"Hey!! Get back here!" Tempest screamed at the top of her lungs after Erin so playfully stole her clothes and threw a plate of pie at her face. Tempest followed Erin out of the bathroom and the entire house filled with the sound of Erin's laughter and Tempest's yelling.
"You're gonna have to catch me!" Erin yelled back after she sprinted up the stairs with Tempest not very far behind her. Erin then showcased her agility by leaping up into a backflip, right over Tempest and tossing another plate of pie right on top of Tempest's head before eventually landing at the bottom of the stairs. "Too slow!"
"What the?! Uuuurg! Erin!!!"
I then walked out of the lounge into the main entrance hall while chewing on a half-eaten banana and noticed them playing around as usual when Tiriara wasn't around and off on some errand. When Tempest noticed me, she quickly called out to me.
"Madison! Grab her before she can get away!"
"What now?" I asked, raising a brow after noticing that Tempest was butt naked and soaking wet. "Why are you naked?"
"What do you think you dope! She stole my clothes and my towel!"
"Hmmm … and you really think giving me attitude is gonna make me any more pleased to help you?" I asked her, finishing the banana and crossing my arms which made Erin giggle.
"Sorry Tem .. its not looking so good for you" Erin reminded her before she tossed half of Tempest's clothes at me. "Maddy, no matter what, don't give Tem her clothes back"
"Already ahead of you" I responded after catching her clothes.
"You both are freaking idiots" Tempest stated which confused Erin. "My room is here upstairs. I can just go get more clothes and a clean towel" she explained while walking off to her bedroom. Erin lowered her head in thought, realising her biggest mistake.
…
…
Soon enough, Tempest came sprinting back while enraged which surprised Erin. "Who the fuck locked all of the doors?!!!"
"Oh that? I locked it a couple of minutes ago" I answered her, jiggling the keys which I pulled from my pocket with a pleased smirk on my face. "I caught Erin stealing your clothes while you were in the shower and thought to finish what she started"
"Woooooah!! Maddy you're a freaking genius!!" Erin exclaimed, overwhelmed with awe by my genius. I hate to admit it but sometimes, even my genius scares me.
"I know" I claimed, developing a satisfied grin from her praise.
"Give me back my clothes!!" Tempest yelled when she dived off of the stairs and tackled Erin with all of her might and momentum. They both went rolling down the hall with their struggling screams bouncing off the walls before they finally crashed directly through the front door, taking that down as well as their own inhibitions.
I recoiled back after hearing them completely tear down the door and probably our freedom along with it.
After I ran outside to check on them, I stopped to regret my actions when a mere presence developed a tight knot in my stomach. Erin ended up on top of Tempest but the fight was stopped instantly when they both felt the ephemeral glow radiating from the woman standing right before them. They slowly turned their attention to her and regretted everything then and there.
"T-Tiriara ..." I called out to her to at least try and remedy the situation but when she noticed the bundle of clothing in my arms, I quickly tossed them off the front porch and into the narrow garden right in front of it.
"I see the three of you had one fun while I was gone" Tiriara remarked with clear struggle in her tone. The radiant glow illuminating from her body made it clear that she was getting ready to beat us for our immaturity and by God, that was a memorable beating. Hell hath no fury but a woman scorned…
"Huh … I wonder why I'm remembering that all of a sudden. Right … I probably miss Tiriara … or .. Erin" I thought to myself in the middle of my plummet.
"Awwww … isn't that just a sweet memory. You really like Erin don't you?" Erin asked me, casually falling beside me with a bucket of popcorn in her arms.
I instantly woke up and realised that this bitch was still bothering me. A few inches off the ground, I disappeared and reappeared a couple of feet away on the sidewalk but dropped off onto one knee to suffer from my lack of a right arm, burning inconsistently.
My shadow then quivered in my peripheral vision which was why I leaped up into a backflip and safely landed onto a street lamp to try and gather my bearings. Thankfully, I couldn't see that woman from here and it looked like I could finally deal with the consistent bleeding before I become anaemic.
