as she thought, she had received a very nasty burn all over her left arm and her left leg. The pain was sharp and intense, so much so that she just felt like lying down and calling it quits. So much so that, she did just that and rested her head on the ground. Her energy was reaching its limits and so was her stamina. She wasn’t sure what she could do, Pixelator was far above her level….it would take a lot more than just a couple minutes to take him down…..then there was the door...How would they get it open in time? How? There was no way they could do it with physical force…..And with such a short amount of time? No, it couldn’t be done….
Casey watched as Pixelator slowly crept up on her as his dark eyes glistened under the moonlight. Behind him, multiple figures stood in shock as they watched the battle go on. The weak ones with no combat ability…..all counting on them…...But…
(we…..we can’t do it like this…………….) She regretfully said in her head as she turned to look at the large steel wall. To think, just beyond that wall was there ticket to safety. To think, just beyond that wall were possibly all of their teachers hiding like cowards. The same teachers that had treated them like one of their own…...It was true, you really could not trust anyone.
(It’d be your own people…..) She thought as she tried to get a glimpse of herself through the reflection of the steel gates. Only, she couldn’t. For some reason, a certain portion of the supposed invincible wall was charred black. Not only that, but it seemed like it had been slightly damaged! Her confusion was audible as she let out a slight “wha?”.
There was no way this could’ve happened. After all, whatever ability touched the wall was negated. So then….what? What caused this?... Surely it wasn’t her. She wasn’t hit that hard to damage this wall, nor was she on fire…..
Then it hit her. Earlier, she had used a fireball to attack Pixelator but it missed and hit that exact same spot. Could it be? Did her ability……..work? Quickly, she placed her palm on the surface of the wall and lit it up with fire. After a couple of seconds, her answer was evident. It was just as she thought, her palm was not going out! The flames were still burning bright! Which meant, her powers were not getting negated!
As quickly as she realized this, Casey got up and felt hope give her the strength to continue.
She could do this, they could do this! But she couldn’t do anything just yet. No, first Caesar had to do his part…
“Hey? Did you just do that? Did your powers somehow make that burn earlier? No fucking way….that’s insane! Now I definitely can’t let you defeat me so easily! The fun would end abruptly if you manage to open the gates!!”
Then, bam, her worst fear realized. Pixelator saw the damage on the wall too and came to the same conclusion. Fate just loved to challenge her.....So now he knew her intentions….Even so, there was still a chance. It was a huge gamble, but with any luck, it’d work. Casey began to spark her flames and jumpstarted her aching muscles. Anytime now, it’d all begin just as soon as the Queen hacked the mainframe..
Part 2
Up on the roof of the giant steel gates, Caesar had just landed with the Queen and only barely making their way to the control panel. The entire way there, they hadn’t said a word to each other. Likely because of the circumstances, but it felt like there was no time to say anything. Their minds were completely focused on the task at hand. It wasn’t until they made it to the control room that Caesar finally said something.
“Okay so, how do we do this?” He asked looking around.
“I’m not sure to be honest, but if this is the control room then it shouldn’t be too hard to figure it out with my ability….” The Queen said as she ran up to the control panel and placed her hands on the surface of it. She began moving them around as if trying to soothe the machine before stopping and keeping them in a single position directly across from each other.
“Okay so, she wanted me to shut down the engines of the machine right? Okay, time to get to work then……” She said closing her eyes and beginning to concentrate. When the room got silent, Caesar decided to go outside and search for the solar panels that gave the machines holding the doors shut energy. He walked outside and had a good look around. If he recalled, he did see something on the top of the control room resembling solar panels. He jumped up there and immediately found what he was looking for. There were three of them there. Letting out a small puff of air, he shook his head and slightly kicked one of them. That was all it took. Immediately as he did so, the machines started to break down and disappear into millions of tiny particles. The sight was as beautiful as always, the glow of the disappearing machines almost resembled pixie dust told in a children's story. It was truly something magical, but, it was also deadly. The man who was unfortunate enough to strike him while his guard was up served as a grim reminder of that. It didn’t matter what it was, his skill could break down anything.
When the machines were finally gone, he shook his head and jumped backed down to where the Queen was still with her eyes closed. He softly approached the open doors and leaned against the wall as a bead of sweat appeared on his left temple and slowly slid down like a drop of rain on a car window. At this point, there had to be less than two minutes left. Not only that, there was no telling how Casey was doing with Pixelator. She could be dead for all he knew. Just the thought was chilling….
Tap,Tap,Tap
Then again, there was no way that Pixelator would be that evil. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but it seemed like the bastard was a battle loving fool. He had everyone tricked for so long, making everyone believe that he was just another teacher’s pet. A pathetic liar, A damn good one at that. It was times like this where he wished that the schools would release more information regarding other savants. In that case he’d know more about Pixelator and his skill. But, other than their names, high category savants were pretty much a mystery.
Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap
Speaking of which, there was the Queen, just who was she? Where was she from? What circumstances brought her here? Since they were low on time, he hadn’t asked any questions and just grabbed her. He’d have to ask Casey the next time he saw her once this was all over. But in the meantime, he could only wonder. In fact, he wondered just how hard it would be to hack the mainframe of the control panel using only her mind. That had to take a massive amount of focus and power, which was the reason that she was ranked a lot higher than him……
Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap!!!!
But she was taking forever………How much longer was this going to take?.....It felt like he could make an instant ramen,eat it, take a nap, and come back and she still wouldn’t be done….
Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap,Tap!!!!
