I stared boredly at my reflection in the river, Sesame and Ocus were fooling around somewhere nearby. Ocus didn't really seem happy to see me...And i'll admit that it hurt pretty bad...I don't think my chest has hurt like this since may grandparents died, but I guess I should expect to feel this way...
I sighed, dropping a rock on my reflection for the hell of it, *Dammit, why is it so bad for me to get a little payback after years of being treated like shit?* I asked myself mentally, *Morality be damned, those fuckers were nothing but scum, they don't get when enough is enough and they never get punished, so why the fuck is it so wrong for me to be pissed off!?*
Feeling my temper raising, steam began to pour from my head, I growled as I raised my right hand at the woods in front of me, not caring about the aftermath, I REALLY needed to blow something up right now!
A black orb resembling a storm cloud formed at my hand, purple energy lined it's physical shape and poured from it as it grew, with a grunt I fired the miniature Death Ball and watched it buzz around haphazardly before touching down somewhere in the woods, creating a blast that pushed trees away from the large crater, making a dome shaped blast that I could see from here.
I groaned as I stood up, the cops had tried pursuing us before but we lost them easily, they'd have probably called in the military if we had fought back, but for now they seem to want to control the situation in that last city...That and we haven't really made ourselves known...
"Pepper!" I blinked, my internal monologue cut off, when I turned to see Sesame running at me, Ocus staying back, "Something wrong?" she asked, oblivious to why I had blew up a portion of the woods.
I sighed, "I'm fine Sesame..." I stated with a blank expression.
Sesame didn't buy it, "No, Pepper is mad, Sesame can feel it!" she stated, "Please, why Pepper mad?"
I frowned as it all started turning in my head, like a whirlpool all my thoughts were jumbled around...And I ended up lashing out...
The steam I was holding back burst from my skull like a pipe had busted, I stomped once, shaking the ground, and angered expression on my face, "I don't fucking get it!" I screamed, "I get pushed around and that's fucking fine, but when I get a little revenge everyone fucking hates me!" I could feel the veins in my forehead growing, Sesame had taken a step back, a worried look on her face as I snapped, "My own daughter thinks i'm some kind of psychopath, people want me dead for killing three assholes that deserved it, and then you both leave me alone in the corner like I did something wrong, IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!"
My screech was so loud that the trees had been pushed by it, the energy I had been holding back lashed out randomly, tossing up chunks of earth and blowing holes into trees as chunks of wood, pebbles, and even water molecules were lifted by the energy coming off of me.
It hurt, it hurt so much trying to stop it all, it felt like my head was splitting in two...I let out another loud screech as I fell to my knees, clutching my head in my hands as the pain grew. Sesame and Ocus quickly ran to my side and tried to talk some sense into me but it did little to help, my whole body ached as steam erupted from wherever it could.
Eventually Sesame managed to forcibly pull my hands from the sides of my head and replaced them with her own, Ocus watched as she started to hum something and her hands started glowing. I squirmed in her grip, my body was trying to resist what was going on but eventually I quit moving as I felt something inside me change...Suddenly I felt...Remorse, fear, confusion...
Tears started forming in my eyes as I pulled Sesame into a hug, crying into her chest as she continued doing whatever she was doing...It felt...Warm...
Ocus gasped as the steam pouring from my head stopped, it had turned black like smoke and began to cling together in the sky above, "M-Mommy!" she shouted, tugging at Sesame's pant's leg, but she didn't stop, she continued humming with a smile on her face.
Sesame wrapped her arms around my head, "Sesame make Pepper all better, bad thoughts all gone now..." she said quietly.
I continued to sob into her chest, sorry that I had snapped at her like I did, all my thoughts about 'getting revenge' were gone, "Sesame...O-Ocus...I'm so s-sorry!" I whined.
Sesame shushed me, patting me on her back, "It alright...Sesame not mad..." she would occasionally look up at the black mass in the sky, but right now her concern was calming me down before things got out of hand, "Ocus watch bad thing, kay?" she asked her daughter, lifting me up bridal style as she decided to move me somewhere else.
