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“Son of a —!”
Marley could barely dodge the serpents’ attacks. She was tired, bleeding, and furious. She glanced over at Reyna, backed into a corner, using her sonic scream; Jeb was struggling against his with barely any room to move; Armie and Mitchell weren’t fairing any better either.
“Time to get some breathing room,” Marley muttered as she summoned her mystical energy blasts, aiming them directly at the ground. “Please, let this work!”
It did. The blasts propelled her body up into the air, just as the serpent lunged at her once more. His face slammed into the crater wall.
“Mitchell!” Marley shouted. “How about we move this fight downtown?”
“We can’t let these demons get the chance to hurt anyone else!” Mitchell replied in frustration.
“They won’t!” Marley said firmly. “Trust me!”
“It’s not —!”
“Do you really want to die in a damn crater or do you want to live?” Marley gave the eldest Watkins brother a quick smirk before flipping herself into the air and landing on the street outside the crater. “I mean, me personally, I want you to live. Because if you weren’t around... there wouldn’t be anyone left to tell us what we’re doing wrong! It would be a real shame!”
“And I thought Jeb was a smartass,” Mitchell muttered under his breath.
“Who’s being a smartass?” Marley laughed. “You’re amazing at it! You should be a life coach or something.”
Marley turned to the serpent, smirking. “Hey, Atrios! You want me? Come and get me!”
The serpent slithered out of the crater as Marley took off in a run.
“Damn’t!” She heard Mitchell curse. Marley laughed as she used her energy blasts to propel herself into the air again. Instead of simply hovering, she glided through the city as Atrios tried his best to take a bite out of her. Luckily, she was faster than the demonic bastard. Each time he missed. Marley smirked. After facing Shade, this little worm felt like a lazy Saturday morning. This time she was the one in control and the demon would fall into a trap of hers. Marley glided up a huge skyscraper as the demon slithered up the building after her.
“Perfect!” Marley smirked. She briefly stopped her energy blast and turned around to face Atrios. She was falling right towards his open mouth. “Thanks for making this so easy!” Marley laughed as she ignited her energy blasts once more, firing them into the demon’s mouth. The serpent exploded instantly.
Marley glided down to the street, where Mitchell, Jeb, Reyna, and Armie were fighting the remaining serpents.
“So, you listened to me, after all?” Marley asked Mitchell with a grin.
“You didn’t give us much choice.” Mitchell glared at her. “But once I saw your little Deathstar routine... Let’s just say I understood why.”
“Told you I had a plan,” Marley beamed.
“That’s the reference you get?” Reyna sighed as she dodged another attack.
“Its Star Wars,” Marley shrugged. “Who doesn’t get Star Wars?”
“She has a point,” Armie half-grinned as he darted away from a serpent’s mouth on his Skyboard.
“Who doesn’t get Harry Potter?” Reyna asked, irritated.
“So, does she,” Armie chuckled nervously.
“Someone’s whipped.” Marley raised her eyebrow, bemused. “Nice to know some things never change.”
“Apparently,” Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Now, if we could take a break from today’s installment of ‘The Teens Of Our Lives’ — I take it the next phase includes my teleportation magic, along with some highly volatile and explosive vehicles parked along the street?”
“Well, yeah!”
“Not a bad idea,” Mitchell gave her a small smile. “But may I suggest instead of using cars from the Slums —” Mitchell activated his powers and summoned four expensive cars with a puff of electric-blue smoke. “—we use something with a little more flare!”
“Are those from the Highgrounds?” Marley raised her eyebrow.
“I only use the best to kill demons,” Mitchell smirked as Marley grinned. Mitchell teleported Reyna, Jeb, and Armie away from their opponents, directly to their side.
“Seriously?” Jeb glared at his brother. “You know better than to teleport people in the middle of an attack! We could have hit each other instead of the —!”
“Oh, really?” Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Must have slipped my mind. Won’t happen again.”
Reyna gave Jeb a disconcerted look. “I thought you were supposed to be the smartass?”
“He usually is,” said Marley, “just give him time.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?” Jeb raised his eyebrow.
“Take it anyway you like,” Marley smirked.
Reyna let out a snort of laughter as Jeb cut his eyes furiously at her. “You really find this funny, don’t you?”
“Pretty much,” Reyna smirked. “Ever heard of karma?”
“Hey, here’s a crazy thought,” said Mitchell in frustration, “how about we kill the serpents before they devour us and everyone in Mirrorville!”
“What’s the plan?” Jeb sighed.