“Will you shut up for a second?!!! Not only are your thoughts extremely loud, but your foot tapping is making me nervous!!! Please just calm down or go outside!!!” The Queen suddenly blurted out with a voice level that was borderline yelling. She actually managed to startle Caesar which caused him to slightly jump and widen his eyes. He also immediately felt his ears and face heat up as the realization that the Queen was somehow able to read his thoughts settled into his mind. Though, she was a mind controller so that shouldn’t be much of a surprise….
Over on Queen’s side, after she got done yelling at Caesar, who was now watching quietly, she returned to her work by once again closing her eyes and fixing her aura on the control panel.
(Okay so, back to where I was originally at…..where’s the system’s main database? Come on now where is that bad boy?.....) She thought as her consciousness was surfing through a large and vast world filled with data and information. Doing something like this was a first for her. She’d practice hacking small things like her phone or laptop numerous times but never on something this big. It was lucky that this panel didn’t have internet access, or she’d be stumped. Even when hacking her own phone or laptop, she always made sure to steer clear from the internet.
See, her phone was like a very small yard while the internet was the entire solar system. There was no way she could hack all of that, it’d take far too much experience and knowledge, that of which she didn’t have.
She continued flying through many routes and tunnels as data and information in the form of numbers quickly ran past her. After many moments like this, she eventually ran into a very peculiar looking wall. It was large and blocked by a wall of bold red numbers, much like the ones she once saw in the movie “The Matrix”.
The Queen approached the wall and touched it with her hand. However, she was greeted with a large screen that asked her to input a password.
(I gotta do that even here?!) She thought.
Regardless, there had to be a way in there. So, she quickly used her mind to its fullest by gathering all the information around her. Tons of number and equations and options flowed into her mind as she searched through each and every one. It was then that among that information, something happened to her. Rather, she felt something. It was like a sudden beam of pure and dark energy had momentarily passed through her. It was like evil in the form of information….Once she got a chill down her spine, she immediately released that specific chunk of data.
(What in the world was that?) She pondered for a moment.
(Come to think of it, we can't use our powers on these gates since they'd get negated. I heard it was the doing of another savant that granted these gates that power. Could what I just felt be some residue of that power?...)
The thought was absolutely bone chilling. It was such a dark energy rich with evil, how could someone like that actually exist, and a savant of all things?......How teriffying... But then,
(Ah! Bingo!) She thought excitedly when she found a very important piece of info.
She had found the history of the letters that had been typed onto the keyboard before. She inputted the first word on the list and was shocked when it opened right up. The letters turned green and all of a sudden she was in.
(You’d think that type of thing would be protected , huh?) She thought as she got to shutting down the engines. From here on, the job was easy.
“Okie dokie! It’s done!” She suddenly said turning to Caesar.
“Okay then let’s go!! We have to get down and open those gates right now!! Our time’s up!” Caesar said as he quickly ran outside. He got to the edge of the rail and looked for Casey. He didn't look long, She was in the middle of talking to Katie and Pixelator was a good feet in front of them. It looked like they were planning something. The second Casey seemed to hand something over to Katie, Caesar yelled out to them.
“Heeeey! We’re good to go!!!!” He said as the Queen pulled up next to him and waved her hands down at them in success.
Part 3
“So we’re finally doing this? Great” Casey said as she gave Caesar and the Queen a thumbs up. Now, finishing the job was up to her. Turning to Katie who was as pale as a ghost, Casey shook her shoulders and forced her to snap out of it.
“Listen, we’ve got this...Just stick to the plan okay?” Casey said.
“Y-yeah…..” Katie said with her hands cupped to her chest.
“Good..” Casey exhaled and turned around. She began taking deep breaths and wiped the sweat from her brow as she eyed Pixelator who had been standing still up until then. He smirked and shook his head as he noticed her fatigued condition.
“Look at you, we haven’t even been fighting for long! What’s taking so long, huh?! Hurry up and open those doors already!!!” He yelled sounding pressured for some reason.
“Are you actually concerned for these people? Then get the hell out of the way!!”
“Now you know I can’t do that, this thrill is one I have never felt before! It’s amazing! Besides, I was assigned to protect it.”
“By some lunatic who thinks you’re disposable!! Just forget about her!!!”
“Damn it, I said I can't!!!!” Pixelator said suddenly dashing forward. Casey raised her hands and prepared to block whatever he threw at her. He swung his fist but Casey flipped over him and prepared to launch an attack at the gate.
“Not so fast!” Pixelator said as he kicked her side and interrupted her.
“You gotta be quicker if you want to open those bad boys, first you gotta take me down!!” He yelled as he continued to throw punch after punch. Casey parried most of the blows and tried to throw a couple of her own but her exhaustion was starting to catch up to her. She started to breathe more and more heavily with every second that passed by.
“Come on now hurry!!!! Do something because I know for a damn fact that stupid reject isn’t going to be able to do anything on her own!!!! She’s completely useless!! Hahahahaha!!” Pixelator said as he rushed her. Casey growled as she heard him insult Katie and bent down to kick his feet which he narrowly avoided by flipping back. Casey took the time to try and launch another blast at the gate but was once again stopped by Pixelator who had launched a barrage of pixels at her.
“No you don’t!” He said laughing. Casey blew the pixels away and jumped away again. This time, she was farther from the gates. Again, Pixelator attacked and began to push Casey back. Casey tried her best to dodge punches but she just couldn’t get them all. She squinted and winced as a punch landed on her face, stomach, and chest. It was so bad and irritating that in the end she was infuriated and ended up scratching Pixelator. All by swiping up her hand to his cheek. Of all the blows she had thrown, that was by far the cleanest. A gnarly gash appeared on his face as fresh blood began to flow from the three cuts on him. They stopped fighting for a second as Pixelator reached up and touched his wound. Casey smirked at him as he seemed genuinely shocked.
