by Billy Wong
"And one of them a man's name?" Rupert added.
Staring a hole through Charlene, the Grin continued. "I do not believe you to be so motivated by ideals, but fear. You were afraid of others stealing the role your family name should have given you, and thus sought to undermine them. When you failed, you were overtaken by another fear, that of total irrelevance next to them. So you reached out in hopes of not being left too far behind. You are no true friend of theirs, but a mere desperate hanger-on."
"That's not true!" she spat. "I realized I lacked in some areas too, and there's not always one right way to look at things. My wish to learn from them and vice versa is genuine." Rupert had to wonder if she was at least partly motivated by what the killer said, though. "Besides, if you think I'm even close to irrelevant, tell me that again after I defeat you!" She charged him, twisting and twirling like she had against Meg to test his defenses with a storm of blows from myriad angles. Her spearhead flashed like a dancing shard of light, threatening to pierce the mass of darkness that was the Grin. The tip grazed his skull-like mask and he flinched, then just managed to block the crossbar from driving into his neck when it came back around.
But the flailing of the spear in wide arcs threatened to strike Peggy too, and kept her from joining in. "Charlene, you needn't shoulder everything yourself, I'm here to help!"
Pursuing the Grin as he gave ground, the noble paid her no mind, increasing the breadth of her motions if anything so that Peggy gave a helpless shrug. Missing a stab at his face, Charlene used her crossbar to hook her opponent's shoulder and yank him forward. She pulled him right into a straight punch to the throat, then stomped on his knee driving him to a crouch. The butt of his scythe smashed into the floor, cracking and shaking it so she struggled for balance. The Grin exploded upward with an uppercut that caught her under the chin, lifting her into the air. She thudded down on the wood. Jaw set with determination, she put her palms to the ground and pushed herself halfway to a seated position. Then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, going limp.
"She really does have a glass jaw," Peggy muttered. Maybe it didn't warrant being considered complete glass taking into account the size and presumably power of the one who put her to sleep, but this still wasn't a good look. "Guess PP will have to go solo."
"Do you need help?" Rupert asked, worried for her to face the giant alone.
She glanced back with a hint of fear in her eyes, but smiled. "Just take care of Pat. Don't let him bleed out on my account."
The Grin stood still for a moment, whether to take a breather, savor the victory over Charlene or just look intimidating Rupert wasn't sure. Then he burst towards Peggy, scythe thrashing before him like a snake. It looked almost like a complete reversal of his duel with Charlene, him trying to overwhelm Peggy with the volume of his attacks as the other girl had attempted to do to him. She backed away with features tense, shifting her weapon as little as she could to keep her guard tight while deflecting the slashes. As the Grin drew the scythe back farther for a big strike, Peggy swung her mace to intercept the blade and knocked it off course. She spun in the opposite direction with unexpected speed, the mace head whooshing at his undefended side. He turned just in time to take it on his handle, but was still blown away like a leaf in the wind, bouncing on his head before crashing into the far wall. Rupert gaped, then remembered Peggy's destruction of the tulvares and closed his mouth. It wasn't that shocking how hard she could hit thinking of her history, if absurdly implausible based on her appearance.
Dragging himself to his feet against the wall, the Grin shook his head. "Ugh. You caught me off guard. I suppose that bludgeon really is as heavy as it looks."
"Of course," she said pounding the butt against the floor for emphasis. "I'd be something of a fraud if it wasn't."
"However, you carry it in a much smaller form. It's astounding you have the strength to wield it, let alone at that speed, but would I be wrong to presume you are unable to maintain such a pace for long?"
She didn't answer directly, instead replying, "I'll crush you!" The Grin seemed to nod slightly, as if inferring what he wanted to hear. They resumed fighting, him attacking more conservatively as if waiting for her to tire, her doggedly walking him down but failing to land a decisive blow. Rupert grew anxious for her again, as there might be something to the Grin's words if she didn't outright deny them. But Patrick's bleeding hadn't stopped, and he couldn't leave him to fend for himself while unconscious...
