Chapter 42 Battle in the Dark Part 2

Pom Pom rushed toward Beldam and Marilyn, not giving a crap about anything anymore. She gripped her hands into fists, focusing wholly on their wicked, irredeemable faces. Wendy, Iggy, and Armando ran at her in order to restrain her. This would probably cause her to hesitate and falter, but she simply pushed them aside. There was only one goal. There was only one acceptable way for this confrontation to go. She lunged at Beldam and Marilyn. She grabbed hold of Beldam by the neck and started punching her in the face.

Beldam hardly flinched. She snapped her fingers, and Marilyn pried Pom Pom off of her. She threw Pom Pom across the room, almost causing her to slam right into Viv. Thankfully, she merely landed at Viv's, for lack of a better term, feet. The pink-haired shadow looked down at Pom Pom in concern and horror. Pom Pom simply lifted herself to her feet with a mighty huff.

She charged at Beldam and Marilyn again. Despite them being her allies, Pom Pom jumped on Wendy, Iggy, and Armando's heads as they got up, just to ensure that they would not get in the way. Pom Pom gritted her teeth. The scent of sweat and blood lingered in her nostrils. The corners of her vision grew red. She jumped into the air, ready to punch Beldam once again.

Beldam just yawned and looked toward her sister. "Marilyn?" Marilyn nodded and stepped in front of Pom Pom. She pointed at her and…

ZAP!

…

Viv gasped. "NO!" She watched as the electrocuted Pom Pom collapsed to the floor. Her chest rose and fell at an ultra-swift speed as she looked at Pom Pom. She was alive, but all her strength had been extinguished. She tried to lift herself up but couldn't.

Viv's hyperventilation got worse as she heard her sisters laughing. That horrible sound mixed with the beating of Viv's heart, all while it felt like the walls of the temple were closing in on her. She couldn't take her eyes off Pom Pom. She wasn't crying just yet, but she soon would be.

"It's over, Vivian," Beldam sneered. "You lost, just like you always do. Like we knew you would."

"Guh!" Marilyn bellowed.

Those words would probably make Viv feel small and weak under normal circumstances, but the truth was, they barely even registered with her. She just kept her eyes on Pom Pom. As her heartbeat grew in volume, the very short month that she got to spend with that wonderful girl flashed before her eyes. She remembered how Pom Pom had taught her how to crochet. She remembered that time they played hide and seek and how that interaction led her to show Pom Pom the Shadow Dimension. She remembered how Pom Pom promised that they would celebrate her birthday together, how Pom Pom affirmed and supported the identity that she chose for herself. She remembered how Pom Pom encouraged her to stand up to her sisters, saying she was in control, that she was stronger than she believed.

She was stronger. She had always been stronger. Now turning her attention to her sisters, she floated up to stand beside her friend. Pom Pom weakly lifted her head to look at her. Beldam and Marilyn looked incredibly miffed.

"You still wanna fight?" Beldam asked in disbelief. "Don't you know how idiotic that is? It's stupid, Vivian! YOU'RE stupid!"

Viv gripped her hands into fists as fire encircled them. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for this both mentally and physically. "No. I'm not." She opened her eyes, the flames growing hotter. "You hurt my best friend. I don't care if you call me stupid or idiotic. I don't care. I can take it. But hurting my best friend? No." Viv looked calmly at Beldam and Marilyn. "I cannot forgive you for that. You hurt Pom Pom." Viv lifted her hand. "And I'm gonna make sure you never do it again."

She shot a stream of fire at her sisters. Before it could hit them, Beldam and Marilyn countered with their own attacks. Beldam pushed against Viv's fire magic with her ice magic, and Marilyn joined her with her electric magic. What resulted was a beam battle, where the different powers met at the halfway point between the three Shadow Sirens and tried to overpower each other. Viv pushed with all her might. She gritted her teeth, feeling the worst kind of strain in the entire world. She sweated, and a vein bulged in her forehead.

But it didn't seem like it would be enough. Even if Beldam and Marilyn were weaker than Viv individually (which they weren't), the fact was that there were two of them. Viv was pushing against the power of two stronger and more experienced opponents. As the light of the battling magical streams grew stronger, Viv's confidence shrunk. There was no way she could do this. There was no way! Beldam and Marilyn would overpower her, just like they always have.

Tears that were caused by both the strain and Viv's realization flowed down her cheeks. This was it. This was how her life was going to end. Her sisters would kill her, and then they would take over the Mushroom World. They were close to three-quarters of the way done in terms of that pursuit, and… Viv should've known she couldn't do it. Beldam and Marilyn were stronger than her; always had been, always would be. They showed that to her throughout her whole life, and to think she actually believed she had a shot at beating them… it was foolish. She could deny it, but she knew that deep down, Beldam had been right all along. She was stupid. She was an idiot.

Whimpering, Viv found that she couldn't strain herself for much longer. "I… I can't!" Her magic was no match for Beldam and Marilyn's combined attacks. Viv cried and lamented everything that happened and every problem that she created. Her life had amounted to nothing. She was stupidly, always has been. She was just about to throw in the towel and let her sisters finally kill her once and for all…

When she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder. Blinking, Viv looked to see Pom Pom standing right beside her. There was a fire in her eyes, a passion that nothing could match.

"Pom Pom?" Viv asked.

"You can do this, Viv." Pom Pom gave Viv's shoulder a supportive and reassuring squeeze.

