Chapter 110

Chapter 110

Chunhua darted out of the way, rolling to the side as Ishtar let out another merry laugh and whipped the person-turned weapon at her. Was it a whip or a staff? It seemed to behave like both at times. One moment she would be twirling it to block blows from Chunhua’s sword and the next she would be lashing out to strike with it at a distance. She slid back a few feet across the ground of the lobby and held her weapon up horizontally, the ribbon of lightning wrapping it around it, flying in the face of all logic and physical sense. She grit her teeth and pulled back, bringing her weapon down in a sharp stroke before dashing forward.

Come on! Wake up!

She sped along the ground, zipping to the left and right and tracing a path of destruction across the tiles behind her as she accelerated. Ishtar twirled in her black suit and let out a laugh as Chunhua swung, a ripple of pink light sweeping across the space in front of her, cutting through everything in its path. The next moment Ishtar was in the air, palm resting on one end of the lightning bolt while the other pressed down into the ground. Chunhua felt the resistance as her blade dug into the weapon before a jolt tried to strike her in the chest. She darted back and swung at the jolt, deflecting it towards the ground.

The exchange took less than a second, She’s so damn agile. Chunhua growled as Ishtar’s hand slipped down around the end of the pole. She grabbed hold as she bent in her handstand, turning it into a descent towards Chunhua as she whipped the bolt forward with a laugh. The hero huffed, stepping to the side with a near saunter, her head tilted left as little sparks sent her hairs on end. She glared down at Ishtar who looked up at her from her descending strike. Chunhua snapped her foot out and kicked her in the side, sending her skipping across the ground and into a wall.

She turned to face the small crater that flickered with the white light of Ishtar’s hard-light barriers. The woman lay in the hole as if it were a throne, her arms up and her head tilted to the right as she stared out at Chunhua. Chunhua stalked forward with her weapon at the ready, “Satisfied yet?” Chunhua demanded.

Rubble tumbled out of the hole as Ishtar got to her feet, still wearing the get up to look like Masque. Chunhua heard her comm buzz and frowned a little, Ignore it. She thought as the woman got to her feet and brushed herself off. She held out her hand and her ‘weapon’ jumped back into it.

“Hardly,” Ishtar said before tilting her head, “That was a good kick though. You aren’t holding back today.”

Chunhua scowled, “More where that came from.”

Ishtar paused and tilted her head, “You figured something out.”

“I figured out that she needs a good punch in the face as much as I do,” Chunhua growled.

Ishtar tilted her head back and looked down at her, “Really now? Well don’t think I’ll let you hurt her easily!” Ishtar snarled and kicked off the ground laughing wildly, the whip of lightning snapping out in an arc around Chunhua. Chunhua pivoted and spun, kicking it up a notch as she swept attacks around her in a spiral pattern.

Cyclone of Rose Blooms! She ground out, each strike crackling against an attempted lash of the electricity that tried to come at her from every angle. She spun, faster, I have to go faster! Faster! She pushed herself, gritting her teeth as the world turned into a blur. Her body moved almost on instinct, practiced motions that would have taken heartbeats happening in a tenth of the time. Her muscles burned as she opened her mouth in a silent scream of defiance. More! I need more strength!

“Does she even need you anymore?” Ishtar asked as she struck from all angles, “After what you did? Do you even deserve it to be her friend let alone anything else? To have her confidence? Are you that arrogant? I promised to protect her! I promised to back her up! I promised to support her! What more does she need?” Ishtar demanded over the howling crackles and clashes between them.

Chunhua clicked her tongue and twisted around, snapping a kick out again and catching Ishtar in the chest as she darted around her again. The Supervillain went flying and landed on the ground, using her lightning bolt to stab into the ground and slow herself. “If you have time to talk, you could be fighting harder.”

Ishtar stood up straight and whipped the false-dark hair back, “Caught me.”

Chunhua stalked forward, “Thank you,” She said.

Ishtar tilted her head, “For what?”

“For watching over her, for supporting her, for putting on this act for her,” She said, “I am arrogant., I am selfish, extremely selfish,” She and got back into a fighting posture, blade raised at the side of her head, “Because I refuse to let her destroy herself in the end.”

Ishtar stood up straighter and looked down at her, “I’m not going anywhere, you know. She has a long road ahead of her before I can finally disappear. I’m looking forward to it, yes, but until that happens,” She tilted her head forward and glared through the holes in the mask, “I will be watching.”