The little Majin nodded in response and stared up at the black cloud, which was slowly but surely taking the shape of a Majin, bright red sparks flew from it as the cloud started to condense.
I tried to stop sobbing while Sesame flew me off somewhere, eventually dropping me off in a cave not so far away. She layed me on the ground and kissed my forehead, "Sesame be right back, Pepper stay here." she stated happily, not waiting for a response before taking off.
I was much calmer by this point as I pulled my knees into my chest, hugging myself as I tried to regain control over my thoughts and emotions.
Meanwhile, Sesame had returned to confront this new presence. She watched as the dark clouds gave way to a dark figure...The new Majin fell from the sky on purpose, choosing to slam into the ground, creating a crater under her feet.
This newcomer had extremely dark, purple skin, her head-tendrils were long, giving her a very 'Grudge-like' appearance as they hid her face partially, only her right side stuck out and that was only a little...Her head-tail was like Pepper's, sticking out of the top on her head, but hers was long and fell towards the back, her brown eyes had black sclera, blending in with her flesh relatively well with only the brown iris stick out in the shadow covering her face, but the oddest part about this Majin was that occasionally across her skin there were brighter purple splotches, She also seemed to be wearing a tattered, black cloak over her clothes, which were just like ours.
Sesame puffed up her cheeks as she glared back at this newcomer, "You bad part of Pepper, you hurt her!"
The newcomer was silent for the most part, only shooting back some unintelligible mumbling that didn't really seem to transmit into words. The two glared each other down, Ocus stared at the scene, worried because this newcomer almost matched them both in terms of power.
The newcomer's glare seemed to sharpen as her muttering increased, "You...You take me out, you no want me be Pepper!" she yelled back angrily, her voice was far more feral than any of theirs had been, it was like Pepper's voice when she had snapped, but always screeching and scratchy.
Before Sesame could react the Dark Majin was on her, throwing both fists at the same time, an expression of pure rage behind her bangs, Sesame managed to catch them but the result was a blast that broke the sound barrier, she glared at her attacker, "You bad Majin, Sesame hurt you if you fight!"
The newcomer seemed to deem words worthless at this point and screamed in Sesame's face as she put her full strength into pushing forward against her grip, overpowering Sesame and launching her backwards. Sesame managed to catch herself mid slide and managed to prevent herself from sliding too far away, a vein bulged in her forehead as she charged up, creating a stream of wind so strong that the previously crippled trees had been successfully pushed over.
The newcomer screeched like a wild animal as she beat her chest, charging up in a similar fashion, all sense seemed lost on this Dark Majin, and for a good reason, Sesame had used her magic to rip out Pepper's vengeful thought and desire for blowing stuff up for the fun of it, however, to the Dark Majin she was now trying to get revenge for being separated from herself...So she was pissed off because she was removed.
Being far more aggressive than Sesame, she quit charging up early and flung herself at the Blue Majin, who barely had the time to block her swing, which sent her flying down into the forest below, creating a blast similar to a bomb going off due to the force of the impact, almost immediately she followed it up by clapping her hands together and pulling them apart to create a black and red energy ball, roughly the size of a human adult, before she threw it downwards, creating an explosion that could destroy mountains.
She watched as the blast spread, leaving a massive crater in it's wake, but when Sesame flew out of the smoke, delivering a punch to her stomach, she was bent in half, almost immediately afterwards she received a punch to the face, forcing her back upright, before she was grabbed by the leg, spun around, and tossed to the ground, slamming into the deepest part of the crater.
She groaned in anger as she lifted herself out of the Majin-shaped hole, looking up to see Sesame staring down at her, a blank expression on her ace with a shadow over her eyes, a smile slowly spread across the Blue Majin's face as she lift her finger in the air, creating a ball of energy almost twice the size of the one the Dark Majin had made before.
Sesame hummed lightly, "Sesame gonna hurt you so bad!~" she stated in a sing-song manner before she aimed her finger down at the crater, causing the energy ball to slowly descend towards her target. It slowly got smaller as the energy condensed itself, picking up speed each time it shrunk, the Dark Majin glared at the ball as it dropped towards her.
