Before beginning with this chapter, I'd like to define some of the terms I'll be using in my fight scenes.
Blast: Moon sends out a telekinetic wave that pushes away anything it touches.
Lift: Moon uses his powers to levitate an object.
Seize: Moon uses his power to grab an object and keep it from moving.
Moon's P.O.V.
"And where do you think you're going, my little oyster?" comes a high-pitched male voice.
I turn to see someone caressing Dallas's jaw. The man chuckles maniacally.
(A/N: For his voice, think Him from Powerpuff Girls, only not as high-pitched. His laugh, while not intended to be so during the writing process, but does while looking back, sounds like the Cheshire Cat's laugh from Disney's animated movie.)
Wait. I'd know that laugh anywhere.
"Cheshire!" I shout. He looks over at me. "Leave him alone! You were sent for me, not him." He chuckles once more before stepping back from Dallas. He raises his right arm and snaps his fingers, disappearing as he does. As soon as Cheshire disappears, Dallas makes a run for it.
The next thing I know, I can feel Cheshire's hand and claws on my left shoulder and two claws pressed against my throat.
"Now, now, Moon." he says. "You're really in no position to be making demands." I feel him lick me from my shoulder blade up to my neck. "Besides. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little boyfriend, now would you?" he says. Furious at his threat of hurting Dallas, I turn and fire a blast at him, but he's gone before I've even turned all the way around.
"Temper, Temper." he says, lounging atop a nearby palm tree.
"You're crazy, Cheshire!" I shout at him.
"Clinically insane. But, then again, you don't really have any room to be talking, do you? After all, I heard you killed you're own twin brother and claimed his tag as a trophy." He chuckles once more.
I charge an energy sphere and launch it at him, but before it connects, he snaps his fingers and disappears. My energy sphere blows the top half of the tree off. I can feel the anger welling up inside me.
Wait a second. Is that his plan? Is he just trying to get me so mad I can't focus on battling him?
"What's wrong, Moon?" Cheshire says from a beach chair to my left. "Got something on your mind?" He laughs again.
This bastard. That is his plan. He must know that the angrier I get, the harder it is for me to use my powers.
He teleports again.
"I'm on to you, Cheshire!"
"How so?" he says from behind me.
"You're trying to get me angry so I can't fight. It won't work."
"So it would seem." he says. I suddenly feel pain in my back. The bastard clawed me! I turn around and see him licking my blood off his claws... That messed-up bitch.
While he is distracted I seize his hand so he can't teleport away. I blast him into the dunes behind him.
Pained, he lifts his arm and snaps his fingers. He vanishes.
The pain has thrown his powers off, because he appears ten feet above me instead. I step to the side and he falls to the ground. He gets up and swipes at me again, but misses. I blast him into the trees. He crumples to the ground, barely dodging the tree he hit falling on top of him. He chuckles as he struggles to pick himself up.
"Well played, Moon. We will meet again." he says before snapping his fingers and disappearing again.
I start to notice the pain in my back again. I fall to my knees as the pain surges. Luckily, Dallas must've called an ambulance for me when he ran off because one pulls up a few minutes later.
Dallas's P.O.V.
I watch as the EMTs carry Austin into the ambulance and climb in after them. They lay Austin face-down and I see four long gashes running from his left shoulder to his right hip. I sit down in front of him and hold his hand as they sterilize the wounds. I feel pain the pain he does as his wounds are sterilized. Is this because of his powers? Or is it because I can't stand to see him like this?
Later that night, they release Austin. He had been given several stitches and his back is heavily bandaged. We walk to the door to leave.
As we're walking home, I feel tears start to roll down my cheeks.
"Why are you crying, Dallas?" Austin asks, taking my hand.
"I can't take this anymore, Austin." I say, looking at the ground. I can't even bear to look at him. "I don't want to lose you!"
He suddenly pulls me in and kisses me.
"You won't lose me!" he says. "I won't leave you. As long as I love you, I won't lose my will to live. Let them do what they will. As long as I have you, they can't hurt me."
I hug him.
"I promise I'll never let go either." I say, holding him in my arms.
"That's all I want."
Moon's P.O.V.
We're hanging out at Sonic Boom the next day with Ally, Dez and Trish.
"So, what have you two been up to?" Ally asks.
"Cheshire attacked last night." I say. "I managed to get off with only a minor wound, but he got away and he's likely to come back."
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Cheshire cut four huge gashes down his back." Dallas says.
"That's not the worst part, though." I say. "The emotional trauma is a lot worse. That guy is a messed-up!"
"What did he do?" Dallas asks, defensively.
"He licked me before threatening you. Then after he sliced me, he licked my blood off his claws." They all have absolutely horror-stricken looks on their faces. "Yeah."
"Ally! I'm expecting a delivery of guitar strings today. Make sure you pick it up from the UPS store later." a man says from the next room.
"Sure thing, Dad!" Ally shouts.
It's strange. I recognize the man's voice but I can't place it. Not until it's too late. He walks from the office and stares right at me.
"Moon?"
"Lester!" I say, terrified.