“You filthy animal, I can’t believe you scratched me…”
“What does that make you then? Surely something worse” She retorted. Soon after, they returned to fighting.
It kept going like this for what felt like forever but was only a couple seconds. He attacked, she pushed him back and tried to attack the gates only to have him stop her and push her even further back. Eventually, she was pushed all the way back to the building that the Queen was hiding in not even two minutes ago. She was fatigued, injured, and out of juice. With her back pressed up against the wall, she held her now bleeding arm as she struggled to catch her breath. Meanwhile, Pixelator had only a couple scratches on him. He got close to the point where he could pick her up by the neck if he wanted to. He looked down on her and she looked up at him. He had to admit, he admired her feistiness and her will to not look away. She was brave.
“I like that you’re not intimidated by me. Great power, great determination and great looks? If we survive this, we should definitely hang out sometime.” He said.
“Sorry buddy but this gal has her sights on someone else. Besides, You’re not my type.” She replied without changing the smirk on her face.
“Really? So what’s your ideal type then?”
“Not you, so forget it you creep, you’re not even remotely attractive.”
“Ooouuu that one stung! But it doesn’t matter because you’re dead anyway. And in the end, none of you could do anything. How sad.” Pixelator said as he raised his fist. He cocked it back and threw it at her stomach. But, it was stopped by something just before it made contact. More specifically, Casey had stopped it with the palm of her hand.
“Huh?” He said.
“Let me tell you what is actually sad.” She said with a new glow in her eye. A fierce explosion of her aura bursted out in the form of flames as she squeezed his fist.
“The fact that you would put other people’s lives in danger just to fulfill your stupid fight fetish! Not only that, but you put others down just because they’re not as strong as you! As far as I’m concerned, you’re the ugliest person I have ever met and I hate everything about you! You don’t deserve to be a savant!!!” She yelled at him as she furrowed her brow in anger. Pixelator tried to pull away but was suddenly unable to move. As he looked around him, he found himself covered in flames that held him in place. For some reason, they didn’t burn but he couldn’t move.
“Hahahaha! So what? I don’t care what you say! It’s not going to change the fact that those rejects back there can’t do anything to get those doors open, and the only one who can is faaaar away from there and all out of power, so go ahead and keep me here all you want! But in the end I win!!” He said releasing a maniacal laugh. However, contrary to his expectations, Casey began to giggle.
“???”
“I didn’t get beat up and bring you here for no reason. It’s true that I am reaching my limit but, my friends still have a chance!!”
“!?” Pixelator exclaimed as he struggled to believe that she was only bluffing.
“Can you guess who’s going to be today’s hero? That’s right! The Person you called a loser, the one you thought was unfit to do anything!!!”
“It can’t be!?” Pixelator questioned to himself suddenly starting to sweat.
“DO IT NOW KATIE!!!!” Casey yelled at the top of her lungs.
Pixelator quickly turned his head and scanned the area for her. He found her in no time, she was standing in front of the giant steel gates holding something in the palm of her hands. She looked back at both Casey and Pixelator and nodded. Then, looking at Pixelator alone, she frowned. In this moment, Pixelator felt a strange feeling fill his being. Could it be? Was this….
Failure?
“It’s over you bastard you lose!!!!!!” Katie yelled as she threw a small flame toward the gates. For a moment, nothing was happening. Nothing did happen until Katie clapped her hands together and yelled, “Release!!!”. Simultaneously, Pixelator Pixelated himself and broke out of Casey’s trap, but it was already too late. The small ball of flame suddenly grew and expanded in both size and power as it flew toward the large gates. It grew and grew until finally it seemed to match up to the size of the gates themselves. It flew towards the large gates at a rapid pace as everyone began to hit the deck. Casey lost the strength in her legs and fell forward as she looked at her grand creation.
“The Legendary Move, Planet X…….an attack with every last drop of energy I could muster without leaving me completely empty...The fruits of my labor….” As the name unconsciously came to her, she watched as Pixelator stopped in his tracks and realize that it was game over. Then, he shielded his eyes as he watched the grand ball of flames hit the gates. It was barely even a struggle, the massive sphere completely plowed through the large steel gates with little to no issue. An explosion blew dust all over the place and made them all momentarily lose sight of everything. The blast of wind blew their hair back for a while before finally letting up. After some time, the dust at last began to settle down. When it did, the onlookers came out of hiding and inspected themselves and their surroundings. They then turned their attention to the large steel gates. Only, it was now a large tunnel. The gates had been completely pushed in and a large stairway leading down had been exposed. The gates had at last been opened. The second they reached that conclusion, everyone burst into cheers.
“She did it!!! The gates are open!!!” People yelled as one after the other they stared at the large entrance in awe. Some even cried as others hugged each other. For the first time in quite some time, joy had finally reached the battlefield, even if for just a moment. Among those celebrating were Caesar and the Queen who had been standing back watching it all go down.
“I can’t believe that small little thing somehow generated all that power….such a huge gamble though, who would’ve guessed that her skill out of all of our’s would somehow work?” he said as he covered his mouth from the smoke still in the air.
“I…..I didn’t think I could be even more scared of her! I didn’t know she had that kind of power!” The Queen responded as she ruffled her hair in fear.
“I didn’t either, but she couldn’t of have done it without her over there” Caesar said pointing his gaze at a very particular girl who had fallen on the ground.
