04-20-2009, 10:38 PM
Her eyes snapped open.
The dark room was still dark, though her pupils had somehow adjusted by then, despite a myriad of bright lights flashing in her eyes. The healer looked around, scanning the faces of her allies as they were; either they were still experiencing their rather bleak futures, or they were done, panting while drenched in a cold sweat as they mulled over the new information in their minds. Sophia’s own mind was still racing her pulse as she tried to make sense of it all. She had obviously done what she was afraid she would do—forget the reality, or lack thereof, of the situation. To react on impulse.
To let Kai win.
It didn’t matter, though. Even if Kai wanted to mess with their minds, even if he was doing this to throw them off of their pursuit, the experience helped Sophia in more ways than even his genius could have possibly comprehended. While her friends’ visages were pasted with shocked or even confused expressions, the healer found herself almost content in her final conclusion. Not in the future that she saw, nor in the person she found herself to be therein, but in the path she now knew to avoid. She wasn’t exactly on fire with passion in her profession like she had been before, but she no longer was bound by the motions with which she followed endlessly during her tenure at the temple. She knew that she could be her own person now; she no longer needed the idea of a God to just make it through the day. Sophia found herself smiling in that recognition.
“I must admit, you almost surprise me,” Kai’s voice sounded from seemingly out of nowhere. “Almost. Are you actually happy about your hypothetical future?”
“Not at all,” Sophia’s smile weakened as she closed her eyes. “I’m actually quite sad. But that’s not me. It’s not going to be me. Futures can be erased. They can be changed.”
“Your future reflects your present,” Kai stated simply. Geniuses had a tendency to monologue ceaselessly, and even Kai had been known to give a long one every now and then. However, those five words sufficed in his message, and nothing could have hit Sophia harder. Of course her current condition was on a fast track to insanity. Sophia could feel herself drain out as if through a funnel, but what if her future was closer than she thought?
Okay, then. I’ll change my present, too. Sophia thought, opening her eyes to look up at the screen where Kai’s face had once been. And it starts with you, Kai.
*
In a fit of rage, Piper had confronted the diabolical game show host by herself.
Sophia got first row seats, so to speak, for the initial parts of the fight, one-sided as it may have been. The healer had no idea what the medic was fighting for, but she knew why—fury mixed with an overwhelming sadness were driving factors behind every action; a feeling that Sophia knew very well. She took a step forward to help out, but a sudden commotion sounding from behind her stopped her in her tracks. Sophia suddenly felt very worried about the two ladies that she had left behind.
“What are you doing!?” she suddenly cried out to Piper, garnering her attention. “I need your help!”
Piper acknowledged her, her face suddenly clouded by doubt. However, she eventually shook her head as she grabbed a blade from the fallen helicopter. “I’ll buy you some time. Take it and show that asshole the beating of a lifetime.”
The redheaded medic dashed towards a group of soldiers. Sophia winced as she witnessed the enraged woman slice them in half, but she remained committed to staring Kai Demolic down through the shiver that had been sent down her spine. She wanted to go back and check on Sage and Ashe, but something inside of her wouldn’t allow her to look away. As Piper battled his minions, the edges of Kai’s lips curled into a malevolent smile.
“Face to face at last, I see,” he took a step forward. “I must admit, you’re certainly…taller than I expected. No matter, I suppose. Well? Are you going to step into your role as the healer—as background noise—or are you actually going to do something with yourself?”
Sophia smiled gently. “Calm and calculated. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
“Manufactured confidence is of no consequence to me, girl,” Kai waved her off. “Fight or step aside, it makes no difference in the end.”
Just as soon as Sophia raised her fists and sank into a battle stance, the villain had lunged forward and slammed his fist into her face. The priestess slid backwards, trying desperately to keep her balance, but eventually fell backwards onto her back. Sophia and Kai looked over simultaneously at Piper as she bent over to pick up a rifle from one of the fallen soldiers. As the game master turned to face her, Sophia crawled to her feet and tried to round around the interior of the volcano to stand with Piper. Much to her chagrin, however, Kai demonstrated an impressive display of speed and strength as he darted towards the redhead, making a quip that Sophia couldn’t quite hear. Fearing the worst, Sophia ran as fast as she possibly could towards her friend.
“No!” Sophia cried out in between breaths as Kai crashed a blow to Piper’s midsection, sending her flying backwards. The priestess grunted, summoning speed from any sort of reservoir she had lying inside of her. Luckily, she caught up with the flying body and caught it before it slid anywhere dangerous.
