by Lola StVil
We hear the humans screaming as they run away from the impending doom that’s come for them. Some of them scatter, seeking shelter; others hold on to their loved ones, frozen in terror.
“We have to get in there!” Pryor shouts.
“What the hell is that?” Randy asks.
I look in the direction Randy is pointing. Raven has summoned two large orbs in the sky. They are made of the same material as a Holder, but inside these orbs are large spikes meant to skewer anyone that enters them.
“We have to get in there, now!” I yell. All of us aim at the shield; we are at full power now.
Raven turns her attention to a group of humans huddled in the corner. She asks them where her son is; they shake and plead for her not to kill them.
“WHERE IS HE? I NEED HIS POWERS. WHERE IS HE?” Raven shouts.
When the humans insist they have no idea what she’s talking about, Raven gestures in the air and lifts them from the ground and up into an opening inside the orb, which then seals up. There is no escape. And even if the humans could get out, the fall from the orb would kill them. There’s only one spot inside the orb that doesn’t have spikes. Should the humans move an inch in either direction, they will certainly be impaled.
“TELL ME WHERE HE IS,” Raven demands.
One human shouts back at her and tells her to fuck off. She waves her hand and the orb starts to move. The humans are speared alive. The screams are unbearable. She asks again and the humans are in too much pain to reply. She turns the ball even faster, and the yelling stops; the humans are dead. Their blood quickly leaves their bodies and settles at the bottom of the orb. Raven waves her hand again and the orb opens up, and a ‘human’-flavor stew pours onto the ground.
Raven’s hysteria grows as she starts to fill up the other orb. The humans try their best to get away, but the black birds seek them out and attack mercilessly on behalf of their master.
Her powers have grown to the point that she no longer needs to face the humans to send them into the orb. As she scours the town for RJ, humans all around are being airlifted into the closest orb. Those unfortunate enough to be near Raven get her personal attention. She reaches into the humans’ faces and plucks out whatever she thinks they will miss most. Eyeballs, tongues, hearts…
“We can’t break it,” a Para announces.
“Everyone hit the same spot at the same time, on my count,” the Kon says.
We all pull together and aim our powers at the center of the shield; slowly cracks begin to appear. We pry it apart, and the team is able to get inside; however, the opening starts to close back up. Only the team is able to get through the shield in time. The other Paras remain outside.
“Keep working on the shield,” Bex orders them.
As soon as we enter the town, the birds sense a threat and go into full attack mode. They grow to twice their normal size. Their wingspan is nearly as large as ours. When they open their beaks, a flood of black smoke fills the air. It brings whoever is near it down to their knees.
“Susu birds. They’re poisonous,” Diana says.
“How poisonous?” Pryor asks.
As soon as she asks, we are given a visual demonstration. A human has fallen in his hurry to escape and now lies in the midst of the black smoke. It drains his body of all nutrients and substance. In a matter of seconds his body is mummified.
“I got this,” East says as he takes to the air with his lasso and starts to round up the birds.
“Randy, help the humans get to safety,” I order.
Randy gathers the humans and helps them away from the madness.
“Aaden, you and I take on Raven; Key and Diana, go get RJ,” Pry says.
“What about the ball of red death up there?” I ask.
“If it’s anything like the shield, we won’t be able to break it. I think our best bet is to take out Raven,” Pryor replies.
“Sounds good. Let’s go.”
It’s not hard to spot Raven. All we have to do is follow the flow of human blood. We find her in what remains of someone’s backyard. She’s having a conversation with her imaginary mom, Redd. She keeps promising that she will find “it,” meaning RJ, and take his powers away.
“We will get Omnis, Mom. We will,” she vows as she kicks a human woman’s face in with her heel.
I blast her with two fireballs and send her flying across the yard. Pryor quickly passes the woman off to Randy, who helps her get to safety.
“Mom, they’re back! Can I kill them now? Can I?” Raven asks.
“Swoop, listen to us. You have to fight her,” Pryor begs.
