16. Badeline Boss Fight.

Prompt: Tic

Badeline had seen with her own eyes how one of Madeline's main traits in recent years has been run away from her problems.

Those moments never failed to make her laugh.

Except when they did.

Badeline never imagined that Madeline would run so fast and so far that she would finally leave her behind. Rejected her. Left her to be alone forever. Badeline was an apex predator who had been pushed to the bottom of the food chain when her prey escaped her clutches.

More than once Madeline had considered herself a parasite that sucked and drained all the life and joy from those around her. All thanks to Badeline.

Badeline had told her all of that. Badeline had told her that she was selfish, she was broken, she was cruel. She was all the things they might had said to her too.

But in reality, Badeline knew the truth. More often than not, it was usually simple and direct.

She was projecting.

Of course. Badeline now understood. She really was everything that was wrong with Madeline.

So this was what rejection felt like? Knowing that your whole being was wrong.

Unworthy. Useless. Unlovable.

While Madeline had been rejected in the past for trivial and mundane things, Badeline couldn't say the same. Madeline had rejected her because of everything she represented to Madeline and to the mountain.

Now she understood why isolation felt good. It was a sign that it was over. No one could hurt her if she was alone. Alone with her thoughts. Intrusive thoughts. Thoughts that would not leave her alone. Thoughts that wouldn't shut up. Thoughts they would be nothing more than constant reminders of why she was here. Constant reminders of why she was rejected by the other part of herself. Constant reminders of why she was going to stay down there. Constant reminders that they wouldn't leave her alone and–

Badeline sighed heavily and hugged her knees in a fetal position. "Calm down, it's over. Who would be crazy to come down here anyways?" Badeline stared up at the tall, sprawling, green grass-covered spaces across the gigantic caverns.

Stillness was as scary as it was comforting. Knowing that everything would never change.

But on top of all that, it was something else for Badeline:

It was freaking boring.

With nothing but the clothes on her back, her never-ending thoughts, and a set of supernatural powers, there wasn't much she could occupy her mind with. The best thing he could think of was to take a walk. That is if you could count levitating over the whole place as walking to begin with.

The deeper she dived into the caves the more paths branched off into different trails.

Now in true solitude, Badeline had time to put her effort into something more than trying to keep the thankless part of herself out of trouble and danger; but then again, if she was all that was wrong with Madeline, then maybe that wouldn't be the case for her anymore.

The silence and the great views in that place gave him the opportunity to understand in part the reason for Madeline's need to climb the Celestial Mountain.

It was better to have something to prove to herself than to have no reason to get out of bed, to put it that way.

But her reason for getting out of bed belonged to Badeline as much as it belonged to Madeline. And now that Madeline had rid her of her, exploring caverns forgotten by the world was all she could do.

Was staying on the mountain all that was left to her? Become a delusional ghost like Oshiro? Go bat-crap crazy like that old woman?

All she knew for real was that if Madeline wanted her out of her life so badly, there wasn't much she could do.

At least the loneliness felt good. At least silence meant no trouble.

And trouble was getting closer as the sound of footsteps became clearer as they bounced through the caves, intensifying in their direction.

The tightness in the bottom of her chest was enough to tell him who was coming.

"What do you want?" She asked her other redheaded part without regard.

"Listen, I was wrong to say that I didn't need you. I had not realized that I was in such a bad state that I would end up abandoning myself of all people."

Badeline's eyes filled with sharp disgust. "I am not you! I-I…" Her tongue went limp and she tripped over herself. Her eyes were lost looking at nothing and at the same time seeing everything just like Badeline in those damned caves. "I'm worse. Just leave me alone. You made your point clear. I can't change who I am. I was wrong and you were right. You were always right. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Fawn.

"You don't have to change who or what you are in the same way that you weren't always wrong. Now I understand that you only wanted to protect me."

Badeline's eye twitched for a moment. "Protect you?" You abandon me and throw me out of your life as if I were nothing more than a rock and now you want me to return as if I belonged to you?

"That was not what I meant!"

"No. You never say what you want. You don't even know what you want. Why are you here? Why am I here!?" Her purple hair began to levitate like maligned snakes. The short grass around them began to stir slightly.