Chunhua pursed her lips together, “I wouldn’t expect any less from you.” She bit out, “Come, Villain.”

Chunhua opened her mouth but Sonya was already acting. She glanced at the one called Kerauna, “Kera dear, cause a bit more trouble then flee, claim that you were working for the darksiders and that you got bored of them. You are escaping Black Lotus, understood?”

Kera nodded, “Yes ma’am,” She said quickly.

Sonya looked up at Chunhua, “I need a few more bruises, then knock me out,” Chunhua recoiled a little but Sonya gave her a firm look, “Do it. Hero. You have a role to play now.”

Chunhua sighed and raised her fist, shaking her head, “You asked for it.”

–

A bolt of lightning ripped out of the building before landing amidst the crowd outside of the hotel, the civilians scattered as the gray haired wild woman slid across the ground with a sneer on her face. She stood up with a mad slouch to her shoulders, canting her head crazily to the right, “Fuckin’ Darksiders, bunch of limp-dicks and chauvies,” She spat on the ground and wiped her lip, “Then you fuckin’ show up and ruin more of my fun. Sword bitch,” She growled and raised the finger to Black Lotus as she strode out, a white garbed woman in her arms.

“Kerauna, if you keep fighting here you could trigger a dungeon break,” Black Lotus shouted with that dignified voice of hers, “Isn’t killing Masque enough for you?”

Kera threw her head back with a laugh, “Not nearly enough! I’ll carbonize all those bitches in the darksiders for crossing me. Just you wait,” She said with a few steps back. The security team that had arrived on the scene watched gobsmacked as Black Lotus strode forward with the CEO of ASTA cradled in her arms and a glare in her eyes. Meanwhile, the number four most wanted Villain, now finally identified as Kerauna, retreated slowly, glancing at the security teams and the approaching heroes.

She clicked her tongue, “Tch, whatever, this was getting boring anyway,” She spat and with a laugh turned into a bolt of lightning and launched into the sky, joining the clouds with a clap of thunder before racing away faster than the eye could follow.

Black Lotus stumbled as the security team raced over to her, “Ma’am are you alright? Why are you-”

“I’ll take responsibility,” She said, gently lowering the unconscious Sonya Chernovna to the ground, “She needs medical attention. The building is the base of the Darksiders. Kerauna already killed all of them including their leader, I was too late to stop her. They may have left something behind, though,” She said hurriedly, “Move! Before any further evidence is lost!”

They quickly snapped a salute and raced inside as a healer hero raced up to assist Black Lotus and the woman on the ground. Shortly afterwards, Handmaiden arrived on the scene. She and Black Lotus exchanged brief looks before the brown-haired maid bowed to the martial artist, “Thank you,” She said.

“Just playing my role,” Black Lotus said with a smile and pat Sonya on the shoulder as the chaos of emergency, pandora committee, and law enforcement personnel swarmed around them in a cacophony of noise.

Inside the building, the security team found every single camera burned out and shattered by intense surges of electricity, the horrifying sight of the well over a hundred darksider thugs left crisp on the ground, the nearly vaporized corpse of Masque, and a single cell phone that still functioned enough to get access to the forums that the Darksiders used to communicate.

By the end of the day, the sudden extermination of the Darksiders, Black Lotus’ daring rescue of the ASTA CEO, and Kerauna’s flight from Black Lotus’ glare was all that was on the news, Liberty’s tantrum slowly being overshadowed

–

He stomped through the bushes, checking his compass again. It had to be around here somewhere. There weren’t many opportunities like this. The troublesome instructors were gone, including that Black Lotus thing that kept her eyes on him all the time she was around. Which was annoyingly a lot. He frowned to himself as he listened to the radio. Liberty, that idiot, my guide said she was supposed to be a good ally. Why is everything going wrong? He clicked his tongue. It’s that Ishtar’s fault somehow, I know it. He shifted his jaw left and right, Hm... maybe I can use this. What if I kill the Liberty bitch myself? He thought as he stumbled into the clearing he was looking for.

“Aha,” He laughed, “Found it.”

Ahead of him, two totem-like pylons rose into the air, a portal rippling between them. His smile turned cold, his eyes glowed, and he rubbed his hands together.

“Now, let's see what adjustments I can make,” He hissed and stalked over.