6-4: Roshia's Rage
In celebration of my first (and most likely last) tattoo (of a unicorn, if you want to know), I would like to dedicate this (boring) chappie to everyone that reviewed the last one! UlrichAndYumi4Ever, dantheman7777, East Coast Ryder, Kayrana, Black Cherry Soda, Lobo-Chan, (Rose), and foxmoonshadow: this one belongs to y'all!
(((-4-)))
Jeremy, Ulrich and Aelita were just reaching the factory when the pink-haired girl nonchalantly wondered, "Where did Janika go?"
The two boys skidded to a stop and looked at each other in horror. Ulrich pointed at his friend. "Didn't you help her down the ladder?"
"I thought Odd did."
"She couldn't have climbed back up the ladder all by herself. She was too weak. How did she get left behind?"
(V)
Janika dove into the brush while Yumi was arguing with Ulrich. They needed her to help out here. There was no possible way she was going to get left out of this one if she couldn't go to Lyoko, and she seriously doubted that Jeremy would let her. She had a better chance fighting here.
She saw her Japanese friend run out into the rain where Roshia was just sitting up. The blonde girl made a jerking motion with her hand and suddenly Yumi was pitched into a tree just a few feet from the spectator like a sack of rice! She thudded against it and dropped to the ground in a heap. X.A.N.A.'s puppet grinned murderously and strode purposefully over to her. As she stood above Yumi, Roshia clenched her hands and the earth replied with a rumble.
In a flash Janika slammed into her friend's attacker, shrieking like a lunatic! They rolled in the mud, but the blonde girl came out on top with her hands locked around the other's throat. The fingers tightened and cut off her breath, but before Janika's eyes had even started to glaze over, a fist clouted the Pawn over her head and the earth buckled as though it had felt the blow.
The dark-haired girl looked up at Odd and coughed as Roshia slid back. She forced herself to meet his eyes. "I had to stay."
He knelt down beside her. "Are you all right?" She didn't answer. "At least go inside where it's safer."
"Did everyone stay behind!" Yumi demanded as she leaned against the tree. "What are you two doing here! You guys get to the factory right now! That girl is dangerous."
She looked like a mess and was worried about them?
"Yumi, you'd be dead right now if it wasn't for me!" Janika yelled while trying to shield her face from the rain as it grew heavier.
"And you'd be dead right now if it wasn't for me!" the blonde boy chastised. "Let's just—"
"Get out of the way!" Yumi screamed as she dove into her friends, knocking them down. They sprawled in the mud as a plate of solid earth behind them crashed right where they had been standing a moment before.
Roshia walked slowly toward them, eyes glowing russet in the semi-darkness. She seemed oblivious to everything, even the blood running down the side of her head. Her hands clenched as the earth pulsed along with her movements.
The three teenagers shot a single glance at each other before leaping to their feet and fleeing. Unfortunately, the ground was so soggy from the pouring rain that it made traction difficult and the only thing they succeeded in doing was getting a nice mudbath.
"We need some way to defend ourselves!" Odd called over the thunderclaps. "There might be something in the gym we can use. Are you guys up to it?"
Both girls were limping from the beatings they had received.
"That Roshia isn't going to give us a chance to recover if she has anything to—aaaaaahhh!"
The taller girl was flung to the ground and tendrils of mud began to wrap around her body, holding her down. Odd stopped and turned back to help, but she shouted,
"Go! We can't fight her without a weapon, Odd!"
Reluctantly, he turned his back on her, but the mud around his feet began to writhe and reach for him. Panicking, he slung Janika into his arms and ran toward the gym for all he was worth!
They barely made it before the branches of earth snatched after them. Once inside, Odd put his friend down and ran to the closet where all the equipment was stored. The best thing he could find was a javelin, but as he picked it up, the brunette girl behind him became uneasy.
"Those rocky cords should have been here by now. What is Roshia doing?"
Wobbling to her feet, Janika made her way to the door. She tried to push it open, but it seemed to be stuck. Odd tried to help, but something was keeping them trapped inside.
(V)
Yumi was nearly covered with mud that was strong as iron. She could hardly wriggle, much less flee. And where was Roshia?
No sooner had she thought the question than lightning flared and the devilish witch stood before her.
"Thought you could escape, did you? Well, no one escapes from me. Not for long. Your friends think they're safe in that building there, don't they?"
The black-haired girl managed to tilt her head far enough to catch sight of the gym through the monsoon. But even as she watched, vine-like stems of earth crept up the sides, blocking the front doors and the side-exits.
Yumi managed to break free of her prison as Roshia's concentration focused on the building. She forced herself to her feet and ran at the dungeon, screaming at the top of her lungs for her friends to get out.
Mounds of earth suddenly pushed up, breaking the sidewalk and barring her way. She tried to dash around it, but the soil just ahead of her shot skyward, dagger-like rocks blocking her again. Yumi skidded to a stop as the boulders branched out in either direction, hemming her in tightly. She had nowhere left to run.
Brushing rain-slicked hair out of her eyes, Yumi thought to herself, I sure hope the others are having an easier time on Lyoko. And hesitantly, she turned to face the living nightmare behind her.
No, my tattoo did not hurt (nose suddenly grows longer). Gack! I've gotta get that fixed.