Katie was breathing heavily as she struggled to properly regulate her thoughts. She turned on her back and as slow as she could and took off her glasses to clean them as they were covered in dust.
“C-casey…..Please don’t ever put me in such a grand scheme ever again….” Katie said as she tried to keep her heart in check.
A good ways away, Casey, who had also fallen down on the ground due to exhaustion, laughed as she lifted her head from the ground and looked at Katie.
“Great work as always girl, you’ve saved me twice now…” She exhaled. Casey felt relief tumble over her as her now frizzled hair started to simmer its tiny flames down.
“Looks like you won this round princess. Good work.” She heard a despicable voice say to her. It belonged to Pixelator who was looking up at the gates some 15 feet from her. Countless kids ran past him and toward the gate as he just stood there with a distant look on his face..
“You…..Are you gonna try to fuck this up too?” Casey said clenching her fist.
“Haha, relax. If the gates are open then I’m no longer obligated to keep anyone from going in. Besides, beating up weak people is no fun at all. Nah, the old hag can deal with this herself.” Pixelator said as he turned around and began to walk away.
“That so? Then where are you going now? Fuck somebody else’s day up? Huh, Bitchelator?” She growled through her fatigue.
“On to see if my house is still in tact, can’t have that breaking down. Good luck with whatever else you got going on by the way.” He said waving his hand up to signal goodbye. Then, just like that, he was gone. Casey was eager to see him out of the way and now that he was she was glad. Now, all that was left was to get everybody inside in a timely fashion.
Or at least, it would’ve been great if time had at least allowed them that. Not even ten seconds after Pixelator had left, despair had once again returned to pick them from their solitude.
“RUN!!! EVERYBODY RUN!!!!! THEY’RE HERE!!!!!!”
Like a siren in the night, the piercing scream of a boy echoed throughout the entire area. Everyone froze in their steps as a cold chill gripped their warm bodies. The air ran dry as they all turned to see who had pulled the alarm of desperation and fear. Up on a building next to the one Casey was at, a boy yelled at the top of his lungs in clear terror as he seemed to be out of breath. And yet, nobody could move, nobody made a sound. It was as if time had forced them and only them to stop in their tracks.
It took the sound of flesh being pierced for all of them to even shake. Casey and co watched in horror as the boy on the roof was suddenly pierced by a blade from behind. He looked down at the sword that had pierced his abdomen as fresh blood poured out of his mouth. Before he could even utter a groan, the sword rose and sliced him clean in half for all to see. His blood burst like fireworks in the air and fell as fast and gentle as raindrops. Some even managing to land on Casey herself. The boy was thrown to the side and discarded like trash. Then, from behind him emerged not one, not two, but dozens and dozens of cloaked figures, all eyeing them down like cattle.
Everyone was gripped in horror, no one knew what to do. The spectacle that had just happened was enough to keep them glued in their tracks. One boy just couldn’t bear it and dropped to his knees to throw up. Caesar and the Queen looked up at the many hooded figures in terror as they just witnessed the murder of an innocent boy. Casey, of all people, felt tears well up in her eyes.
Fear and trauma firmly grabbed her heart in the form of a cold and icy hand. She turned pale as she saw those black hooded people.
But still, this wasn’t over yet!
“RUUUN! GET GOING!! YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!” She hollered with clear terror sowed into her words. Then, like an alarm on a monday morning, everyone seemed to return from their slumber and freak out. Countless screams were heard as all of them started to make a beeline for the now open gates of safety.
Up above, the hooded figures were heard laughing as one by one they started falling to catch their prey.
Despite being terrified and exhausted, Casey rose to her feet and clenched her fist as she wiped the blood from before off her forearms. Even with a body full of bruises and injuries, there was no way she could give up yet.
“Get back you hot head! I’ll hold em off!” She heard Caesar yell from behind her but she didn’t listen to him. With an audible “grrrr”, Casey fired up her flames once again and focused all of her strength on her arms. She swiped her arm at the air and a large wave of fire followed.
Some of the hooded figures managed to dodge the hit but others weren’t so lucky. The one’s that couldn’t evade covered their faces as they were draped in flames. She would say that the sight pleased her but, it did the opposite.
Seeing the black hooded figures burn up like that…...how they withered in pain as they fell from the sky…...why was it so……..
Terrifying?.....
A flash in her mind suddenly appeared and she saw the same hooded figures get pierced by an arm of fire. Then she saw other hooded figures burn alive in front of her, their screams echoed in her brain and rattled her small being...only her rage at the time had overlooked that….she had caused that distraught and pain to them.....all done by her…..
When the memory was over, only the distant calls of her own name remained. It jumped in the distance like an ambulance siren in the night. She could hear it, but she couldn’t tell from where…..
“Casey!!! Get out of there you brat!!”
Those words, like a knife in her side, stabbed her back to reality almost as suddenly as she had left. When she did, she sharply turned to where Caesar was running after her. He was waving his arms at her desperate to grab her attention. She quickly looked up and noticed that some of the shadow hunters were coming straight for her.
“Ah!?......coming for revenge?? Fine then! Come and get some!!!” She yelled at them trying to sound tough only to have her voice crack.
“Move it!!” Caesar yelled as he pushed her up against the wall. She slammed against it and fell to the ground.
“No! I can still fight!!” She tried to say as she stood up, but midthrough, she was suddenly hit by an intense and sharp pain that ran all the way up from her lower back to her neck. Her pupils dilated as she started to leak an immense amount of steam. Following that, her flames began to slowly die out. Before long, they had completely gone out and she had once again dropped to her knees sweating profusely. Her vision flickered as she looked up to see Caesar trying to fight off the horde. Breathing heavily, she felt like she was going to pass out. Without a doubt, she had run completely out of energy due to her last attack.