Violent streaks of electricity generated from my left hand which I applied to the residual limb to speed up my healing factor but it stung like having my stump burned over a bonfire. Unfortunately, the second that sensation burned like hell, my electroreceptors picked up something alarming and this time, I saw an inordinate wave of complete darkness behind me like a large blanket being thrown over you by surprise.
That same wave of darkness completely overwhelmed the street lamp and somehow swallowed it. The darkness wrapped itself around the street lamp and literally devoured the luminescence itself along with the entire street lamp which now no longer existed.
I positioned my body up on the vertical building and stuck myself to the wall with static electricity and watched that wave of darkness devour the street lamp in terror. To make matters worse, I couldn't sense Violet at all and it's like she's able to find me no matter where I go. I can't seem to hide from her.
"Shit" I cursed softly before I rushed up the wall at breakneck speeds and ran away from the area as fast as possible to escape her reaches.
MEANWHILE…
SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE OF NOVATARIUS
Nulara stopped beside a bus stop just outside of Novatarius to catch her breath. Thankfully, she was still alone and there wasn't any sign of Violet anywhere nearby.
"I hope .. Madison's okay" Nulara said out loud when she planted her hands on her knees and breathed rapidly.
"Hmm .. I was hoping she'd be doing something much better than running away. Madison's such a coward" Erin remarked after suddenly appearing beside Nulara and leaning up against the bus shelter with her arms crossed.
Nulara sat down on the bench to patiently wait for me. Erin then noticed how worried Nulara looked based on her expression and sat down beside her to try and comfort her.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, Madison's not gonna die. She can be stubborn as fuck when it comes to my aid but she'll give in eventually if she wants to get her revenge" Erin tried to reassure her and even threw her arm over the back support of the bench.
Nulara quietly looked around for any sign of movement while blowing into the palm of her hands to warm them up.
"Oh right, you can't hear me. Man it really sucks to be a figment of someone else's imagination. Why can't I just be free of these damn kids?" Erin complained out loud and sat back, thinking about the possibilities once she finally gets out but Nulara lowered her head in thought with a furrowed brow. "Oh right, did you know that Madison isn't all that serious and strict. She likes to act that way around strangers because of all the traumatic shit that happened to her"
When she said this, Nulara glanced at the imaginary figment uncomfortably but kept her head lowered with a furrowed brow.
"Anyway, it looks like Madison's dealing with her own fair share of worry. She's really sucking out there all because she chooses to rely on her own boring power" Erin joked before she stood up and prepared to leave. As she journeyed down the sidewalk, she couldn't help but smirk. Now that she was finally gone, Nulara thought profusely about what she miraculously heard before she stood up and walked off down the sidewalk in the direction she came from.
I dropped down onto the top of a convenience store which was still opened. The light from the convenience store shined bright enough for everyone to see it from afar but thankfully, the light distracted anyone from how dark the rooftops were, making it the hidng spot.
As soon as I landed onto the rooftop, I hid behind the parapet and caught my breath. Running away was becoming exhausting but at least it looked like I was finally alone for once.
Thankfully, I managed to already stop the bleeding by tying my arm with a torn off rag that I tore from the favourite sweater. I seriously shouldn't have worn this today, this is becoming a nuisance.
"Okay .. so .. so, she's umbrakinetic but .. somehow the darkness acts as an unusual extension of herself allowing her to travel within the shadows .. but how is she able to hurt me indirectly?" I asked myself while in deep thought. I can't seem to wrap my head around how she's always able to find me no matter what or how she's even able to harm me indirectly. My electroreceptors can't even pick up her indirectly attacks. "How did she get me?"
