Chapter 14

Simply Smashing

I heard a loud chorus of all three of Darius' Melanies from the other side of the door.

"Melanie Blast!"

The door splintered into flaming debris. Melanie Four protected me.

"Melanie Shield."

A red barrier formed in front of us. We were not hurt from the explosion. She lowered the shield and we stood face to face with Melanies One, Two, and Three.

"Melanie Four, you're back. I thought Master dismantled you." Melanie One said.

"Well, my girlfriend, Sarah, put me back together."

She paused to point her hand at the other Melanies.

Now I'm going to kick your asses and smear your guts all over the walls! How does that sound?"

Melanie Three shook her head.

"Love makes you evil, Melanie Four. You've gone too far from the path. It's no wonder Master was going to dispose of your mind."

She was pissing me off. I wasn't evil! They were evil for trying to take Melanie away from me! Melanie spoke to me.

"Come on, Sarah. Let's give them hell!"

I rushed toward Melanie Three and tried to kick her in the face. She held out her arms.

"Melanie Shield!" That same red barrier Melanie Four put up appeared in front of me. I crashed into it and hurt my foot.

"Fuck, that hurt!" I shouted.

I started to get back up, until Melanie Three shot a blast at me. I rolled out of the way and countered by punching her in the jaw. She fell down on her back.

"Get back up! I'll tear out your throat!" I said with a sadistic grin.

I started to jump on top of her, until she put out her hand.

"Melanie Blast!"

I was shot across the room again. It felt like I had just been hit by a car.

Melanie Three started to get back up, until Melanie Four shot her.

"Melanie Blast!"

It hit her so hard that her head came clean off. I clapped my hands.

"Go Melanie!"

She turned to me.

We can win this one, Sarah!" She said from across the room.

Before she could say anything else, Melanie Two blasted her with a beam. I started to run over to her, until someone grabbed my neck from behind. It was Melanie One. She started to try to squeeze my neck, but I was too strong.

"Oh no you don't, bitch!" I shouted.

I slipped from out of her grasp and performed my ultimate attack, The Super Ultimate Mega Rising Salamander Grip of Extreme Death! I slid under Melanie One's legs and tried to reach between her legs until I realized that she had no genitals. None of the Melanies had them. I ended up just grabbing a smooth area of her skin. She was still startled, though, which gave me an opening to grab her by the ankles and topple her.

Once Melanie One was down, I pummeled her with my fists and shouted obscenities at her in a blind rage as I smashed her face. I heard some loud cracks as I slammed my fists into her and she bled all over me. I think I might have broken her skull.

"Fuck you, you bloody imposter bitch!" I shouted as I got up.

I thought she was dead, until I heard those terrifying words come from her mouth.

"Melanie Healing." Melanie One got right back up and healed in front of me.

I smiled

"Oh, you want some more? I'll kill you as many times as I have to! Come on, homunculus bitch! Fight me!"

Melanie One put out her hand and put up her barrier. "Melanie Shield!" I tried to punch it down, but only succeeded in hurting my hand. "Ow! Fuck!" I shouted. Melanie One lifted the shield and shot another blast at me, but I jumped out of the way. I smashed my fist into her face and knocked a couple of her teeth out. That was when I had a plan. I grabbed her by the neck and put her in a headlock. I jammed my fist into her jaw again and broke the rest of her teeth out. These Melanies were so fragile. It was like they were made of papier-mâché.

"Okay, you bitch. Let's see how you fight without any of that fucking magic!"

I put on my sadistic grin again and reached into her mouth. I think she tried to say something, or maybe bite down on me, but it wasn't enough. I grabbed her tongue and yanked on it. She cried out in pain.

"Silence is golden." I said.

I dug my finger nails into her tongue and yanked it out. Blood spurted all over my face and out her mouth. I dropped the tongue and it flopped around on the floor.

"There! No more magic for you!" I said.

Melanie One started to say something, but it was impossible. I finished her off by grabbing her by the neck. She writhed in pain as I squeezed. She struggled to break free and coughed up blood until her face changed colors. Her body fell limp and I heard a snap. Melanie One was dead.

