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PART 17
"Battle of the Shadows"
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Betsy felt a chill spread throughout her astral form as she stared at the monster before her. His grotesque face was twisted into a perverse smile, as if he enjoyed the feeling he got from depriving her of the joy of seeing her friends again.
"Why are you doing this to me," she asked, backing away from his hand. Her right hand tightened into a fist, pink psychic energy appearing around it, slowly forming into a glowing dagger. She brought it up in a defensive posture, ready to fight the moment the man made a move towards her.
"Do you really think you can harm me with such toys, child," the Shadow King hissed, drawing closer to Betsy again. She swung, a blow that should have connected with his astral body, but it simply passed through him, "I am a master of shadows, my dear... an enemy with which you could not even dream of contending with." He swung a taloned hand across her midsection, tearing into her. She let out a scream that echoed all throughout the Astral Plane. "There is no way you can win."
"Professor Xavier! Help me, please!" Betsy cried out, hoping to see the kind old man's astral projection appear next to her, but no one came to her rescue. She stared coldly at the Shadow King, a deep hatred welling up from the pit of her stomach. The eyes of her astral form began to glow bright yellow.
"No one can help you now, girl," he said, "you cannot match my power, it is a waste for you to even try." He took another swing, but this time Betsy was ready, ducking his blow and moving out of the way. Betsy tried to concentrate on the dark energies that the Shadow King was a master of, tried to grasp hold of them and use them to her advantage. She found the energies to be frighteningly cold. A chill ran throughout her as she channeled the power through her entire astral form. She felt her body begin to turn colder as she wrapped herself in a sort of shadow armor, now she was covered from head to toe in the same blackness that the Shadow King seemed to be made of. The look of surprise on his face was worth the effort. "Perhaps I have underestimated you, Elizabeth, but it is of no consequence. I will still defeat you, in time." He swung his claws at her again, but this time she brought up her dagger to block, shadow energies flowing through the dark purple blade. The Shadow King snarled, making another attack, only to have it blocked. After a few more failed swipes, the man once known as Farouk was becoming visibly tired. He backed off, concentrating his energies, and slowly seemed to begin to grow in size, grinning wickedly as he did so.
"You foolish child! This could have been easy for you, but now I shall have to show you what the Shadow King is truly capable of." He had grown to twice the height of Betsy's astral form, his talons were the size of trees.
"Bring it on," Betsy said, feigning confidence. She made an offensive move, slicing at the Shadow King's leg. It connected, and he let out a grunt of pain, followed by a swipe of his hand which sent Betsy tumbling. She recovered as quickly as possible and went back to work, trying desperately to not show any sign of weakness. Her will was being put to the test yet again, and as she had shown Kwannon, she refused to be dominated. Each blow that followed flashed brilliant colors of purple and pink. The astral landscape around the pair of combatants lit up with their individual psychic energy signatures. After what seemed like an eternity of combat both combatants were beginning to grow tired, but neither was willing to give the other the victory. Being battling in defense of her body, Betsy had the advantage of having something to hold on to, the promise of being able to continue to live. This drove her on, forcing her to recognize that this was no game she was playing, she had to strive to win, or the consequences would be dire. Betsy summoned up every last ounce of energy she had, her blade growing in size until it resembled the psychic katana which Kwannon used, rather than the short dagger she normally used. During the battle, she had grown strangely accustom to the coldness of the shadows she had wrapped herself in, and might even have said that she was comfortable in the form. She leapt high in the air, driving her blade into the Shadow King's midsection. He let out a loud howl which resounded all throughout the Astral Plane, the psychic landscape around him seeming to be caught up in an earthquake of terrible proportions. He staggered backwards as Betsy landed back down on the ground, or what she perceived to be the ground, anyhow.
"This is impossible! I cannot believe that I have been struck so fatally by a mere child," he said, his eye glowing red with injured fury. He charged at her to try to strike her with a blow as fatal as the one she had delivered to him, but she was ready.
"Believe it or not, it's over, chum," she concentrated hard, summoning up every ounce of her psychic energy and shot it at him, covering every part of his astral being with it. Soon the Shadow King was completely ensnared in a net of pink and purple psychic energy. "Well, it's been real fun, but I'm afraid I have to go." She said, not letting on just how much effort she had to put in trapping him there. Betsy watched him for a few moments as he struggled against her trap, but all his efforts were in vain.
"You have not heard the last from me, Betsy," he said, his voice full of an eerie calm, "the moment you ease up on your concentration, the very second you use your psychic powers for anything besides holding me here, I will escape. You know that as well as I do, and when that day comes, the Shadow King will come knocking on your door, and this time I will be prepared to finish you."
"Tough talk," Betsy said, "but we will see whose will is stronger, now won't we?" With that, she vanished from his sight, leaving him all alone again, in a new prison of the mind.
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Betsy found herself in a position that had become very familiar to her, laying on Warren's couch, her Angel hovering over her with a concerned look on his face.
"Betsy, it's good to see that you came back around. You fainted after you saw the X-Men on TV," he smiled a bit, "I didn't think you be quite so excited to see your teammates, but I'm glad to see you're happy." She paused for a moment, considering whether or not she should tell him what really went on. Betsy decided that perhaps it would be best that she not tell him, and merely keep the secret to herself.
"Yes, very happy," she said with a smile. It was then that she realized that the world around her had grown very quiet. She no longer had the constant assault of people's thoughts pressing through her skull, trying to invade her mind. She was alone in the universe, with only Warren by her side. In some ways, it was a relief, although she still had to concentrate her psychic powers on keeping the Shadow King imprisoned, but somehow it also left her feeling very much alone.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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PART 17
"Battle of the Shadows"
================================
Betsy felt a chill spread throughout her astral form as she stared at the monster before her. His grotesque face was twisted into a perverse smile, as if he enjoyed the feeling he got from depriving her of the joy of seeing her friends again.