"But Pom Pom… I can't!"

"Yes, you can." Pom Pom smiled at her. "You are in control. You. Are. Strong."

Viv stared at Pom Pom. Slowly, those words sunk into her. Slowly, a smile grew on her face. "I am strong." She faced forward again and resumed pushing. "I am strong!"

She pushed with more might than she would've ever thought she had. Pom Pom kept her hand on Viv's shoulder as she did, which meant so much. After all, if Viv lost this fight, those who were in the path of Beldam and Marilyn's magic would die. And yet, Pom Pom didn't even flinch. She just stood by her friend's side, supporting her and carrying her through. She had nothing but confidence in Viv's abilities. Now it was time for Viv to have the same.

"I will not lose…" she pushed even harder. "I've always been strong." She increased the force once more, causing her arms to shake and pain to spread throughout her body. She just kept pushing. Pom Pom squeezed her shoulder, looking directly into the light. Viv pushed for her, she pushed for Wendy, she pushed for the entirety of the beautiful Mushroom World. She stepped forward, and the intersection point between her and her sister's attacks shifted. It was no longer in the middle. Now it was getting closer to Beldam and Marilyn.

"NO!" Beldam shrieked.

"GUH!" Marilyn yelled.

Viv still pushed. She closed her eyes, thinking about all that she was fighting to protect. Her home and the life she made in the Flower Kingdom. The wonderful people who she had encountered in her everyday life. The beautiful friends she made, Bink and especially Pom Pom. Bink might be long gone, but she would still fight for him. She was going to protect everything that her friends held dear.

"YAH! She opened her eyes and gave one last push. That was all that she needed. Her magic finally overpowered Beldam and Marilyn's. The flames engulfed them, making them scream.

"NOOOO!"

Viv let out a satisfied, exhausted breath as a bright white light filled the room.

…

"Ugh…" What… what just happened? What was going on? There was a sort of ringing sound in Wendy's ear, similar to tinnitus but also completely separate from it. Her body ached, her skull felt like it was about to cave in, and there was this unbearable, foggy quality to Wendy's thoughts. Nothing made sense at the moment. She was too confused for anything to even matter.

But then, she started to feel better. The brain fog cleared, the aching in her body wore off, and the memories of where she was and what she came here to do came back. Did it work? Did they actually defeat the Shadow Sirens? Holding onto the strongest, most tangible bit of hope that she had ever grasped, Wendy sat up. She opened her eyes, blinking them out to remove any semblance of drowsiness from them. She looked around the room of the temple. It was still dark, but then she looked at the entrance. Light filtered in through the open doorway, casting a glow across the temple.

Could… could it be? Did they actually do it? Did they defeat the Shadow Sirens? Her heart pounding, Wendy looked toward Iggy, lying just a few feet away from her. She crawled over to him and started jostling him.

"Iggy? Iggy, wake up!" It took some doing, but just like Wendy before him, he groaned and sat up. With his bespectacled eyes closed, he rubbed his temple, still groaning and grunting in a very zombie-like fashion. Wendy's heart caught in her throat. She didn't move from her spot, didn't look away from Iggy, and didn't stop praying that everything would turn out okay.

And then, Iggy opened his eyes. "What happened?"

Wendy let out a cry of joy, sprung forward, and wrapped her brother in a hug. "Iggy!" She squeezed him extra tight, not daring to let go. "Oh, Iggy, you're okay! I can't believe it!"

"Wendy?" Wendy felt his gaze traveling around the room. "What's going…" he gasped. "The box! The Shadow Sirens!" He gave his sister a furrowed brow. "Oh, Wendy, I'm so sorry! I went to this temple after you advised against doing so, I tried to open the box, and…" he let out a cry. "This is all my fault! I'm so sorry!"

"No, Iggy." Wendy smiled at him. "You don't have to apologize. Everything is okay now!"

"You sure?" Iggy asked with a blink.

"Yes! That new recruit Pom Pom and I went to the former Shadow Siren, Vivian, to help us defeat the other Shadow Sirens. And we did! The Shadow Sirens are gone! Their darkness has been vanquished, and everybody is okay!"

Iggy's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God!" His face rose. "Everybody is okay! I can't believe it!" Armando groaned from beside Iggy, and Iggy crawled over to him. "Armando! Everybody is okay! The Shadow Sirens are gone! They're actually gone!"

Wendy smiled. Happy tears fell from her eyes, relieving her of all the stress she had felt over the course of her and Pom Pom's journey. They did it! They actually did it! They had vanquished the Shadow Sirens! This was unbelievable! After everything that happened, it was too good to be true! It really was!

That was when Wendy heard Pom Pom and Viv groaning from across the room. With the shiniest form of joy that she had ever experienced, she turned and ran over to them. Smiling the biggest smile, she reached out and jostled them when she reached them. "Pom Pom! Viv! Wake up!"

Pom Pom and Viv eventually came around. Blinking, Pom Pom looked around the room. "Did we do it? Did we…?" She gasped when she saw Wendy, her eyes growing wide in the best possible way. "Wendy! You're okay!"

"Yes!" Wendy reached out and hugged the two girls. "You guys did it! The world is saved! You actually saved the world!"

Pom Pom let out a little relieved laugh. "We saved the world…" She turned to Viv. "Viv! You did it!"

Viv smiled as she shed a happy tear. "No, Pom Pom. WE did it."