Clenching her fists tightly she she sucked in as much air as she could before releasing a screech that even Pepper could hear from her current location, this roar ripped a hole in the fabric of space and time, Sesame watched in surprise as the ball went through the hole, almost immediately afterwards a hole opened up behind her.
Sesame gasped in surprise as her own attack slammed into her, resulting in an explosion one could compare to an atom bomb detonating in the sky. The Dark Majin chuckled to herself like a hyena as she charged up a large ball of energy of her own, intent on wiping out whatever remained of sesame before she could reform.
I, having snapped out of my emotional distress, had gone to the mouth of the cave where I witnessed what happened to Sesame, I stared, my jaw wide open, "Sesame!" I shouted, I needed to go to her, I needed to help!
Before the Dark Majin could finish charging up her attack she was interrupted when a barrage of ki blasts slammed into her, she turned to see the culprit was Ocus, shivering slightly as she stared at the former part of her mother. Revenge clouding the Dark Majin's mind, she immediately went after Ocus, who used her intelligence to lead her away from Sesame, but she was also terrified, Ocus was much smaller than Sesame, so there was less of her that she could have to reform and she honestly didn't know if even a molecule of her body would survive a blast like that, which would likely come her way if she got caught.
Unfortunately for her the Dark Majin accelerated just enough to slam into her at full speed, knocking her off balance and out of the air as she slammed into the ground below. The Dark Majin wasted no time in pursuing her, wanting to punish her before blowing her up, she growled as she flung herself in the direction Ocus ell in.
Pepper, not far behind, could feel her maternal instincts kicking in, practically gasping when she realized that the Dark Majin was after her daughter, "Ocus! I'm coming!" she screamed, taking off in the direction that she needed to go.
Meanwhile, Ocus tried to get up and gain some distance but was stomped into the ground by her pursuer, letting out a yelp of pain as her body shook. The Dark Majin hissed as she bent down, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her, glaring into her eyes as she pulled back her right hand, ready to make Ocus her punching bag, the small Majin felt tears forming as she squirmed to try escaping her attacker, "MOMMY!" she screamed, as loud as she could.
The noise staggered the Dark Majin, reeling back slightly, before she could act on her plan of beating Ocus the both of them felt an immense wave of killer Intention, a distant power shook the world around them as a scream in the distance could be heard. Before they could fully register the increase in power something broke the sound barrier, in a split second they both witnessed something that would terrify just about any living creature...
As time froze they saw a completely red Majin, a mix of steam and smoke pouring from her body as she suddenly appeared into their reality, having flown so fast that the trees hadn't even registered that they had basically been impaled by her turning herself into a living torpedo...Or at least, not yet...their trunks would be non-existent in a second as what's left gets thrown across the country from the blast...But the scariest part? The burning expression of sheer rage plastered on her face, mixed with that of a psychotic killer ready to rip you apart atom-by-atom, knowing it's impossible but doing it anyway because their anger gave them the excuse...
In that moment my scream finally reached them, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" I had screeched as my fist collided with the Dark Majin's face in that instant, grabbing my daughter with my free hand.
The punch had hit the Majin so hard that she flew a few meters before she was stopped, slamming into a wall of nothing and sending cracks through the air, these reformed quickly but the ground wasn't so lucky once reality fixed itself...The Dark Majin still stopped where she had slammed into Space and Time, but the ground behind her, from the start of the forest, all the way to the previous city, was leveled as her body was splattered across the wreckage.
I hissed at the splattered enemy, the arm I had used in the punch was basically vaporized, but that didn't matter, it would just reform anyway..."Mommy..." I blinked as I looked at my free arm, Ocus was smiling at me, tears forming in her eyes, before she clung to me, crying, "I was so scared, I thought Bad Mommy was going to hurt me!" she wailed.