(No……….Not now…….I know I still have more…….more…..more…...I can keep on going……..) She thought as the solid ground came up to meet her chin. Shortly after that had happened, rocks slowly started tumbling from the sky. Somehow, the building that was only made up of four walls behind her had been destroyed. Though, she wasn’t really paying it much attention. After all, for her, it was falling as slow and gently as snowflakes. No harm could possibly be done by that…...right?
In no time, she was covered all over with large boulder sized debris. She wasn’t sure if a couple landed on her body, but that would explain the strange numbness surrounding her lower body, like needles pricking her.
Though, despite what even she thought, her delusion didn’t last long. Little by little, her senses started to come back to her. Darkness was at every turn she took. The only place in which she could see was through a small gap between the ground and the debris. She was able to see a pair of feet running up to her. Coming from that direction, she heard a very familiar voice presumably belonging to Katie.
She stopped in front of where she was hidden and began to lift up the rocks holding her down. Except, she failed. Casey felt the pressure slightly get relieved from her back but then it was suddenly brought back. Nonetheless, Katie kept trying.
“Cccccaaaaasssseeeeyyyy…………..ppppplease…...bbbbeeee…..ookay!!!!” She thought she heard. Her hearing was a little distorted so she heard multiple syllables. But, she understood what was going on. What she couldn’t understand was why Katie was still here. It was dangerous outside! She could get killed. Was she not hearing the screams of terror behind her?
Then, just like that, two pairs of feet adorned in black appeared behind her like thieves in the night. Casey widened her eyes as she realized that Katie was in grave danger. A crippling fear plagued her mind as she began to wonder how all of this came to be. Why did it have to be like this? She simply could not understand.
“Is it infuriating?” She heard somewhere deep in the dark.
“No matter what you did differently in the past, this was still going to happen like it or not. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t put a stop to it” The feminine voice whispered into her ears.
The pair of feet rapidly approached Katie and pushed her down. A struggle ensued and it seemed like she was going to lose.
“It’s because of your own fear that you cannot break out of these chains, because of your own fear of what everyone else will think about you that you refuse to use this power. All because of that day, am I right?” She heard from somewhere.
(I…….I…….was so afraid……..despite that…..I don’t know why I smiled at him…….I told him that it would be alright…...but I was terrified…...Even before I knew what it meant to die….I had killed….)
Distant memories of a dark night came to her like an unwanted rash. It was sickening, in a fit of rage she had turned to kill…..She had awakened a set of powers so terrifying she thought she had gone mad at the tender age of six. Who’s fault had it been? Who knows, she was just playing all by herself when she was suddenly abducted…..
But, she had saved him….the small boy, Axel, was going to die had it not been for her….Or perhaps, was it the other way around? What had he said to her again? What were the words that pushed her over the edge?....
She saw Katie get back up from the ground and run toward Casey again. Only this time, a pair of feet stopped her and seemed to hit her with something. Casey watched as Katie’s feet tensed up and froze. Fresh blood poured onto the ground as Katie herself was thrown to the side. Eyes wide, Casey watched as the pair of feet swung a blade on the ground and rid it from the blood covering it. Then, they turned and departed for the chaos.
“I know you can remember…..I know you can feel it…..Enough is enough don’t you think? Just let it consume you…..Let it fill you……” The female said as Casey felt tears drop from her brown eyes.
A dark and cold emotion gripped her heart like an icy hand and threw her feelings in disarray. The warmth from her body was sapped as a rich dark aura loomed over her. Her being was being molded and it felt she was going inside out. In mere moments, Casey would no longer be in control...
“Ah, but don’t let it take control…..Grab the reins and take charge. After all,” The voice said.
“In order to live from this, you have to fight...”
Boom, like fireworks in the sky, her mind as well as the ground erupted. Flames danced in the air as a blinding light stopped everyone in their tracks. A kingdom of fire suddenly caused the ground to lift. Debris from all over rose and cleared the ground as a figure arose from the center.
Onlookers watched as the heavenly figure came into view. Even the shadow hunters themselves stopped as the figure adorned in light slowly opened their eyes. Two crystal clear brown eyes shone as the bright white light continued to grow toward the heavens. Little by little, they were able to identify the person as a woman. A woman who, out of thin air, was suddenly presented with a robe of fire. On her head, she was adorned with a crown of blazing flames fit for a queen.
The people watched in awe as their Queen manifested before them. Before long, her kingdom had begun to disappear but her attire had not. A noble air of royalty filled the air as the true Queen stood tall. All jaws dropped as Casey made her long awaited return. Everyone watched as all her injuries were suddenly cleared away, as if they had never happened. The blinding light shrunk and shrunk eventually filling only her. Once it was all gone, the Queen had a good look a around.
Her solemn eyes fell on the body belonging to her dear friend Katie. She was laying some feet away from her on the ground. However, she was not dead. No, quite the contrary. The injured girl was looking at her with slightly opened eyes. Her glasses were no longer on her eyes and her hair was frizzy. On her abdomen, Casey saw a very large patch of blood on her shirt and a tear at the center. Casey walked up to Katie with soft steps and knelt down next to her. She grabbed her hand with her own and held them tight. She was very cold. Yet, Katie could only smile and say “I’m sorry”. Then, Casey visibly saw the light in her eyes flicker until her eyelids put them out of view. In her hands, Katie's went limp.