Peggy ducked under a slice at her neck, then the Grin's fist nailed her in the cheek with a loud smack. She just hit back, her punch to the chest—since she couldn't easily reach his head—somehow knocking him backward. "My chin is solid." She swung her mace one-handed up towards his head. When he ducked, as she must've predicted, she jumped forward and nailed him with a punch that broke teeth on his skull mask and drew a pained growl from him. He retaliated with a swift pair of cuts, back and forth with his scythe, and a red stain spread over Peggy's ribs as one connected. She touched the wound and hissed. The Grin stalked after her, great blade casting its shadow over her as it loomed poised to strike. Suddenly she burst forward. He swung the scythe down, but it stopped against the mace she had raised overhead and she barreled into him.
"Lolipop Small Scale," she whispered, and the weapon shrank. What the, she disarmed herself? But then Rupert saw what she was doing. At such close range, the Grin couldn't attack effectively with his scythe. She grasped the wrist of his main hand while slipping the wand back into its pouch, then jumped up seizing his arm between her legs. Twisting the limb behind him, she bore him down onto his belly so that his face slammed against the floorboards. "Now I'll rip your arm off," she said as he lay pinned beneath her, weapon useless as the hand that gripped it was trapped. She wrenched at his joint, and he moaned.
Just then, Meg stepped into the room. Her eyes widened to see the insensate forms on the ground. "Pat, Charlene! Are they..?"
"Alive," Rupert replied, "though I imagine they'll wake up with their share of embarrassment. Especially now that the one who defeated them is getting tortured by a midget."
She shot him a harsh look. "Hey, don't talk like that. I'm sensitive about that kind of thing."
"Where are the guards?"
"The ones nearby went to get backup."
"Backup? Some Universal Guard, when we're getting-" He stopped and corrected himself. "We were getting shredded by the reaper, but then he ate a dose of Pow Pow."
Under Peggy as she worked his arm ever closer to the breaking point, the Grin mumbled, "I suppose I'll have to, then." His cloak seemed to expand over his back—then tore open, black shapes shooting out. After a second, Rupert recognized what they were and stared in disbelief.
"Wings?" Peggy said in a small voice as the newborn limbs, indistinct masses of darkness, flapped weakly above her.
"Yes, and now I will take you to oblivion..." He flapped his wings harder and launched himself off the floor, dragging Peggy with him, then flew out the window.
"After him!" Meg cried, and dashed from the room presumably to go outside. Rupert didn't know what chance she had to catch up to the Grin, but wanted to follow and do what he could to help Peggy too. But he hesitated to leave Patrick still. Then the boy stirred under his hands, and he realized him to be awake. Clutching his injury tight, Patrick said, "Go, help her. I can take care of myself."
Rupert stood and started towards the door, only for Charlene's voice to reach him from behind. "Wait, I'm coming too!"
"So you finally woke up," he said as they raced down the hall.
"I was awake for a little bit, but still groggy so I stayed down and watched Peggy. She was amazing..."
"You weren't bad yourself until you got caught."
She hung her head. "Yeah, but almost doesn't count for much. I lost and would've died if you guys weren't there."
"Don't dwell on it, everybody needs help once in a while. You just concentrate for now on returning the favor to PP."
"Ri
ght," she said with a nod, and they sprinted out the front doors to almost trip over the butchered body just before them. The chubby girl with face frozen in horror must've gotten in the reaper's way as it chased Patrick, and been cleaved from collarbone to navel for it. They looked up towards the blue sky in search of their friend, hoping she still had her life.
#
Clinging to the Grin's arm while he rose higher and higher above school grounds, Peggy knew she needed to halt his ascent soon. She didn't seem to have the leverage in the air to break his arm, so she let go with one hand, reached for her belt and slipped Lolipop back into her grasp. "Lolipop Full Scale," she mouthed, raising it overhead even as it resized itself.