I panted as my lungs caught up with me, steam coming off me as I tried to cool off as best I could...My whole body felt like I had passed through the sun or something...I smiled as I pulled Ocus close, my arm reforming, "It's alright...Mommy's here..." I stated happily as I nuzzled her, happy that she was finally not afraid or paranoid about me.
Then I remembered something...
"Oh fuck!" I shouted, looking up in time to see a reforming blob flying towards me, intent on absorbing me, I stared in shock, Ocus seeing it too, *Fuck, we don't have enough time!*
Right when I was about to toss Ocus to the side to save her the blob was blasted by a green ki blast, scattering it with a boom. We both blinked as I threw myself backwards, skidding right to Sesame's side, who joined the hug, "Family is alright, Sesame was so worried!"
As this hug persisted I looked over to see the other me staring at us...I was going to glare when I realized something, *Is she crying?*
Surely enough I could see tears forming as she stared at the family embrace, stopping her from reforming all together...I guess there was still a little me in her after all...It was like she was staring at something that she knew she couldn't have...
I bit my lower lip, gulping as I passed Ocus off to Sesame, both staring at me in confusion as I slowly made my way towards the Dark Majin, *Oh my god this is the stupidest thing i've ever done!* I thought to myself, fighting the urge to sweat as the Dark Majin stared at me emptily, blankly.
I blasted a nearby apple, somehow not entirely obliterated by everything that's been happening, with my Chocolate Ray, transforming it into a bar of chocolate and calling it to my hand, it was dark chocolate, and if this girl was a part of me then this would prove it.
"P-Pepper, be careful!" Ocus shouted from Sesame's arms as I crouched down in front of the Dark Majin...Her eyes seemed to brighten when I waved the dark chocolate in front of her face, tracking it with her eyes like she was in a trance.
She growled as she tried to rip it from my hand, in response I stepped on her arm, glaring down at her, "NO!" the Dark Majin flinched at my tone of voice, likely remembering it from what I had just done to her, which hurt...A lot...I gripped her head-tail with an iron-tight grasp as I raised her head to mine, "You are going to calm your ass down, you will stop attacking people, and you will follow the damned rules I set, got it? And then, your going to take this chocolate bar, AND YOU'LL BE FUCKING PLEASED ABOUT IT, ARE WE CLEAR MISSY!" I screamed in her face as I shook her.
The Dark Majin shivered nodding slowly before accepting the chocolate bar like a scared child, then almost immediately stuffing it in her mouth.
I panted, catching my breath and letting my voice recover as I stared my counterpart down, eventually I let go of her head-tail, "You...good?" I asked, still panting. The Dark Majin nodded, having fully reformed but still laying on her belly, "Good...Now, be a good girl and come meet your family..."
I slowly stood up, eventually the Dark Majin followed my lead, getting up with her knees before pulling herself up. She stalked over slowly, following in my footsteps, Sesame and Ocus stared at the both of us, me in confusion, her in distrust, and I don't blame them, "U-Um...P-Pepper..." Sesame started, clearly not liking the company I was leading right towards them.
I put up a hand, "Relax, she was just a little emotionally fucked..." I stated, getting behind the reluctant Majin, putting my hands on her shoulders, and pushing her towards them, "Now, say high...Er..."
She shook a little before mumbling, we all stared at her, trying to figure out what she said, eventually she decided to repeat herself...Loudly..."I SAID SALT!" she practically screamed, causing Sesame and Ocus to flinch, their eyes wide.
I blinked, an unamused expression on my face, *...Really now...*
Salt stared down at the river, an awestruck expression on her face as she stared at a creature so foreign that she was entranced...
It had the body of a beaver, the head of a duck, the hands and feet of a duck, and a long, paddle-like tail.
Her right eye twitched as she tried to figure out what this thing was, a bird, a mammal? Eventually her jaw dropped open as her thoughts kicked up, "THE FUCK ARE YOU!?" she then watched as it waddled back into the river, scared as it quickly swam away, "Aw...' she groaned in disappointment.
"Salt, don't scream at the animals!" I shouted to her from the nearby clearing, "It scares them!"
Okay, it's official, Salt is my favorite character to write so far! xD