After a couple of seconds, Casey picked up Katie in a princess carry and turned toward the gates. With slow steps, she walked toward them. Everyone watched in both awe and confusion as they struggled to understand what was happening. Even the shadow hunters at this point did not dare to interrupt her for fear of what might happen. Or was it out of respect? The world may never know.
Caesar watched as Casey walked past him without even glancing at him. She was completely different. She was…...strong. That he knew for sure.
“What…...happened to you?....” He whispered to himself.
After a long trip, Casey made it to the entrance of the gates where the blue haired Queen was waiting for her completely stunned. Casey walked over to her and handed Katie over. The Queen took her in her hands without question and held her tight. Then, confirming that she was safe, Casey turned around. But, before she could make a move, the blue haired girl stopped her.
“What…..What will you do?” She asked.
Casey did not face her as she stared off into the distance. Lowering her shoulders, she responded.
“Fight”
That was all she said before firing off like a bullet into the battlefield. Straight toward the center faster than anyone there could see, she disappeared. A crowd of shadow hunters all exclaimed at the same time as confusion spread like wildfire. They all gathered around each other and got to a back-to-back position. Everyone watched as it seemed like there were no openings to attack them from. However, the shadow hunters all noticed something very odd from the onlookers around them. Their facial expressions did not express fear, but rather shock. Even some of their comrades had the same reaction, but why?, they wondered.
“I can never forgive you for what you’ve done” They all heard simultaneously. Like a stab in the back, they shuttered and froze in place. Then, slowly, they all turned their heads like sheep to a herder. Standing dead in the center amongst all of them was the red hot devil herself. Looking past all of them and fists held low, she faced the heavens as her eyes glowed orange.
Before any of them could even let out a word, an entire row of men were suddenly pierced from their abdomen by a large spear of fire. As they all looked on in fear, the spear erupted and engulfed the area in a sea of fury.
An immense heat spread out so wide that even people many blocks away could feel it. When the fire died out, steam rose from the ground and allowed no one to get a clear view at who was left. However, the answer was already in the back of everyone’s mind. The large sphere of steam seemed to last forever but after a couple of seconds a figure emerged. Coming out of her temple like a goddess, Casey stepped out into the dark night. As she did so, the wind that picked up in the area blew the steam away and finally made the scene behind her clear. Everyone watched in shock as they noticed that no one was there anymore. Not.One.Person.
“She…...she incinerated them…?....” Caesar said as he watched the savage Queen crack her small knuckles.
Part 4
“Do you feel that!?” Jessica yelled over to the crew inside Thor. She was simply sitting and biting her nails when she picked up a strong source of energy off in the distance. She didn’t even know she could sense energy, but this one had to be super strong if even she could feel it!
Multiple sirens let off in the ship as all of their screens suddenly started to flash red. Jessica didn’t know much, but she could tell that something was up as she watched them desperately try to figure out the situation.
“No I can’t but I think I see what you’re talking about!” Tony yelled as he typed on his computer.
“You think it had something to do with that bright light we saw in Savant Island??” Michael responded as sweat appeared on his forehead.
“You guys, quickly get Ella on the phone, we’ve got trouble.” They heard Jeniffer tell them in a shaken voice.
Confused and scared, Olivia asked her what was up.
“What’s going on? Is everything alright?” She asked.
“No …..I don’t know why this is happening or what brought this on, but the flame stoned ramoji has somehow magically appeared on savant island! And as if that isn’t bad enough, Axel’s energy and life signs are starting to go down!!”
Everyone on board visibly turned to stone as they listened to Jeniffer. Tony placed his elbows on his desk as he held his face. There was no way this was happening. He looked over at Michael who seemed to also share in his worry.
The last time a ramoji somehow magically appeared, destruction and chaos consumed the land. He could remember the day like it was yesterday. He was just about to head to bed when his cell phone went off signaling the appearance of a ramoji. What’s worse, a berserk one. He remembered being utterly terrified at just what would happen to all of them since they were completely caught off guard. Luckily, Ella with the help of Axel managed to apprehend Jessica, but that was by a slim, extremely slim, stroke of luck. What could possibly help them now if the flame ramoji were to go berserk? Then there was Axel, just what was happening to him? Was he injured? Was he going to die? Were they going to lose? These thoughts made Tony collapse onto his desktop in fear.
Meanwhile, Saphire had at last managed to come into contact with Ella and put her on speaker for all to hear.
“Hello? Lady Ella? Have you heard of the recent events?”She asked in her, oddly strange, usual tone.
On the other side, Ella responded while sounding out of breath.
“I’ve done more than just hear….” she said.
Ella stood atop of a building as she feasted her eyes on the sight before her. An immense amount of heat slightly blew her hair back as she watched the chaos go down live. Though, she could not identify who was the attacker. Regardless, it seemed the battle would be over by the time she’d get there. And when it did, she’d be there to capture the ramoji…
Part 5
No one made a move, no one knew what to do as Casey’s bright orange flames lit up the night. The shadow hunters seemed confused as they looked at each other for answers. In the end, none of them knew and decided to charge at the enemy.
Casey furrowed her brow as she saw them attack one by one like flies. Many of them swung their blades at her all at once. However, Casey was able to dodge most of them. The others she parried with a blow of her own. Spin after spin she sent most of them flying. In the next move, she squatted and spread her arms out. With a yell, her mighty cape of dazzling fire spread out in all directions like wings. They mercilessly pierced a good chunk of the shadow hunters and set their bodies ablaze. The students watched as they were charred black right before their very eyes. At this point, rather than feeling relief…...they were feeling horrified. Just what monstrous power was that girl hiding?