"Why are you doing this to me," she asked, backing away from his hand. Her right hand tightened into a fist, pink psychic energy appearing around it, slowly forming into a glowing dagger. She brought it up in a defensive posture, ready to fight the moment the man made a move towards her.
"Do you really think you can harm me with such toys, child," the Shadow King hissed, drawing closer to Betsy again. She swung, a blow that should have connected with his astral body, but it simply passed through him, "I am a master of shadows, my dear... an enemy with which you could not even dream of contending with." He swung a taloned hand across her midsection, tearing into her. She let out a scream that echoed all throughout the Astral Plane. "There is no way you can win."
"Professor Xavier! Help me, please!" Betsy cried out, hoping to see the kind old man's astral projection appear next to her, but no one came to her rescue. She stared coldly at the Shadow King, a deep hatred welling up from the pit of her stomach. The eyes of her astral form began to glow bright yellow.
"No one can help you now, girl," he said, "you cannot match my power, it is a waste for you to even try." He took another swing, but this time Betsy was ready, ducking his blow and moving out of the way. Betsy tried to concentrate on the dark energies that the Shadow King was a master of, tried to grasp hold of them and use them to her advantage. She found the energies to be frighteningly cold. A chill ran throughout her as she channeled the power through her entire astral form. She felt her body begin to turn colder as she wrapped herself in a sort of shadow armor, now she was covered from head to toe in the same blackness that the Shadow King seemed to be made of. The look of surprise on his face was worth the effort. "Perhaps I have underestimated you, Elizabeth, but it is of no consequence. I will still defeat you, in time." He swung his claws at her again, but this time she brought up her dagger to block, shadow energies flowing through the dark purple blade. The Shadow King snarled, making another attack, only to have it blocked. After a few more failed swipes, the man once known as Farouk was becoming visibly tired. He backed off, concentrating his energies, and slowly seemed to begin to grow in size, grinning wickedly as he did so.
"You foolish child! This could have been easy for you, but now I shall have to show you what the Shadow King is truly capable of." He had grown to twice the height of Betsy's astral form, his talons were the size of trees.
"Bring it on," Betsy said, feigning confidence. She made an offensive move, slicing at the Shadow King's leg. It connected, and he let out a grunt of pain, followed by a swipe of his hand which sent Betsy tumbling. She recovered as quickly as possible and went back to work, trying desperately to not show any sign of weakness. Her will was being put to the test yet again, and as she had shown Kwannon, she refused to be dominated. Each blow that followed flashed brilliant colors of purple and pink. The astral landscape around the pair of combatants lit up with their individual psychic energy signatures. After what seemed like an eternity of combat both combatants were beginning to grow tired, but neither was willing to give the other the victory. Being battling in defense of her body, Betsy had the advantage of having something to hold on to, the promise of being able to continue to live. This drove her on, forcing her to recognize that this was no game she was playing, she had to strive to win, or the consequences would be dire. Betsy summoned up every last ounce of energy she had, her blade growing in size until it resembled the psychic katana which Kwannon used, rather than the short dagger she normally used. During the battle, she had grown strangely accustom to the coldness of the shadows she had wrapped herself in, and might even have said that she was comfortable in the form. She leapt high in the air, driving her blade into the Shadow King's midsection. He let out a loud howl which resounded all throughout the Astral Plane, the psychic landscape around him seeming to be caught up in an earthquake of terrible proportions. He staggered backwards as Betsy landed back down on the ground, or what she perceived to be the ground, anyhow.
"This is impossible! I cannot believe that I have been struck so fatally by a mere child," he said, his eye glowing red with injured fury. He charged at her to try to strike her with a blow as fatal as the one she had delivered to him, but she was ready.
"Believe it or not, it's over, chum," she concentrated hard, summoning up every ounce of her psychic energy and shot it at him, covering every part of his astral being with it. Soon the Shadow King was completely ensnared in a net of pink and purple psychic energy. "Well, it's been real fun, but I'm afraid I have to go." She said, not letting on just how much effort she had to put in trapping him there. Betsy watched him for a few moments as he struggled against her trap, but all his efforts were in vain.
"You have not heard the last from me, Betsy," he said, his voice full of an eerie calm, "the moment you ease up on your concentration, the very second you use your psychic powers for anything besides holding me here, I will escape. You know that as well as I do, and when that day comes, the Shadow King will come knocking on your door, and this time I will be prepared to finish you."
"Tough talk," Betsy said, "but we will see whose will is stronger, now won't we?" With that, she vanished from his sight, leaving him all alone again, in a new prison of the mind.
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Betsy found herself in a position that had become very familiar to her, laying on Warren's couch, her Angel hovering over her with a concerned look on his face.
"Betsy, it's good to see that you came back around. You fainted after you saw the X-Men on TV," he smiled a bit, "I didn't think you be quite so excited to see your teammates, but I'm glad to see you're happy." She paused for a moment, considering whether or not she should tell him what really went on. Betsy decided that perhaps it would be best that she not tell him, and merely keep the secret to herself.
"Yes, very happy," she said with a smile. It was then that she realized that the world around her had grown very quiet. She no longer had the constant assault of people's thoughts pressing through her skull, trying to invade her mind. She was alone in the universe, with only Warren by her side. In some ways, it was a relief, although she still had to concentrate her psychic powers on keeping the Shadow King imprisoned, but somehow it also left her feeling very much alone.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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