Madeline took a timid first step forward and Badeline immediately levitated off the ground with her hands clenched into clenched fists. "Don't go near it or you'll regret it!" Fight.

Another cry for help. Cries that Badeline was never sure if Madeline ever listened or not.

But this time she did. Badeline's heartbeat hit cold as she realized the realization in her chest for both of them.

Madeline's more confident second step increased the keen presence of danger, again, for both of them. Madeline's muscles tensed like a cat ready to pounce and attack its predator.

Small light blue stones scattered around rose from the ground, slowly floating gravitating around person and reflection. The larger stones and fragments of similar sizes trembled impatiently wanting to follow suit.

Badeline could feel the stress and tension in Madeline's muscles, threatening to snap them in two if Madeline didn't jump off the edge of adrenaline she was on. A mixture of doubt and fear filled the person's body, and the reflection could sense how one did NOT complement the other, but instead encouraged Madeline to try to reach Badeline.

A second step turned into a third step, a fourth, fifth, sixth, until Madeline picked up enough of a run and dove for her like a bird hunting for food.

Badeline squealed back as if she were standing before the utterest lifeless abyss and backed away moments before Madeline could get her hands on it. Flight.

In her mind a clear and definitive order dictated her instincts:

DON'T LET HER GET CLOSE.

Badeline followed that order like someone scratching an itch. She couldn't help it. She just couldn't. It was like a habit, a tendency of her, a tic.

Madeline was Badeline as much as Badeline was Madeline, and by extension, she had most if not all of her tics, such as running and running away from her problems, wanting to run away from everything.

Madeline continued to chase Badeline between devastating lasers and purple fireballs—all while one part of self tried to put sense with the other part's head.

"I did you a favor."

Driving everyone away.

"You aren't a mountain climber!"

So why bother sabotaging her?

"I'm just trying to help you!"

Keeping her safe.

"We don't have to fight! I don't think we can go any deeper!" Madeline exclaimed.

"I can keep digging. I could pull us down to the center of the earth." Badeline laughed, but her laugh was an oxymoron to the disastrous state of her mind obsessed with the idea of the two of them doing just that.

Them two. Alone. Calm. Safe.

But why? Did Madeline want to cut her out of her life so badly?

Badeline continued to run. The constant use of her magic was beginning to take its toll on him. Running away was becoming as exhausting as the stones her anger hurled were heavy.

Madeline was getting closer and closer with each attempt and with each cavern they traversed. Red and purple mixed intensely until…

Badeline pushed Madeline as soon as they made contact and the reflection moved as far away as it could before falling exhausted to the ground breathing heavily. It wasn't just tiredness and annoyance.

She was done.

She was sick of everything.

Would anything ever go in your favor? Could it all not be her fault? Was there anything she could do?

No, there was nothing to do. There was nothing I could do. If in any case she was too tired to keep fighting for unattainable things.

Badeline could hear Madeline's footsteps on the grass coming closer. She could try to escape one more time. She could fight, She could do something…but she couldn't even bring himself to face her. Freeze.

She could just accept her fate. Being so…useless… so…helpless…If only she had a little more…

The footsteps stopped behind her.

"Fine," Badeline sighed. "You win. I guess you don't need me after all." Her voice was starting to crack and get smaller. "If you want me to go away, I'll try."

"That's not what I want. I need your help now more than ever. Please, let's work together."

"Work together? You're joking, right?"

"Is okay to be scared. You don't have to be scared of me."

"You still don't understand," Badeline blurted out heavily. "I'm not scared of you. But me…but if I'm scared of me…then I'm scared of you? I do not know how any of this works." Badeline was about to hug her knees, but Madeline stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I…I don't know either, but that's what we're for each other. We are all we need."

Badeline was silent, she wanted to turn to see Madeline but she couldn't turn. "You really think that?"

"I believe it." Madeline put her other hand on Badeline's other arm before wrapping her in a hug. For a moment Madeline could feel her reflection wanting to pull away, but the redhead kept her grip strong until Badeline slowly stopped struggling and with slow, heavy breaths let herself fall into her arms before Badeline reciprocated the hug by extending her own arms. "I believe in us."