Helloooooooo! Yeah, I know- this is fast! I felt kind of bad about leaving you guys with that trashy, plotless last chapter (even though you guys all assured me that it was great, you're the bEsT). And I didn't want to disappear for a month with you guys hanging off of that cliff, so I decided to sit down and start writing. Of course, once I started writing without any interruptions, I managed to churn out 1300 words. So here you go!
Kotlclover: Ahh thank you! You're in luck!
MarellaIsTheBest (#1): Thank youuuuuuu. Heh heh heh aLL THE SHIPS ARE SO CUTE! ! ! And eee! Yay! Also really cool font, how the mallowmelt did you do that?
MarellaIsTheBest (#2): AHH! OMG! ASDFGHJKL! I actually did NOT know that- I'm no longer allowed to stalk SM on instagram without getting my own account, which I'm not allowed to. So thank you so much for letting me know! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
MarellaIsTheBest (#3): No problem, lol. I knew what you meant.
HernameisBurrito: That's a mood. I'll need it! Ahh thank you!
girlonfire: Hi! No problem. Great references. AND PEGGY! :D
Sky: Well... is it FedEx? ;) Muahahaha, I'm not telling. that's pretty good advice! Be afraid, be very afraid. On that positive note... THANKS! -A. Fan.
Fitzphieistrash: Oh mallowmelt I could never, lol. I mean... MUAHAHA! Ahem.
Mallowmelt: No, because the council is too lazy to do anything useful by themselves and they rely on a group of kids. Each councillor has a key and Dex most likely borrowed it from either Bronte or Oralie. Thank you! Wait no more!
Elizabethornton: Thanks! Ugh, yeah, I never really thought about it that way... so yay! Fillers!
SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks! :)
Princess Book: Nice acronym. And thanks! I guess Sokeefe does make up for it... and yay! Keefe! I don't think it's weird... well, not any weirder than being a fangirl. Ahh thank you! -A. Fan.
Swiftheart1267: Yay! High five! Mine is in Kyokushin, which is a Japanese style. WRITER'S BLOCK IS THE ENEMY! Thank you! -A. Fan.
MidnightBunnyy: Was it FedEx? ;) You'll never know. I guess platonic Fitzphie is okay... I didn't really want to write him as a total jerk this time, so I wrote him as a normal guy that was perfectly fine, just totally wrong for Sophie. Lol. YEAH, GO SOPHIE! Thanks!
Siren: Yes it is! But thanks anyway. That's fine! :)
Okay, here is my attempt at a battle scene- it's like, halfway decent.
Crowd: Eh, more like ten percent.
Me: SHUT UP!
Okay, enjoy!
Fintan's eyes widened in surprise as Sophie stepped out of the hamster ball- sorry, Paragon. "Sophie Foster, trying to 'save the day'. Why am I not surprised?"
Sophie gritted her teeth. "Because I will always do the right thing. No matter how hard it is."
"The right thing?" Fintan repeated. Sophie clenched her fists, willing herself not to betray any fear. "What makes you so sure you know the difference between right and wrong?"
"I-" Sophie started, the words dying in her throat. She swallowed and tried again. "Killing people is wrong. Genocide is even more wrong. And saving people is right."
Fintan stroked his chin. "Interesting. But you don't have any regrets about killing us, of course. Doesn't that make you just as evil?"
"Sometimes you have to do bad things to stop others from doing worse things. And I don't want to kill anyone- but if it's the only way, I will."
Fintan grinned, a maniacal look on his face. "But you see, Miss Foster, that's what we are doing. Are you not aware of the horrors humans cause? War. Destruction. Hatred. And the only way to stop that is by killing them. We're just doing the same thing you are, Miss Foster, simply against a different enemy.
Sophie froze as his words echoed through her mind. She opened her mouth to debate them, but found that an argument wouldn't come.
Was he right? Were Sophie and her friends doing the wrong thing?
"CAN YOU GUYS QUIT IT WITH THE TALKING!?" Biana screamed, drawing all eyes to her- and then she turned invisible. "Seriously, that is the most boring part of any battle. We get it, you guys hate each other, you disagree on concepts of good and evil, now can we move on to the fighting?"
"Biana's right," Stina said, causing Sophie's mouth to fall open in shock- and she doubted that she was alone. Even though Stina had definitely been better recently, she and Biana had absolutely despised each other. But there they were, standing side by side, ready to fight together. Stina reached into her pocket and brought something out enclosed in her fist so that no one could tell what it was. Another shock came when Stina yelled "Thanks, Dex!" and threw the object in the general direction of the Neverseen.
As soon as it hit the ground, it made a noise like a gunshot before exploding into thousands of brightly burning sparks. Loud cursing came from the voice of Ruy Ignis.