I turned to Melanie Four. She was shielding herself from an onslaught of magic blasts from Melanie Two.

"Melanie, I'm coming to help you!" I shouted.

Melanie Two turned to me.

"Sarah, no! She's too strong.!" Melanie Four said.

Before I could throw a punch, the evil Melanie cast a spell.

"Melanie Shield!"

I ended up punching the wall and falling down. I had been hurt so much that it was getting hard for me to move. I would have passed out if not for all the adrenaline pumping through me.

Melanie Four tried to run to my aid.

"Melanie Healing!"

I started to feel better, until Melanie Two started to glow.

"You… You two killed my sisters!"

I noticed Melanie One's broken body and Melanie Three's headless corpse off to the sides. Melanie Two started to laugh like a maniac.

"I won't stand for this. I really won't. I'm going to take you both down, even if it kills me!"

The light emanating from her body grew stronger.

"Sarah, she's going to use her ultimate attack, Melanie Doom!" Melanie Four said.

Melanie Four put up her shield in front of both of us. Melanie Two cackled as power surged through her body and radiated with light.

"That won't save you! Your shield is too weak!"

Melanie Four started to look discouraged. I could see her shield getting weaker.

"No! She's wrong! You can do it, Melanie! It's all about trying your hardest! Don't give up, I believe in you!"

A burst of energy went out from Melanie Two's body. It cracked the barrier.

"I don't think I can hold it." Melanie Four said.

"Don't say that! We're going to live, I know it!" I said.

I felt something in the back of mind shatter. It was the vision of the future, the one where I was holding Melanie's body. I saw a glimpse of it before it disappeared.

"You aren't going to die on me, Melanie. We can do this!"

Another burst of magic energy surged out of Melanie Two. The Melanie Shield cracked again.

"Sarah, you need to go. I can't hold it. Run away, somewhere where you won't get hurt." Melanie Four said.

Another surge came forth. Melanie Four tried to repair it by reinforcing the shield, but it still looked cracked.

"Go!" She said to me.

"I'm not abandoning you, Melanie. I love you. I never want to leave you." I said.

Melanie Four smiled when she heard this. I could see tears in her eyes.

"Fine. I guess if we're going to die, we'll die together."

"We won't die! I believe in you, Melanie!"

Melanie Two screamed.

"Melanie Doom!"

Her body disintegrated in an instant. The final surge of energy came forth like a tsunami. The ground shook. The walls collapsed. The roof was blown to bits. The explosion would have consumed everything, but Melanie's shield protected us. I could feel scorching air, the blast wind, blowing heat at me on the sides of the barrier. I started to blow away, until Melanie grabbed me by the hand.

"I've got you, Sarah. Don't worry. I've got you."

My eyes felt like they were going to bleed. My clothes started to tear in the wind. I could see Melanie's shield holding back what looked like a nuclear explosion. There was another crack.

"Sarah…" Melanie said in a weak voice.

"Stay focused, Melanie! Stay focused!"

She pulled me up to her lips and tried to kiss me, until her arms fell limps. She let go and I fell onto the floor. The shield cracked again, like it was about to break.

"Melanie!" I said.

She turned to the explosion and repaired more cracks on her shield. The explosion ended. Her barrier disappeared. Melanie collapsed.

I ran to Melanie and held her in my arms. It was just like in the vision. She was covered in blood and dying.

"Melanie… I'm sorry. I tried my hardest. I tried and tried and fucking tried and…"

She opened her eyes.

"Sarah, what are you talking about?"

She weakly stood up. She wobbled a little, like she was about to fall down, but she seemed fine.

"Melanie? You're alive?"

She helped me up.

"I'm moving and talking to you, aren't I?" She said with a smile.

I had to cry and hug her.

"I thought I fucking lost you." I said.

"No, it's okay. It's going to take a lot more than that to stop us."