“Jeb, blast the green car with the flames from your sword,” said Mitchell. “Reyna, blast the pink car with your sonic scream. Marley, blast the remaining two on the left. I’ll take care of the rest.”
All three of them did as they were told. Mitchell teleported the cars inside each of the serpents, as they exploded with divine power.
“Have fun back in hell, Atrios,” Marley muttered in satisfaction.
“...We did it,” Reyna said breathlessly.
“Are you really that surprised?” Marley grinned.
“Please,” Reyna smirked. “I had already killed that bastard’s brother earlier. Atrios was easy compared to him.”
“Oh, really?” Marley laughed as she felt a surging pain in her chest.
“Hey, take it easy,” Jeb said, his voice full of concern. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“Today or my whole life?” Marley smiled weakly.
“Today,” said Jeb. “And stop trying to be cute.”
“You think I’m cute?” Marley asked with a grin.
“I said you were trying to be,” Jeb replied, his cheeks flushing red.
“That’s not what you meant.”
“But it’s how I said it,” Jeb smiled.
“Someone’s been practicing,” Marley grinned.
“Well, I finally found that Mater Yoda you were talking so much about,” Jeb replied. “Great, he is.”
“Oh, great,” Reyna sighed, giving Armie a small smile. “Nerd love.”
Jeb ignored her remark, keeping his attention firmly on Marley. “Let’s bring you to the manor. You need some rest.”
“Manor?” Marley asked. “What happened to my apartment?”
Reyna looked down, refusing to meet Marley’s eyes. “It was destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” Marley asked in shock. “Is Mom okay?”
“Mom... is still in Mercynville,” said Reyna. “She never made it to Mirrorville. She’s in a coma at the local hospital, but she’s alive.”
“What?” Marley nearly shouted. “We need to —!”
A wave of magic issued over the Slums. Marley cut her eyes at Mitchell, who had just finished singing his own skin with his wand. Mitchell’s blood poured on the ground beneath them, which must have caused the sudden flow of mysticism.
“It was a glamour spell,” said Mitchell, looking back inside the crater with disgust. “He was using it to hide the... evidence.”
Reyna screamed, and Marley couldn’t blame her. With the glamour spell removed, hundreds of dead Dwellers surrounded the inside of the crater. Some of them looked and smelled like they had died ages ago.
Jeb shared a look of horror and disgust with Mitchell. “The King or Shade?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Mitchell replied darkly.
Each of the bodies were severely burned. Marley remembered flashes of Niki screaming out as just a few rays of sunlight touched her skin. And some of these bodies were small enough to belong to kids a lot younger than her. Innocent children...
“No! No! No! No! ...DAMN’T!” Marley cried as she fell to her knees. The words from the story Mitchell told her on her first day in Mirrorville echoed throughout her mind...
*****
“ALL MIRRORVILLE HAD left to protect itself was the sword and Patterson, but he no longer wished to stay in this world of magical chaos. He wanted nothing more than to have a safe place to raise his children.”
*****
“THIS... THIS IS MY fault...” Marley muttered through her tears. “All this time... I’ve been acting like a child... but I’m not... they were...”
*****
“ALL WHILE, THE SHARD fought off small-time criminals and a new ruler rose to power. His name was Nick Griffins, and he brought about some of the worst laws this world would come to know. He sentenced the Dwellers to live in the Underground and divided the city into two divisions — the Highgrounds, where the wealthy thrived — and the Slums, a garbage can for the underprivileged, which is part of the very ground we are standing on.”
*****
“MARLEY?” REYNA ASKED, the concern trying to overcome the terror in her own voice.
*****
“HE WAS DISGUSTED WITH the new hierarchy. He just never fought against it.”
*****
“THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!” Marley screamed furiously.
“Marley... you’re in shock...” Reyna tried to put her hand on the youngest Timmons sister’s shoulder...
*****
“... IGNOTUS RETURNED ON a dark, horrible night. He planned to sacrifice all the Dwellers in a dark ritual to reunite all three relics and, according to his words, rewrite reality. “
*****
...BUT MARLEY PUSHED HER roughly away.
*****
“PATTERSON HAD ME BRING our world’s mirror to the battle. He planned to use the Sword of Fire to activate a fail-safe between the two mirrors. This would cut off Mirrorvillle from time and space.”
*****
“I AM NOT IN SHOCK!” Marley cut her watery and swollen eyes at Reyna. “DAD WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THIS CITY! THESE PEOPLE! BUT HE DIDN’T BECAUSE OF US! THESE BODIES WOULD STILL BE ALIVE — IF IT WASN’T FOR US!”