“You caught me,” Piper’s voice was mixed with surprise and gratitude.
“Never…going to be…able to…do that again…” Sophia panted. Piper chuckled silently as the two women helped each other up. The priestess tried to steal a glance over in Kai’s direction to see what he had been up to, but her eyes widened to their dimensions as she found that he was no longer where he was standing. Looking up, she was barely able to get the words out. “Look out! Above!”
The pair jumped out of the way of Kai’s fist as it crashed down menacingly from above. They were just barely able to avoid the blow as the man’s attack crashed through the surface of the ground, sending a ripple of broken dirt outwards as he emerged from the aftermath. Sophia landed skidding on her feet, her mind racing as to how she would even keep up with such a foe. Her thoughts were forced away from the man, however, as she was met with a pair of soldiers who had scrambled to meet up with their “master.” Sophia couldn’t understand why they were still willing to fight for someone who was so obviously insane, or why they were willing to even go inside a volcano after someone like that. There was no time for such an inquiry, though, as they attacked without so much as a word.
“Not today,” Sophia whispered as she side-stepped the barrel of an energy rifle as the thug pointed it at her, knocking it aside with a downward strike and coming back up to hit the man in the nose with her elbow. Adrenaline kicked in as the man fell backwards, letting his gun go flying in the air before he landed. Clutching onto the weapon, she found the trigger and aimed it at the other soldier; she had seen Piper handle one of these on more than enough occasions to see how the thing worked. She fired, a bolt of energy piercing the man’s arm. This forced him to drop his weapon in kind as blood squirted out. Not stopping to think, Sophia dashed towards the man and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying towards Kai as he had his back turned from her, focused on Piper.
Tensing up, the host turned around and chopped out horizontally. The fist swiped through the body with ease; the man smirked as momentum caused the two halves to fly past him. As the mist of blood cleared, all that remained was Kai Delmolic himself, caught between the two ladies as they attempted to attack him in a pincer formation.
“Holy shit,” Piper breathed, expressing the same sentiment as Sophia.
“We’ll need the others if we want to survive this,” the priestess concluded.
The redheaded medic nodded. “Let’s just hope that they’re ready.”
The dark room was still dark, though her pupils had somehow adjusted by then, despite a myriad of bright lights flashing in her eyes. The healer looked around, scanning the faces of her allies as they were; either they were still experiencing their rather bleak futures, or they were done, panting while drenched in a cold sweat as they mulled over the new information in their minds. Sophia’s own mind was still racing her pulse as she tried to make sense of it all. She had obviously done what she was afraid she would do—forget the reality, or lack thereof, of the situation. To react on impulse.
To let Kai win.
It didn’t matter, though. Even if Kai wanted to mess with their minds, even if he was doing this to throw them off of their pursuit, the experience helped Sophia in more ways than even his genius could have possibly comprehended. While her friends’ visages were pasted with shocked or even confused expressions, the healer found herself almost content in her final conclusion. Not in the future that she saw, nor in the person she found herself to be therein, but in the path she now knew to avoid. She wasn’t exactly on fire with passion in her profession like she had been before, but she no longer was bound by the motions with which she followed endlessly during her tenure at the temple. She knew that she could be her own person now; she no longer needed the idea of a God to just make it through the day. Sophia found herself smiling in that recognition.
“I must admit, you almost surprise me,” Kai’s voice sounded from seemingly out of nowhere. “Almost. Are you actually happy about your hypothetical future?”
“Not at all,” Sophia’s smile weakened as she closed her eyes. “I’m actually quite sad. But that’s not me. It’s not going to be me. Futures can be erased. They can be changed.”
“Your future reflects your present,” Kai stated simply. Geniuses had a tendency to monologue ceaselessly, and even Kai had been known to give a long one every now and then. However, those five words sufficed in his message, and nothing could have hit Sophia harder. Of course her current condition was on a fast track to insanity. Sophia could feel herself drain out as if through a funnel, but what if her future was closer than she thought?
Okay, then. I’ll change my present, too. Sophia thought, opening her eyes to look up at the screen where Kai’s face had once been. And it starts with you, Kai.
*
In a fit of rage, Piper had confronted the diabolical game show host by herself.