Before she could bring it down, the Grin realized his plight. He dove, the swift movement jerking her back to delay her finishing blow. Approaching a rounded rooftop she recognized as that of the music building, he turned over just before crashing. Peggy took the brunt of it, tiles coming loose as her body plowed into them. She rolled halfway down the roof, aching all over, before she caught herself. Teetering at first as she stood up on the slanted surface, she steadied herself and glared up at the Grin who perched higher on the roof.
"Aren't you going to swoop at me?" She motioned at him with her free hand. "Come on, bring it!"
"I hardly need to fly to destroy you. I merely used my wings in order to separate you from your friends, so I could break you down unhindered."
"Or," she said in a carefree tone, "you aren't used to aerial combat and would rather avoid it. Seems more likely to me."
After a moment's pause, he began to walk down towards her. "It matters not. You will die." He didn't have any trouble keeping his balance, and while it was somehow hazy to be sure, it looked kind of like he had grown claws from his feet to better grip the slanted ground. Cheating demon, or whatever he was. "Why do you use such an oversized weapon anyway? Is it because you secretly fear feeling helpless with your tiny form and seek to reassure yourself you are not?"
She stood in silence, allowing him to think his words might have the intended effect, then smiled. "Nope. I've always felt strong. I may be small, but my power doesn't come from the size of my frame." She placed a hand over her heart. "It comes from in here, a boundless well of energy to brighten this world. And sometimes, that means removing dark spots like you."
He slowed as if doubt grew in him. "Though, or perhaps because your parents were famed heroes, you fear not living up to them. You wield an exaggerated weapon, and cultivate this persona of invincible unshakability, to counteract that fear. Soon you will be forced to accept there are many things you are powerless before, and your carefully crafted image will fall apart in the face of death."
"Wrong again. My parents are great of course, but I don't compare myself to them. I'm my own person, strong and driven in my own right, and that's all that matters. Besides, me crumble before a fake like you? A minute ago, I had you down about to break your arm. I'll just put you in position again and finish what I started."
Getting in range, the Grin swung his scythe. Peggy parried, but staggered due to her lack of good footing. Smelling blood, he intensified his assault. A burning slice opened on her shoulder and she gasped. She retreated down the sloping roof with hot blood running along her arm, almost falling more than once when their weapons clashed. Darn it, she'd had the strength or at least striking power advantage when they fought on flat ground, but now the terrain worked to her detriment.
She heard her friends shouting her name and encouragement to her from below. "Hold on Peggy," Rupert said, "we'll be right there!"
Having been pushed almost to the edge, she replied, "No, don't. This environment favors him, and if you all come up there'll just be more bumbling bodies in dangerous proximity to his blade."
"But you're struggling yourself," Charlene protested. "We can't just leave you to die."
The Grin had caught up to her and prepared to strike. "Don't worry," she said under her breath, "I'm not done yet!" She jumped over his scythe and him, kicking behind her into the back of his head. He stumbled nearly off the roof, flapping his wings to stop himself. Turning quickly as in anger, he darted at her. She leapt up again, had a swing of her mace blocked but slipped a kick under his handle that knocked him to his back. "It may be hard to keep my balance up here. But as long as I'm in the air, that won't be a problem will it?" The Grin scrambled up and came after her again. She continued to jump around him, frustrating him with her agility and midair attacks. "Ironic isn't it, that you're the one with wings and yet I rule the sky?"
"A tad surprising that a heavyweight like her is able to be so mobile," Meg said.
"I'm not a heavyweight! I just fight like one, but can be light on my feet when I want."
The Grin countered one of her flips with an upward slash, laying open her thigh. She went to one knee, and her friends yelled while he raised the scythe. "Death waits for no one," he said. The blade came down.
She caught it on her mace and twisted hard, throwing her foe to the side. Ignoring the pain in her leg, she launched herself from her crouch high into the air. "Nope, not even reapers!" She plummeted down at the Grin as he rolled up. "Gate to Peg-atory!" He blocked her downward swing and tiles cracked under his feet from the impact. Sensing peril, he tried to hop back, but she had untied the ribbon around her chest and threw it to loop behind his neck. "Oh no you don't!" He moved his scythe to cut it, but failed to do so before a hole opened below him and he fell in. He gagged as the ribbon around his neck stopped his fall, effectively hanging him as she held him up. "Might want to use your wings to relieve that pressure now, eh?"