Casey saw from the corner of her eye as the students started to huddle together in fear of getting burned. They sat as they heard the screams of agony claw at their delicate ears. Casey winced and released the poor maggots hanging in the air. When her robe of flames returned to her, Casey raised her head and stood up straight. Her bangs covered her eyes as she suddenly received the smell of burnt flesh causing her nose to wrinkle. It was awful.
“....gu...ing….” She said at a level not even qualified to be a whisper.
“Disgusting…” She then repeated into the night.
“DISGUSTING!!!!” She suddenly yelled clenching her fists. The now mortified shadow hunters heard the Queen of death’s mighty yell and cowered before her.
“How could any of you possibly do this and feel nothing?! How can you all live with yourselves?! Have you no shame?? No Empathy???!!!” She yelled into the night with no one to respond. After many moments of silence, she saw the remaining shadow hunters suddenly turn tail and run.
This act, even though it was in her favor, infuriated her. To her, they were telling her that they did not care and wanted to live. Lowering her head to see them, Casey growled and furrowed her brow even further.
Since they heard nothing behind them, the shadow hunters were momentarily relieved when they somehow managed to get out of sight from the demon Queen. They turned corner after corner all breathing heavily. After dozens of turns and jumps, it seemed like they had finally made it out alive. Unfortunately, they had stumbled upon a dead end in an alley, but it did not matter. A pair of shadow hunters got on their knees as they struggled to gather their breath.
“What the fuck was that?” one of them said.
“I don’t know but I’m glad we lost her” the other responded. The pair nodded their heads and patted each other’s backs as they seemingly tried to relax. However…….
“You didn’t answer my question…….”
A cold and deadly chill ran down their spines as the voice flowed through their ears like needles. They all looked up from where the voice came from and found a girl sitting with one leg crossed over the other looking down at them like ants. The large and blissful moon shone bright behind her and caused her body and face to be covered in shadows. All but her shiny crimson colored eyes could not be seen. Like animals in the slaughterhouse, they began to beg for mercy.
Casey watched as they dropped to their knees and begged for her to spare them. This act caused Casey’s patience to reach an all time low. Silently, she revealed her canine teeth and stood up. Then, like an angel from the heavens, she descended. The shadow hunters made room and jumped back as they saw her draw closer.
Casey softly landed on the ground and crossed her arms. After a long and agonizing silence, Casey spoke once more.
“Tell me, do snakes listen when mice beg for mercy?”
Confused the crowd looked at one another and struggled to make sense of what she was trying to say. Nonetheless, the answer was logically obvious. And so, they shook their heads. Unbeknownst to them, sealing their fate.
“Then why would a hawk listen when a snake does?”
That was all she said, that was all it took. Seeing the glare in her eyes spark, her magic attire of erupting flames suddenly returned to her in the blink of an eye. The shadow hunters, knowing that they were out matched, started to frantically run away. Casey, uncrossed her arms and took a deep breath. Then, with one step forward, she blew out a massive inferno wave which completely trapped the snakes in their place. She could hear them scream as they dropped to the ground and rolled, the only thing that came to their mind to save themselves. Only, that wouldn’t work. So long as she wished, those flames could continue to burn for an eternity. But, they’d find that out soon enough. And so, confirming that her prey was dealt with, the mighty hawk took off into the night.
Before long, she returned to where she originally came from. Since she was up in the sky, she took the time to scout the area and search for nearby enemies. Luckily, it seemed like no one else was around for the time being. However, the students that were outside still had not moved. It was almost as if they were afraid of getting hurt by her, or worse, killed. Though, that was understandable given the situation.
Casey softly floated down as her flames still burned bright. As she descended, she made a wave of gentle flowing fire illuminate the area giving it a soft tinge of yellow. Plus, it warmed the cold night air. Once making contact on the ground, Casey looked around with only her eyes and tried to understand the situation. There were a couple of bodies on the ground, other than a couple scum, all friendlies. Some looked injured but others were unharmed. This, even though they had suffered some casualties, was relieving. And so, Casey took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. At the same time, her roaring flames died out and her hair relaxed. Her goddess attire disappeared into the air and her muscles seemed to visibly relax. When she opened her eyes once more, they were back to their original chocolate brown color.
“Everyone, please, I’m on your side! I’ve made sure that no other enemies are around but that could change at any time! Please get to safety and get underground! I will stay out here and make sure that no one harms you as you go in!” She said sounding like her usual self. Only, her exhaustion was clearly audible. In fact, it made most doubt she could enter that form again in her current state. Despite that, the fact that she had saved them all was clear. She was indeed on their side. So, following her advice, they all began to head for the gates that would lead them underground. Some ran, some walked. Some stayed behind and attempted to pick up the wounded. Casey watched solemnly as some even found out that their classmates were dead. The sight made her clench her fist.
“You gonna be alright?” She heard Caesar say behind her. Though, Casey chose not to face him as she couldn’t find the courage to.
“Yeah, I’ll be alright…..” She lied. Caesar wasn’t an idiot, and he could tell that she was. So, he said one more thing before turning around and leaving.
“You did all you could, you did all you had to do, don’t let it get you down.”
Leaving her with that, she listened until his footsteps were no longer audible. Then, she felt a stream of fresh cool tears flow down her cheeks.
From a distance, since it did not look like a good time, the blue haired Queen kept her distance. She could read her mood and knew that right now she was not in a suitable place to talk to. So, she left her alone to grieve on her own. After a while, Casey was left all alone in the outside world with nothing but her sins accompanying her.