Sophia got first row seats, so to speak, for the initial parts of the fight, one-sided as it may have been. The healer had no idea what the medic was fighting for, but she knew why—fury mixed with an overwhelming sadness were driving factors behind every action; a feeling that Sophia knew very well. She took a step forward to help out, but a sudden commotion sounding from behind her stopped her in her tracks. Sophia suddenly felt very worried about the two ladies that she had left behind.
“What are you doing!?” she suddenly cried out to Piper, garnering her attention. “I need your help!”
Piper acknowledged her, her face suddenly clouded by doubt. However, she eventually shook her head as she grabbed a blade from the fallen helicopter. “I’ll buy you some time. Take it and show that asshole the beating of a lifetime.”
The redheaded medic dashed towards a group of soldiers. Sophia winced as she witnessed the enraged woman slice them in half, but she remained committed to staring Kai Demolic down through the shiver that had been sent down her spine. She wanted to go back and check on Sage and Ashe, but something inside of her wouldn’t allow her to look away. As Piper battled his minions, the edges of Kai’s lips curled into a malevolent smile.
“Face to face at last, I see,” he took a step forward. “I must admit, you’re certainly…taller than I expected. No matter, I suppose. Well? Are you going to step into your role as the healer—as background noise—or are you actually going to do something with yourself?”
Sophia smiled gently. “Calm and calculated. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
“Manufactured confidence is of no consequence to me, girl,” Kai waved her off. “Fight or step aside, it makes no difference in the end.”
Just as soon as Sophia raised her fists and sank into a battle stance, the villain had lunged forward and slammed his fist into her face. The priestess slid backwards, trying desperately to keep her balance, but eventually fell backwards onto her back. Sophia and Kai looked over simultaneously at Piper as she bent over to pick up a rifle from one of the fallen soldiers. As the game master turned to face her, Sophia crawled to her feet and tried to round around the interior of the volcano to stand with Piper. Much to her chagrin, however, Kai demonstrated an impressive display of speed and strength as he darted towards the redhead, making a quip that Sophia couldn’t quite hear. Fearing the worst, Sophia ran as fast as she possibly could towards her friend.
“No!” Sophia cried out in between breaths as Kai crashed a blow to Piper’s midsection, sending her flying backwards. The priestess grunted, summoning speed from any sort of reservoir she had lying inside of her. Luckily, she caught up with the flying body and caught it before it slid anywhere dangerous.
“You caught me,” Piper’s voice was mixed with surprise and gratitude.
“Never…going to be…able to…do that again…” Sophia panted. Piper chuckled silently as the two women helped each other up. The priestess tried to steal a glance over in Kai’s direction to see what he had been up to, but her eyes widened to their dimensions as she found that he was no longer where he was standing. Looking up, she was barely able to get the words out. “Look out! Above!”
The pair jumped out of the way of Kai’s fist as it crashed down menacingly from above. They were just barely able to avoid the blow as the man’s attack crashed through the surface of the ground, sending a ripple of broken dirt outwards as he emerged from the aftermath. Sophia landed skidding on her feet, her mind racing as to how she would even keep up with such a foe. Her thoughts were forced away from the man, however, as she was met with a pair of soldiers who had scrambled to meet up with their “master.” Sophia couldn’t understand why they were still willing to fight for someone who was so obviously insane, or why they were willing to even go inside a volcano after someone like that. There was no time for such an inquiry, though, as they attacked without so much as a word.
“Not today,” Sophia whispered as she side-stepped the barrel of an energy rifle as the thug pointed it at her, knocking it aside with a downward strike and coming back up to hit the man in the nose with her elbow. Adrenaline kicked in as the man fell backwards, letting his gun go flying in the air before he landed. Clutching onto the weapon, she found the trigger and aimed it at the other soldier; she had seen Piper handle one of these on more than enough occasions to see how the thing worked. She fired, a bolt of energy piercing the man’s arm. This forced him to drop his weapon in kind as blood squirted out. Not stopping to think, Sophia dashed towards the man and kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying towards Kai as he had his back turned from her, focused on Piper.
Tensing up, the host turned around and chopped out horizontally. The fist swiped through the body with ease; the man smirked as momentum caused the two halves to fly past him. As the mist of blood cleared, all that remained was Kai Delmolic himself, caught between the two ladies as they attempted to attack him in a pincer formation.
“Holy shit,” Piper breathed, expressing the same sentiment as Sophia.
“We’ll need the others if we want to survive this,” the priestess concluded.
The redheaded medic nodded. “Let’s just hope that they’re ready.”