Flapping them desperately to ascend a bit, he regained the ability to breath. He looked up and his eyes bulged to find her plunging down after him, mace over her head. "Loli Bomb!" It hammered into his chest with a loud crunch of breaking bone. They fell together a few dozen feet onto the stage, Peggy hitting her forehead on it. She rose to her knees, wiping blood from her head with a groan, and looked down at the Grin who lay shuddering on his back. Scooting over through debris, she gripped the bottom of his skull mask. "Now let's see what kind of bastard is under this thing."
Rupert, Charlene and Meg entered the building as she tugged at the mask, along with some other witnesses to her battle. "Peggy! Are you alright?" Rupert asked.
"Of course," she said though she grew a little lightheaded, "I schooled him." She clenched her teeth with the effort of trying to remove the Grin's mask. "Although, this thing is rather hard to get off." She braced her other hand against his chest for leverage.
"No don't!" a girl's voice cried as she ran through the door with a bow in hand. It was Gwen, who Patrick had been investigating before he got hurt. "That's-"
Too late, as Peggy already pulled hard. There was a wet tearing sound, and an unexpected spray of red startled her. She saw that the skull-like "mask" in her hand dripped blood, and strands of damp, stringy material hung from it. Her heartbeat quickening, she reluctantly shifted her gaze to the Grin's face—to behold a mess of raw, skinless flesh. He howled in unearthly agony, the sound heartwrenching to hear even from a murderer who tried to kill her and her friends. "Brother..." whispered Gwen.
Peggy dropped the "mask," realizing she had ripped off his face.
Chapter 10
"I'm sorry," Peggy said in a tiny voice, "I didn't mean to..." Blood continued to run from the ruin of the Grin's visage to pool under his head. He convulsed, eyes bulging to the point they all but popped from their sockets, yet it seemed uncertain how long it would take before he finally passed. Peggy raised her mace, looking at his sister as if to ask, Can I?
Gwen nocked an arrow and loosed it into one of his eye sockets, stilling him for good. Everybody stared in shock. "You already had to clean up too much of our mess. I shouldn't burden you with ending it."
The room fell silent for a while before Meg gathered herself to speak. "If you don't mind me asking, that was your brother? What happened to him?"
She
looked around. In a low voice, she said, "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private. But the two of us were-"
Before she could get any further, a pack of guards barged into the auditorium. Leading them was Sabina Ravensgrave herself, brilliant saber drawn. "Where is the monster?" a guard beside her asked.
A man standing in a better position not to have his view of the stage blocked replied, "Dead, it looks like to me."
The students made way for the guards, several of whom paled at the sight of the eerie, faceless corpse. Sabina was not one of them. "You kids again," she commented in a flat tone. "Why is it whenever there's trouble at this school, you all aren't far away?"
"It comes with the territory when you associate with the famed Diamond Fang." Not the best time for a joke from Meg. "My friend Pat is injured in the dance room, can you send help for him?"
"Already done. He was seen fleeing wounded towards that building, so if he didn't come out with you the natural conclusion is that he needs aid. Come along now all of you, time for us to do that dance again..."
After applying first aid, they helped the battered Peggy stand and accompanied the commander to her office, where they were once again subjected to a round of questioning. Sabina seemed to treat it as a matter of course this time, understanding they had mostly acted in self defense—with the exception of the accidental finishing maneuver from Peggy, who couldn't have known what would be the result if she removed that mask. She dismissed them without much delay, sending them off with the line, "I pray I won't have to see you here again, because we all know what that means."
Leaving the office, Rupert said, "I wonder what Gwen was about to say about herself and her brother. How the hell did he get that way, presuming he must have been human before?"
Meg shrugged, making Peggy who leaned on her for support wince a bit. "I'm sure she's being questioned too, especially when the latest killer was her kin. The guards might not reveal much to the public though, so let's ask her ourselves when we can."