“Please? Please,” Raven says to her “mom.”
“We have to take another shot,” I tell Pry.
“I’m just afraid we’ll hurt Swoop,” she replies.
“We can’t let her kill all the humans she has trapped in the orb,” I reason.
“I can? Yes!” Raven says excitedly. Apparently the mom in her head has just agreed to let Raven kill us.
“Bird, I know you’re in there. Don’t let Raven control—” The rest of the words never make it past my lips. Raven holds out both hands and emits large, red-colored waves of energy. It doesn’t just knock me out; it takes out Pry and everything in the immediate area. We go flying into a building down the street, headfirst.
“Shit!” I shout as a sharp pain radiates down my skull.
“You okay?” Pry asks as she gets up from the floor.
“Yeah, but after this mission, we’re going on vacation,” I inform her.
“Deal.”
“Guys, look!” Randy says a few yards away.
We look over and see Raven about to move the second orb. Pryor tackles her and I fly up to the death contraption to get the humans out. But it’s just as we feared—the orb proves to be just as impossible as the shield.
As I fight to open the orb, Pryor holds out her palms and pulls the life force out from Raven. But Raven counters with her red wave; together the two are embroiled in a serious test of will. Every time Pry gets close to overpowering Raven, a new burst of energy surges from Raven’s hand. When Raven thinks she’s won, Pryor finds it within her to keep fighting.
“Pry, behind you!” East warns.
It’s too late. A Susu bird swoops down and latches on to Pryor’s face. It pulls a piece of flesh from above her right eye; immediately Pry’s body begins to dry up.
“Pryor!” I yell as I head back down to the ground.
“Silver, no! I got her. Help the humans,” East says.
I’m torn. Everything in me says I need to be next to her, tearing that bird apart, but I know she’d want me to stay with the orb. She’s right; I can’t let the humans die, not like this. So as East battles the Susu to save Pryor’s life, I pound on the orb once again. It finally starts to open.
As I carefully pry the humans out, I can’t help but look down at East below. He has managed to kill the bird and revive Pryor before there’s any permanent damage. However, they have lost Raven.
“Where is she?” Pryor asks in a weak voice.
“She found RJ’s house!” East says, taking off after her.
“East, wait!” Pry says.
East is already in the air, headed towards the only house left standing. I hurry and get the humans down to the ground safely. I place them in a Holder, and at first they freak out, thinking they will get hurt inside. After they realize this orb is different and that it’s for their safety, I fly off to RJ’s house.
The first thing I see when I enter is RJ’s human parents holding him protectively as they huddle in the corner. RJ is screaming his head off, not sure what’s happening.
“GIVE HIM TO ME!” Raven orders.
The woman refuses as tears run down her face. Her husband tries to shield them both as Raven comes closer. Her eyes are wild and power surges through her, causing her skin to crack and glow from inside out. Being this close to her final goal makes her far more lethal than she’s ever been before.
“STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!” East shouts as he sends his lasso over her head and around her neck.
Before he can pull her in, she places her hand on the lasso and reverses the power flowing inside it. It reverts back towards East and starts to electrocute him.
“You heard him, back off!” Key orders as she hits Raven with a blast of her powers.
The blast is enough to get her to drop the lasso she’s using to torture East. Key continues her assault, and while Raven doesn’t dissipate in a spray of blood, her flesh starts to flake off. Key’s power, however, is no match for Raven. She sends a powerful wave at Key and sends her flying into the air.
Diana catches her just before she hits the ground. Diana blasts Raven, but again Raven is able to reverse the blast and weakens the being that sent the blast her way. Worried that we may not get another chance, I run over to RJ and his family. I focus all my efforts on my secondary power and summoning a Port. Thankfully one actually appears.
“Get on this; it will take you to safety,” I assure them.
I have them step on the Port and then I pick up RJ to hand him over. But as the humans reach out, I see a wave of power in the corner of my eye. It’s headed right for them. The Port is about to get hit. I have no choice but to let the Port take off without RJ.