"Your poor little brain wouldn't be able to understand it honey" Violet stated from some unknown position. I looked around rapidly for any sign of her which was when I finally realised that the convenience store was situated outside of the moonlight, surrounded by one large layer of shadows, generated from the building just behind it. I was trying to hide from an umbrakinetic in the dark…
I immediately stood up to escape but as soon as rushed to leave, an enormous wave of darkness exploded from the rooftops in such a furious display of power that swallowed the rays of moonlight with the explosive properties of cold gaseous fumes. The explosion rose up into the sky and could be seen from a couple of blocks away.
Unfortunately, I flew out of the gaseous darkness thanks to the extraordinary blast and crashed directly into the middle of the road but skidded across the tar, passing four lanes and crashing into the guard railing beside the side walk. With the guard railing now bent outward, I slowly woke up from the small concussion mainly because of the intolerable pain produced by the evanescent blackened flames, freezing my skin and torturing all of my nerves simultaneously.
When my mind raced from the agony, I quickly tried to pat the cold flames off of me but pulling my left arm caused me even greater agony than the flames. I gritted my teeth when blood squirted from the thin rail protruding from my left shoulder.
".… Ffffuuuuuuuuuuck!" I cursed with my teeth still grinding before I tried to use my free arm to bang my fist into the sidewalk. Unfortunately, phantom limb syndrome is apparently real and very infuriating when you can't do something to ease the pain.
"Oh wow .. this just isn't your night is it sugar?" Violet asked me when she slowly climbed out of my own shadow behind me. I couldn't look at her right now thanks to the unbearable pain but my electroreceptors were screaming at me to be weary of her. "I can give you your arm back if you'd like buuuut … I ain't so sure it'll be useful" she offered and used my own amputated arm to tickle the side of my neck. I wasn't sure how she was tickling my neck with each of my four individual fingers but I don't think it's even relevant right now.
I couldn't answer her much to my dismay because I'm really holding back the urge to rely on somebody else.
"Oof. You're not looking so good there Maddy" Erin commented when she noticed how terrible I probably looked. Somehow, she appeared in front of me and crouched down to speak to me at eye level. "An amputated right arm, a rail penetrating your left shoulder, the cold undying flames of darkness spreading frostbite throughout your body and various other severe cuts and bruises. Oh, can't forget the magical bullet wounds. Your first major battle on this crazy revenge spree and you're sucking this hard"
"Don't worry sugar, not everyone can handle me. Not even you silly little electrokinetics. You're a dangerous breed but you know who's even more dangerous? Umbrakinetics" Violet whispered arrogantly while brushing my own fingers through my hair.
"Listen to this arrogant skank. You hear this? She thinks because of the element she was born with, that somehow makes her stronger than you? Doesn't that just make you want to bite her head off?" Erin asked me, tugging at the deepest emotions ingrained into the lowest depths of my mind all because she's aware of it.
"And you never stood a chance to begin with baby. Ever heard of magic?"
"Magic?" I thought to myself after hearing what she said.
Magic. Special abilities that coincide with the elements of nature but cannot actually be explained by scientific means, hence the term "Magic". A proud woman once said "Any unexplained or impossible phenomena is indistinguishable from magic" which is perfect for this explanation. Unfortunately, magic is incredibly difficult to deal with in battle as you can see but if there's one thing Tiriara taught me it's that magic has its own flaws and weaknesses, it depends on how you handle it.
"Ya know … with my help, we could tear her apart in a literal second, we could slaughter the entire monarchy before the clock even strikes twelve. Hell, we can take over the entire world! Oh, just imagine it!" Erin exclaimed out of excitement while patting me on the leg.
"Here's a little hint to make this easier for you. Stay out of the shadows honey, it just makes it easier for me to kill you" Violet warned me before it finally came to me. The flashing lightbulb I needed to figure out how to defeat her.
"I won't do it…" I answered her.
"Huh?" Violet said in bewilderment.
"We'll see" Erin stated confidently before she stood up and crossed her arms.
"Madison!!!" Nulara called out to me which attracted Violets attention. Violet turned to the child and as soon as her attention was diverted away from me, I opened my mouth as wide as possible and bit down on the end of the rail, sticking out of my shoulder. The white illumination grew brighter around my teeth before I eventually broke the rail off and pulled myself out of the rail as quickly as possible.
