Chapter 3 Preview
"The Nexus?" Michael tilted his head, Tulip equally perturbed.
"That's correct."
Eda nodded, twirling her staff. As she waltzed passed the two, the owl lady started to float, seemingly walking on invisible steps. Her red lips forming an amused grin before hovering with whimsy. King hopped off of her bushy hair and followed on the ground. The annoyed familiar didn't want to deal with the motion sickness, right now. Michael and Tulip moved as the witch continued her explanation.
"It's a space between dimensions where dead worlds are left adrift. The essence they possess are brought, here, and the parasites feast on the carcass. In this realm, the laws of physics are an echo. Lawlessness and chaos are king, and the parasites you see above are the wardens that enforce the rules." And that's when Eda pointed amusingly at the creatures as one burst out of a dead planet, chomping on the crust before burrowing back inside.
Michael crossed his arms, not taking his eye off the witch. "Ah. So, it is exactly like Chicago."
"Hold up," Tulip interjected with a fierce look, narrowing her brows as Eda stopped spinning around, her and Michael turning their attention as the redhead rubbed her chin, pondering. "That doesn't really answer the question of why you brought us here. If my time on the Infinity Train has taught me anything, it's that powerful and borderline Lovecraftian entities always have a reason for abducting you, regardless of if it's something weird and absurd."
Eda flashed a toothy grin, seemingly amused. Her yellow and gray eyes lowered at her present company. It was enough to make both Michael and Tulip unease. The two kept their guard up, preparing for whatever trick she had planned. Behind her back, the sly witch twirled her index finger as the young man and his redheaded girl waited for an explanation. A ball of orange mana formed in the palm of her hand, the two seemingly oblivious.
"Oh, it's simple, really. I just needed to bring the two who took away my little Luz someplace private before I subject you to horrendous trials and tribulations," Eda announced as she cocked her arm back and threw the ball.
Michael and quick to push Tulip out of the way as the ball impaled into the ground, exploding erratically. The young man dodged and winced, burns eating away at his pant leg with marks on the skin. It was only a brief for the searing pain to disappear. And he immediately dodged some more when the witch started throwing another ball of scolding, concentrated plasma.
The witch meant business, Michael reassessed. She planned to lure him into this dimensional space to not only to kill him, but to cover the evidence as well. Luckily, the owl lady surely gave the young man a better advantage. And away from the arcade, so no innocent bystanders were in danger. That's one less weight on his conscience as Michael charged into battle.
As Michael ducked another blow, Eda was surprised to see him leap, jumping at extended heights. He used the inertia from the explosion to give him leverage and delivered a swift roundhouse kick at close range. With one hit to the face, the owl lady was down, but not out.
"I got to admit, that was smarts. However, using a magical rebound surge to give yourself an extra boost? You have to be completely insane to try a suicidal stunt like that," Eda commented, rubbing her cheek with a grin.
Michael cracked his neck and raised his fists, shrugging. "Well, I never really considered myself sane, and me getting back into therapy is proof of it," he remarked as he and Eda circled each other, waiting for the other to strike first before taunting. "I mean, what was your plan from the start? Take us to a nihilistic take of the upside-down and easily take us out? Well, that's the one thing you don't get, Owl Lady. We're not trapped in here with you…" in an instant, he sprinted without her noticing, Eda receiving the worst haymaker in her life as Michael roared "…You're trapped in here with me!"
Eda was knocked off her heels. The disoriented witch flew off the ground, ten feet to be precise, and landed on the (subjectively) hard ground. The disgruntled young man approached, getting ready for another assault as Eda regained her footing, rubbing her cheek, tongue swirling each tooth. Nothing loose, but there was no time for something trivial as she twirled her staff, firming her battle stance as Michael swinged his arm, knocking the punch away. Then another, and another one afterward.
In all of her years, never once has she met a human with such unbridled fury. Even Luz with all of her enthusiasm and determination was nothing compared to what Michael brought to the table. The young man used an explosion with minor lacerations, though he seemed oblivious to his expedient recoveries. The same could be said for the tear in his shirt, and the sutures that no longer existed. And with her staff charged up, glowing hot orange, his hands should be mush by now. But with every jab, kick, swirl, and socker punch, her staff blocked with no effect on the young man, the burns and wounds recovering without him even noticing. He definitely wasn't a normal human, that's for sure. So, what in the name of the Titan was he exactly?
Now wasn't the time to ponder, Eda reminded, and what was important was bringing the berserker down peg. But the Owl Lady felt she was forgetting some redheaded nuisance when a drone flew and struck into her abdomen, enough to create an explosion and knocked her to the side.
Eda shook off the debris and turned around, Tulip appearing at the corner of her yellow eye, chuckling. "Didn't expect someone like me to be packing heat, did you? I might not be skilled in close combat, but that doesn't mean I can't lend a hand through other means."
Eda growled, pinching the bridge of her nose with her prosthetic hand.
"You see, this is why I hate human technology. No matter how useful it can be, sooner or later, it's going to blow up in your face!" Eda screeched and swung her staff, summoning a wave of golden energy.
Tulip ducked and dashed, taking cover as Michael leaped over her and landing a swift haymaker to the witch. While he managed to get a hit, the cunning Eda anticipated, swirling her finger and firing an ice blast. The frigid young man struck in the chest by a block of ice, sending him flying. The rectangular block pressed against his chest with the speed of a freight train, his legs grazing across the sand as he held for dear life. Victory seemed to be in the Owl Lady's grasp, watching Michael's folly, though she made sure not to go too hard with the ice magic. After all, her intention was to observe what the sturdy young man could do, killing him was not on the table. And the witch got her answer as Michael, with the devil's strength and his eyes black and red, gripped the sides of the ice, broke it in half, and swung a life-sized chunk right back.
Sitting behind a large dune of lavender sand, Tulip watched the fight from the sidelines. The redhead stared in amazement as Eda twirled her finger, a few inches right as the block of ice came close. She summoned a circle in the nick of time that caused the ice to combust, shards shattering all over and leaving dust behind. And as the dust faded, Michael charge straight forward, almost at lightning speed, and landed a blow to her stomach, leaving her no window to block.
it was the first time Tulip ever saw her boytoy this aggressive. Well, not since a few nights ago against those guys in suits, but this was completely different, and all she wondered when this will end?