"Everything is better with sparkles," Biana whispered under her breath. Sophie fought down the bizarre urge to laugh, but as Stina's explosive thing continued to burn and the rest of her friends emerged from the Paragon, Sophie couldn't help but smile.
Somehow, and much to Sophie's disappointment (of course it couldn't have been that easy, but couldn't she hope?), the Neverseen managed to extinguish the flames. Sophie took a deep breath and watched as the other Neverseen members stepped out of their Paragon.
Ruy. Vespera. Gethen. Trix. Three figures that Sophie didn't recognize, each wearing a Neverseen cloak. Two goblins and an ogre.
That was it.
It was all Sophie could do to not clap a hand over her mouth and laugh with delight. For what was probably the first time ever, the Black Swan outnumbered the Neverseen. They hadn't expected anyone to come fight them, after all- the Black Swan managed to take them by surprise, and now they had the upper hand.
Before, Sophie had convinced herself that they would win, but she hadn't really believed it as truly as she did now.
Something small, vaguely resembling a Hershey Kiss, sailed over Sophie's head before nailing Gethen square in the face. He cried out in pain and slapped a hand to the burn. "Yes," she heard Wylie whisper.
One of the cloaked figures- small enough that Sophie wouldn't have thought them a threat, even shorter than she was- brought out some sort of neon green cube and brought her hand back, as though preparing to throw. Just before she let go, the cube exploded in her hand. Sophie looked around to see a look of concentration fading from Jensi's face, and a wide grin coming over it.
Outward channeling, she remembered.
"Biana," Vespera said in her sickening voice. Beside Sophie, Biana rubbed her bare shoulders. "I see your scars haven't disappeared yet. It's a shame- you used to be beautiful. And since your beauty was all you had, now... you're nothing."
Fitz growled, but his anger was nothing compared to Biana's. She bolted, running so fast that she was almost a blur, until a sucker punch to Vespera sent her reeling.
On Sophie's other side, Keefe took out a throwing star. She thought she heard him mutter "Gigantor" before flinging it in the general direction of the Neverseen. It nailed Trix in the shoulder.
Fintan shot flames at Marella, which Linh extinguished with ease before Marella fired back. Electricity crackled through the air from one of the cloaked members- probably the one that electrocuted Sophie. Dex, who apparently reached the same conclusion, became pelting them with gadgets, Stina joining in.
Sophie watched as the chaos unfolded- Keefe poking random members before attacking Vespera, Grizel going after the other goblins with a fury that only could have meant she was thinking of Sandor, Fitz and Dex teamed up against Ruy in the most unlikely of alliances- before all of her concentration returned to herself.
Sophie focused on all of her fear. All of her anger at those who had betrayed her, at those who had hurt someone she loved. All of the pain, from losing Sandor, Calla, Kenric, the first Mr. Forkle, even Jolie, though they had never met. She let herself feel all of it until it overwhelmed her.
And then she inflicted.
Beyond making sure that her waves of pain never hit one of her friends, she completely lost herself in the inflicting. Distantly, she heard yelling- whether it was from someone in the Neverseen or in the Black Swan, she couldn't tell- but all of it sounded like background noise, like all of it was muffled. The only thing that mattered was that she kept inflicting, and she couldn't afford any distractions.
When her vision finally cleared, she saw several Neverseen members on the ground. Gethen appeared to be completely unconscious, while Fintan and a cloaked member were both moving and groaning. One goblin had a spear through their chest, the ground them soaked in blood, and Grizel stood over them with a triumphant look on her face. Lovise and Woltzer were working together to take down the other goblin, and Ro was still sparring with the ogre. Wylie and Tam were fighting Trix, while Linh, Marella, and Stina went after Vespera. Grady appeared to be mesmerizing one cloaked figure, while Edaline and Juline were fighting the other. The rest of the collective was up against Ruy, and Dex, Kesler, and Jensi were throwing gadgets at random intervals. Maruca's brow was furrowed in concentration as she held up a force field. Inside, Fitz and Alden were kneeling by Biana, who had a large bruise on her forehead, and her scars from Nightfall were bleeding again.
"Enough," came Fintan's raspy voice. Sophie, who had been about to resume inflicting, froze. "Enough of this pointless fighting. I didn't come here to bicker with the Moonlark and her idiotic friends. I came to the Point of Purity to do one thing, and one thing only."
Fintan pulled a small, harmless looking vial from his pocket before continuing. "I came here to start the pandemic."
OOooooooooooOooooooooo THE FINTONAVIRUS! O.o. Anyway.
Hopefully this wasn't too bad! :P
Anyway, the climax/battle scene will last at least two chapters. I'll try not to be too long with the second!
We're almost at 400 reviews! Thank you so much you amazing human beings.
Please review! Unless you're just here to insult me, in which case, go fight a gorgodon. Thanks!
Your obedient fangirl,
A. Fan.