Now that I was free, I used everything my lungs could gather to spit the baton-sized rail up high and propelled myself up high with a burst of lightning. Violet never had a chance to react when I performed an overhead kick to send the rail directly into Violets chest, drawing out some blood.
"You motherfucking..." Violet cursed out of anger when she caught the rail a couple of seconds too late. The rail penetrated the right area just above her breasts but before she could recover, I planted my left hand onto the road to catch me before creating another powerful burst of electricity which propelled me towards the woman. She never saw it coming when I drove my feet into her face with a precise dropkick and from there, she flew through the glass windows of the store situated behind her while I jumped off of her into a backflip and safely landed on my feet.
Unfortunately, I'm not a cat so the landing wasn't perfect but when I dropped onto my knees to recover, I turned to Nulara to see if she was okay.
"Nulara! Get out of here!" I screamed before Violet flew out of that store like a blurring bat and tackled me. We both went tumbling beneath each other until I pressed my feet into her abdomen and sent her flying overhead but when she fell, she plummeted straight into my shadow as if it was a deep puddle.
That was when she popped up from the shadows behind me but as soon as she did, I spun my body around like a windmill and created a spiralling pillar of emerald lightning which was bright enough to dispel the shadows of the building. The light alone burned away the shadowy tendrils enveloping her body like armour.
UUUUUAAAAAAAAARRRGGGG!!!!!!!!
Violet screamed in pain from the blinding light of my electrical tornado but now that she was wide open, I planted my left hand onto the surface and proceeded to kick her across the face as hard as possible.
After she flew out of her shadow, she skidded across the road but eventually regained her own balance and picked herself with a cartwheel. Her body slowly started dissolving into the black aura enveloping her again but now that she was using her magic again, I shrouded myself in lightning and immediately bolted out of there.
"You can't run away from me" Violet muttered to herself when her body started melding with her own shadow, being pulled into it by the shadowy tendrils. She was clearly pissed now.
Nulara didn't even know what happened after I grabbed her and ran away from her. Instead of carrying her in my arms, I threw her over my left shoulder and sprinted through the streets outside of the Novatarius district at blazing speeds. The street lamps all flickered uncontrollably when I passed by it and Nulara raised her head and stared at the roads behind me in awe. In bewilderment, she struggled to comprehend how fast she was travelling in-between narrow alleyways and larger open roads.
"No, listen, I'm telling you baby, it all works out. As soon as I finish some of these annoying conference calls, I'll be back home before you know it" A woman promised her spouse in the middle of a peaceful night drive to her workplace. The roads were completely empty thanks to the time which made it quite and serene.
"Do you promise?" The woman on the other side of the phone call, asked her.
"Of course. I'd never lie to you baby" The woman reassured her before slowly coming to a stop at the next traffic light which had just turned golden. Once again, the intersection was dead silent with only a few shops still remaining open from the view of her expensive luxurious car.
Amongst the lack of activity, the woman looked around and happened to notice the traffic lights flickering between on and off. The consistent flickering soon turned off and shrouded the entire city block in darkness.
"Uhhh .. baby .. I'm gonna have to call you back" The woman said, tapping on the telephone icon which was displayed on the monitor in the centre of the dashboard. The call disconnected instantly. "What the .. heck?"
Just then, she saw an emerald source of light flickering at the end of the road ahead, coming from the same lane. With her hands at 10 and 2 of the steering wheel, she leaned forward to get a better look at it.
All she saw was a bright ray of green light before I vaulted straight over the car and continued onward passed it. The woman quickly looked in the rear-view mirror and saw a trail of green electricity following behind me but when she looked through the front windshield, a wave of darkness had suddenly overwhelmed the entire car. All of the windows turned black until the car was devoured by the darkness with her inside, not leaving much for investigation.