“GIVE HIM TO ME!” Raven rages as she sends yet another blast straight for us.
I protect RJ by holding him against me and wrapping my wings around him. She gets ready to shoot at us again, but both Pryor and Key blast her. It doesn’t stop her from attacking us, but it does help her misfire. The wave hits just above our heads and sends half of the wall tumbling down on us. I position myself so that I can bear the brunt of the weight, but RJ is hit in the head and suddenly eerily silent.
Shitshitshitshit!
“C’mon, kid, don’t die!” I shout as I clear the debris from his face. I call for Diana to help RJ. She manages to make her way over to us. She studies him and the thin line of blood dripping from his little face.
“He’s alive. I just need to apply this mixture; it should restore him,” Diana says as she takes a vial out of her pouch.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved in my life. However, RJ’s safety is not promised so long as Raven is alive.
She sees Diana helping us and comes towards us, more furious than before. East curses her out as he tackles her to the floor. Pryor and Key blast her at the same time. I add my firepower to the mix and it weakens her, but only for a few moments. She gets back up and is as strong as ever.
The team continues to attack, but it’s a losing battle. Raven is stronger than any of us could have imagined. As Diana finishes applying the mixture, Raven conjures up a wave of power bigger than any she has ever summoned before. It spreads across the room and explodes, knocking all of us to the ground. The room and everything in it fades from view…
I don’t know how long I was out; I think it might have been only a few seconds. When I open my eyes, I see Diana, Key, Pryor, and East on the floor. They are alive but barely moving. The only two beings that are alert and standing are Raven and RJ.
The mixture Diana gave him worked. The blood is gone from his face; he is alive and well, apart from the impending death headed his way. Raven leaps towards RJ, as if she’s going to rip his little heart out from his chest. None of us are powerful enough to stop her or close enough to even try.
“Stay away from him!” Key says in a weak voice.
She is powerless to stop what’s about to happen. I feel tightness in my chest, the same that I felt when Sparks died.
Please, Omnis, we can’t lose another kid…
RJ looks up at Raven looming above him, and big, full teardrops spill from his eyes. The kid is completely terrified. Raven laughs as he cries, and reaches out for him.
“NOOOOOO!” Randy says as he enters and holds out the stone. The stone starts sucking power away from Raven. It drains her of all her strength and starts transferring it to Randy.
In the meantime, I manage to summon another Port. I tell RJ to get on it; he doesn’t want to. I recall the singing monkey in the video and I summon it on top of the Port. It works; RJ excitedly gets on.
Raven tries to go after him before he disappears, but she’s too weak to reach him. In fact, the mere act of remaining upright is too much for Raven. She drops to her knees, screaming as she loses all her energy.
We stand up and watch as she shrieks and howls in pain. She calls out for her mom as blood pours from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Soon what was once a massive force of evil is a fading shadow. The Raven is dead. All that’s left of her is a few drops of blood, some black feathers, and the small, weak, fragile-looking Noru that lived inside her.
Swoop looks like she’s about ten seconds from death. Her face is gaunt, her skin is pale, and her wings are vastly depleted. We may have killed the Raven, but looking at Swoop, we may have been too late to save her.
“Swoop!” Key shouts as she crawls over to her sister. As soon as Key touches her twin’s hand, a cocoon of light energy surrounds them. We watch in awe as energy is transferred from Key to Swoop. Slowly Swoop starts to regain her strength.
“That’s their Heed, right?” Randy asks excitedly.
“Yes, it’s the hidden power they possess because they’re twins,” Pryor says.
“Key is healing Swoop?” East wonders.
“No, she’s transferring part of her energy to her sister. But while Swoop is getting stronger, Key will be weaker,” Randy says confidently.
We all look at him suspiciously.
“X-Men,” Randy explains.
Soon, Swoop is almost back to perfect health, while Key looks drained and tired. Swoop pulls away and breaks the connection.