Up above where Casey could not see her was none other than Ella. She crossed her arms as she struggled with what to make of the situation. She had made it here just in time to see Casey descend with her cloak of fire surrounding her. Also, coincidentally, the signal to where the ramoji was ended there. In fact, as soon as Casey powered down, the signal disappeared. All at once, it seemed like the answer at last came to her and she sighed. Raising her phone up, she dialed a number and lifted the phone to her ears.
“Lady Ella? I was just about to contact you! It seems as if the signal has somehow gone away. Any idea why?” Answered Saphire.
“.......No, whatever it was, it’s gone now so you don’t have to worry. What about Axel? How’s he holding up?”
“His vital signs are still going down albeit slowly. We have no idea what’s going on, what should we do?”
“Hmmmm, I think he’ll be alright, don’t worry.” Ella said sounding confident.
“Ella!? Are you sure!? He could be dying!!” She heard Jeniffer yell through the mic sounding worried.
“Of course, there have been plenty of times where I thought this kid was going to for sure die but somehow he beat my expectations everytime, I’m sure he’ll be okay.” Ella said smiling. Though, she was more or less trying to convince herself more than anything. After having comforted Jeniffer, Ella hung up and rested her hands on her hips. At long last, the mystery disappearance of the flame ramoji had been answered.
(hang in there Casey, I’ll have to have a talk with you once all this is over) Thinking so, Ella jumped away to search for more enemies.
Down below, Casey continued to stand in silence as tears softly fell on the ground.
“Say girl, why are you crying? You just defeated those grunts all by yourself, didn’t ya?”
As quickly as she had heard it, Casey widened her eyes and jumped back. Raising her guard, Casey spotted the very familiar voice that had spoken to her. She was in plain sight for her to see, though she was not what she was expecting. She was a small girl that probably reached her waist. She wore a long winter jacket and boots. Her golden hair was tied into a ponytail and held with a purple ribbon. She had crystal clear blue eyes and an unusual smile. Raising her hands, she took a step forward. However, she stopped when Casey’s royal attire of fire suddenly returned.
“Don’t move!” She said.
“Woah!Woah!Woah! I won’t harm you! I promise!!”
“You? You were the one that spoke to me when I was completely drained, weren’t you?” Casey said.
“Damn, busted already?” The small girl replied while snapping her fingers.
“Who are you? How did you know about what Axel told me all those years ago? Answer me honestly or die...” Casey said raising the palm of her hand to fire.
Despite that, the small girl did not seem shaken. In fact, she smirked and shut her eyes. Then, while leaning forward she responded to her.
“Well, that depends…. By any chance, have you ever heard of magic?”
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Eliza Kane doesn't like Ares Matthews and he is insistent on working with her. Despite it all, Eliza gives in. That catches the eye of the Scorpions, the notorious gang hell-bent on taking over both cities on Mars. With the Scorpions coming after them and the past coming back in Eliza's life, Ares becomes the anchor that holds them together. Eliza fights against accepting Ares' kindness and... affections? But circumstances can change when life is on the line.
8 198The Verant Chronicles - Book One
The once powerful Verant Empire had been brought to its knees after seven years of civil war. The war maybe over, a new emperor maybe at the helm, but the empire remains broken. Deadly plagues, encroaching monsters, divided political loyalties only scratch the surface of the problems the empire now faces. Highwaymen make the roads unsafe, powerful wizards go unchecked and goblin hordes threaten local towns and villages. Elwin doesn’t want to spend his days as a farmer and dreams of adventure. He, his brother Rith, best friend Emerson and adopted cousin Anna, decide to go out into this world as adventurers hoping to seek fame and fortune just like in the books they read. The empire is at a crossroads as Elwin and his friends experience the aftermath of the war, they must come to terms with what it means to live in the Verant Empire as one of it's citizens. It all begins with an intriguing map sewn into cloth, written in a strange language and depicting a place that doesn’t seem to exist. Elwin and his friends decide to go to the capital city to join the adventurer’s guild and find someone who can translate the map and hopeful recognize the locations depicted. Along the way they encounter lizard creatures, goblins, former soldiers, a bard, druid and a powerful wizard who has his own eye on the map. They meet new friends and create deadly enemies. From great plains to a bustling metropolis, to a town devastated by an earthquake, their world of Gaia has a gritty realism to it and the empire is only a small part of a much large realm. It is a Romanesque world teetering on a renaissance in which Gods, gunpowder, armored knights, griffin riders and magic coexist uneasily. Elwin and his companions drink, they swear, they have sexual encounters, they make mistakes and face serious moral dilemmas at every turn. Planned out to be 30+ chapters in total including a prologue and epilogue. Chapters will be released about twice a week when possible.
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When Michael Walters awakens inside a dungeon, he's not aware that it's only the beginning to a world of horror. Monsters have appeared all across the Earth, savaging the populous. The only hope anyone has is the appearance of the mysterious World System, a vast conjuring of immense scale and power. But even that isn't enough to fully stem the tide. After all, the System doesn't care if you survive. With such lackluster support, it is up to the survivors, including Michael, to secure their futures. Facing possible extinction and unable to stop quarreling amongst themselves, humanity is but steps into the apocalypse. In a dying world, anything can kill you, and survival always comes with a cost.
8 455The Night Sky
All his life Kurt Wagner has been judged, shunned, and discriminated against because of the way he looks. "Demon" "Monster" "Freak" But when he meets a girl with eyes that can see much further than his outward appearance, will he finally find someone who can accept him for all that he truly is?
8 161exchange student (cevans)
in which Y/n González, mexican exchange college student, is taken in by Lisa Evans, mother to the one and only Chris Evans.
8 314TRUST ISSUES || RIFF || WESTSIDESTORY2021
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