"Madison, that car!" Nulara called out to me and when I looked over my shoulder, I felt that woman's bioelectric field get snuffed out like a light. Shit, she was innocent.
"Nulara, watch my six" I ordered when I prepared to stop.
"What?"
I then skidded the soles of my sneakers across the road after coming to a halt and turned around. This thin but dangerously electrical barrier made of electrical threads flashed before me to block out any projectiles headed my way. As expected, this massive blanket of darkness collided with the barrier which was completely burned away by the light of the barrier.
Nulara quickly noticed my own shadow produced from the light of the barrier and watched it quiver behind me. "Madison! Behind you!"
Violet propelled herself out of the shadow again but before she could reach us, a fire hydrant smacked into the side of her head and turned her entire body into a blackened splatter of darkness. Nulara stared at the woman in horror and when I looked at her collapsing corpse, I realised that it was just another clone.
"A … A clone" Nulara whispered to herself until water exploded from where the fire hydrant was originally located and filled the streets with puddles of water.
Unbeknownst to us, another wave of darkness plummeted from overhead and when I noticed how much darker the road was getting, I quickly looked up and saw nothing but absolute darkness just inches above us.
With all of the velocity I could acquire, I rushed down the road with the intention of escaping the range of the wave. Unfortunately, not even I can be that fast especially given how close it was to the surface. Nulara was then thrown just outside of its range and rolled down the road from the fall but instead of crying from a scraped knee, she sat up and watched the gaseous fumes of darkness swallow me.
Nulara stared at me in horror with panicked breathing, wreathing with rapid struggle. However, she then rubbed her hands through her dirty hair to satiate the strange sensation.
Inside of the realm of darkness, I was suspended in the middle of nowhere in the same position from when that darkness first swallowed me. Out of embarrassment, I positioned myself upright and searched for any clues as to where I could be located right now.
I couldn't see anything. I couldn't feel anything. I was completely blind even with my electroreceptors but why? What was this place? Was this inside the darkness all along?
"Where am I?" I questioned, still looking around and trying to feel for … something, anything. There has to be something in here, the darkness ate more than just me. "Hey! I know you're here!!!"
Just then, invisible tendrils that blended in well with the darkness surrounding me and stabbed both of my shoulders and my thighs which caused me to roar out in pain. My body slowly acclimated to the pain before I gritted my teeth and lowered my head, resisting the urge to lose it completely.
"Sugar … still struggling? Why do you keep struggling? What is pushing you like this?" Violet asked when the collectiveness of darkness manifested into one entity resembling Violets form. Finally, I could feel something hovering before me but it's not like I could do anything here. She has me powerless in this realm.
"Well this place is weird? I can't see anything. You don't think this is her personal sex dungeon do you? That would be … kinky" Erin remarked when she suddenly appeared beside me and floated aimlessly with her arms crossed. As usual, she couldn't care less about the situation.
"You better kill me…" I warned her with my head still lowered. My hair fell in front of my face and blocked out her view from my sight.
"Ooo, that sounded badass. Come on, say something else. The audience would love it" Erin suggested with a video camera focused on me.
"Say that again"
"Yeah, say it again" Erin agreed.
"I said … you better kill me. Because when I break free from this, I will strangle the life out of you and watch what's left of it fade out. But not before I take you to hell" I warned her without bothering to look at her.
"Not sure ..." Erin said, looking around. "How you're gonna do that"
"And just how are you gonna do that huh? You're as powerless as an ant is beneath my foot"
"As much as I hate to admit it Madison, she's right. You're powerless in here .. I'm not but hey, you must've figured that out by now" Erin remarked, still bk
Oas
"Because I can feel you … this isn't some mirage, this is .. the real you. And that's all I need to break free" I stated before finally raising my head at her and blew my hair out of my face. I then gave her a warm maniacal smirk, with a glowing strand of hair falling from my teeth. Violets expression lost all confidence instantly mixed with confusion before this whole realm was turned into a hellish cauldron of flames with both of us still inside.
TO BE CONTINUED…