“No, I can fully heal you, Swoop. It’s our hidden power,” Key says.
“I’m okay, Key. I don’t want to take any more of your strength. But after a night of drinking and partying, I’m coming to your room to get some of that. That’s a handy little power,” she jokes.
We laugh and rush towards her. It’s all we can do not to crush her to death by the force of our embrace.
“Thank you, guys. Thank you so much,” Swoop says.
“It was Randy. He saved you using a stone,” Key says proudly.
“You’re my favorite nerd candy ever!” Swoop replies, pulling Randy in for a hug.
“I’m glad the stone worked, but Randy, using it was a great risk,” Pryor says.
“Relax, I used it and now I’m done with it,” Randy assures her.
“And yet, it’s still in your possession,” Malakaro says, standing at the entrance of the doorway.
“Man, villains get the best entrances,” East whispers.
“It didn’t work. I don’t want the power you have to offer me. I used the stone and now you can have it,” Randy says, holding out the stone in the palm of his hand; the stone disappears from Randy’s palm.
“You enjoyed the power, yet you still give it up willingly?” Malakaro asks, confused.
“I don’t need power from you. I have everything I could ever want right here. You would not understand that because you’re too evil to understand the concept of love and friendship,” Randy says.
Malakaro begins to walk around the room, slowly. The whole time he never takes his eyes off Randy.
“I have to be honest, Randall. You have disappointed me. You have chosen to live a life of complete weakness.”
“Sucks for you, huh?” Randy says.
“Yes, it does. I went to a lot of trouble to make sure Raven had all the power she needed to emerge and get stronger,” Malakaro replies.
“You allowed her to get stronger?” I ask.
“Yes. I have known about the twin’s alter ego for some time now. That’s why I arranged for the Gentleman to have business at a location where I knew they would bump into each other. I knew her dark side would seek him out. I didn’t know they would genuinely fall for each other. Silly, isn’t it, the notion of ‘love.’
Eventually it worked in my favor. The Raven appeared and I got you to use the stone to destroy her by ensuring the vial was taken from your Healer friend.”
“You arranged the attack,” I reply.
“Obviously,” Malakaro says impatiently.
“You could have killed the Raven this whole time?” Diana asks.
“I don’t let an animal loose unless I can control it. You of all people should know that, Diana. Raven was a pet of mine. One I allowed to be killed so you could start to appreciate what ultimate power felt like,” Malakaro says.
“Well, your plan didn’t work. I gave the stone back. You will never get me to agree to be your partner. I will always walk away from dark power,” Randy swears.
“Randall, dark power is the only kind of power worth having.”
“I DON’T WANT IT!”
“So you say, but think about it this way, if you had dark power, perhaps you could have stopped me from doing this,” he says as he waves his hand casually towards Randy’s girlfriend. Key’s throat splits open; blood gushes from her neck and bathes the entire room. Even before we get to her, we know Keyohmi, “the Artist,” is dead.
Chapter Twenty-Five:
Someday
Randy wanted Key’s funeral to be done the human way. He said she had come to love human ceremonies and that she should get a human send-off. So we gave her the human send-off he was sure she’d love. The Paras came, and my dad, Pryor’s grandfather, and most of the school was in attendance, including the Face.
As we stood over the white coffin, my mind wandered back to the night Key died. I wondered if we could have saved her, but every time I replayed that moment, I failed to see a point where we could have stopped what happened…
Before Key hit the ground, she was already dead and Malakaro had flown away. The asshole didn’t even bother to fly away quickly. He just casually flew out of the house like nothing happened; he was blasé about the whole thing.
We didn’t go after him. Killing him wasn’t as important as trying to save Key. And although we knew she was already gone, we still had to try to help her. Swoop placed a hand on her, hoping their newfound power would heal her sister, but it didn’t work. Swoop sobbed and refused to let go of Key’s hand. She was sure she could fix her twin. But the energy that had surrounded the twins when Swoop was hurt didn’t return.