We both stood in the ruins of Darius' house when we noticed two things. First was that Darius had gotten away. The second was that we had no idea how we were going to get home.

"So, how about home? I'm not into the whole public nudity thing." Melanie joked.

I had forgotten that she had been naked this entire time. I backed away from her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I mean… I had no idea I'd been touching your… I looked at her chest.

"You don't have any tits… er you do, but you have no nipples."

Melanie shook her head.

"I don't need them. Darius made me to be a dark warrior, not a sex machine. I'm kind of glad, really. He seemed like he was always two steps away from trying to fuck me."

She paused before giving me a smile again.

"Even then, I don't mind if you touch me there. It doesn't bother me."

I smiled back.

"I wouldn't mind if you touched me there either."

I walked toward one of Darius' neighbor's houses and knocked on the door.

"What are you doing, Sarah?"

"I'm asking to use their phone. What does it look like I'm doing?"

Melanie ran to me.

"Sarah, he's busy. Can't you tell? The house next door blew up and he hasn't gone to look at it."

"Busy my ass. He's just scared or something. This place looks rough anyway." I said.

I looked around and the neighborhood did look a bit messy. There was garbage everywhere and graffiti on a few people's houses.

I knocked on the door again. An old man answered the door.

"Oh, who is this? Are you here to sell me cookies? I don't want any."

He started to slam the door, until I put my foot in.

"We're not here to sell fucking cookies you geezer."

The old man looked at Melanie.

"Oh. Prostitutes! Come right in. I apologize, my package is a little old, for lack of better word, but I think I might have an arousal potion somewhere."

I slapped him across the face.

"Your neighbor's house just blew up and we need to use your phone."

The old man looked next door and saw the piles of rubble.

"Oh. Well, that's bad. I'm sure the constables will be quite sore over that."

What the fuck was wrong with this man? Did anything mean anything to him? He was pissing me off.

"Right. Well, if you need to use my phone, then come right in. I think I might have one in the hallway."

He led us inside and showed me to the phone. While I dialed, I noticed him standing behind Melanie with a perverted look on his face.

"Are you staring at my ass?" She said.

The old man lowered his head in shame.

"Your bum is pretty. That is all."

The phone rang and Dad picked up.

"Salamandrus residence."

"Dad?" I said.

"Sarah? Where the hell have you been?"

"It's a long story, Dad, but I'm a few houses down from Knockturn Alley and I need a ride home."

Dad sighed

"Always getting into trouble with you. I'll be there with some brooms."

He started to hang up.

"Wait, Dad, another thing." I said.

"What is it?" "I'm covered in blood. Can you promise me you won't make a big deal of it?"

"What the hell are you all covered in blood for?" He said.

"Dad, please?"

He groaned.

"Fine. I'll be there…"

"Dad, one more thing." I said.

"What is it now?"

"I'm naked too. Can you bring me clothes?"

"Why are naked? Have you been doing… You know… Lesbian stuff?"

"No it's… It's a long story. Just bring me some clothes, okay?" I said.

"Fine. But when we get back, you two will have a lot of explaining to do."

I hung up and turned to Melanie.

"Wait, I'm the naked one, not you." She said.

I took off my shredded and bloodstained clothes.

"We can't let Dad know you're not human. He'd call the coppers and they'd take you away. Here, put these on." I said.

I handed my clothes to Melanie. The old man smiled.

"You look much better than her. Maybe I won't need that arousal potion." He said.

"Piss off, gramps." I said.

Melanie put my clothes on.

"They're itchy, Sarah. I don't like wearing your blood soaked stuff."

"Just hold on, okay? You'll be fine."

The old man raised a question to Melanie.

"So, if you aren't a human, then what are you?"

Before Melanie could speak, I cut in.

"She's a human."

"I thought you said she was something else?"

"No, your ears are just old."

"But she didn't have any girly bits." The old man said.

"Your eyes are just playing tricks on you. Now go back to bed and wait for us to leave." Melanie said.

"But… I'm not sleepy."

I nudged him away, and he walked back to his bed. What a colossal idiot.