*****
“PATTERSON’S LAST WORDS to me were to protect his family. Right afterward, he shoved me through the mirror and into Mercynville.”
*****
“HE ABANDONED MIRRORVILLE — JUST LIKE HE DID US!”
“Marley... that’s not...” Reyna rambled.
“HE COULD’VE STAYED HERE WITH US! WE COULD HAVE BEEN PROPERLY TRAINED! AND NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! HE WOULDN’T HAVE HAD TO...!”
She couldn’t even make the last words leave her mouth as Shade’s cold, cruel, cackling laughter filled her thoughts.
*****
“YOU SEE, DURING OUR last battle, he was so desperate to stop me from crossing over to the Mortal Realm in full power he did something very drastic. He followed me into the bridge between realms and used all three God Relics to strip me of my form, memories, and powers. He fused me with a child that lived in same town as you, my darling.”
*****
“TO DO... WHAT?” ARMIE frowned.
*****
“WELL, WE’VE ALWAYS been friends, haven’t we? Whether or not you knew it. What was it we would always say? Oh, yes... Do or die together!”
*****
MARLEY CLUTCHED HER still bleeding stomach as she stared sadly at Armie, finally realizing just how real all this truly was. She had just gotten Armie back... and thanks to her dad...
“Whatever Dad did, I’m sure he had a good reason for it,” said Reyna, her eyes looking at Marley in a way they hadn’t in such a long time... innocently. “No matter what anyone else says, we know who he is.”
“You... don’t...” Marley sighed, her whole body shaking. “...none of you do...”
Marley’s legs finally gave out as she fell to her knees. Jeb had gone to catch her, but Mitchell forcibly teleported him a few feet away, motioning him to stay put.
“What the hell?” Jeb shouted, glaring at his brother’s interference.
Mitchell shook his head wearily as he teleported Reyna and Armie over near Jeb, right as they were about to come to Marley’s aid.
“Why did you —?” Reyna started
“She has to face this,” Mitchell said fiercely, as he kneeled down next to Marley’s side. “Get up.”
“Its all my fault,” Marley replied, her voice steeped in shock and sorrow.
“That’s shit and you know it, kid,” Mitchell replied darkly. “You didn’t do or cause any of this.”
“That doesn’t matter,” said Marley, weakly. “I should’ve been here... he never should’ve sent me away... I could’ve stopped this... I could’ve saved...”
Mitchell’s eyes flashed electric blue for a brief second. “It doesn’t matter what Patterson did, or what you weren’t able to,” said Mitchell, his voice forcibly steady. “...Those were his mistakes — not yours — and those are a thing of the past. Some people aren’t meant to be heroes, parents or teachers. But you’re different. Your emotions, your love, your anger, your passion, your drive... your grief... they make you a force to be reckoned with. You can use them to accomplish everything you believe in! Never settle for less. I can show you how, begin your true training... or you can just keep wallowing in your own sorrow and self-indulgent pity.”
“What if we can’t save this city?” Marley wiped a tear from her cheek. “What if my dad let things go too far?”
“As you just showed, during this entire ordeal, sometimes we fall from grace, so we can rise back up and soar higher than ever before,” said Mitchell. “Now, get up off your ass and rise.”
Marley nodded. She glanced over at Reyna, Jeb, and Armie as she remembered the best moments she’d spent with each of them... Marley singing and laughing with Armie as he played the drums... she and Reyna playing Uno as little kids... and how Jeb’s kiss brought her back from the brink. All different forms of joy the slain Dwellers would never know. Their lives were cut too short, because those in power ignored them... even in death. This city, this realm, needed to change. And she was the only one who could ensure that would happen.
Marley felt a surge of magical energy flow through her veins as she forced herself to stand back up. Her legs wobbled, at first, before finally steadying once more.
“Marley!” Jeb went to be by her side, only to be pushed out of the way by Reyna, who tried to hug her again. Marley was just about to assure everyone she was okay, or as okay as she possibly could be at the moment, when...
Mitchell motioned for all of them to be quiet as the citizens of the Slums all walked outside their homes, staring at the five of them.
“...Did they see us kill Atrios?” Reyna asked. “And Mitchell’s... anti-glamour?”
“Kind of hard for them not to,” said Armie.
“Oh, they’re going to be so pissed off,” said Reyna. “Knowing our luck they’ll probably...”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Mitchell with a forced calm, as all the people cheered for them in excitement.
“The God Relics have returned!”
“The Chosen have revealed the secrets of Shade!”
“The Chosen will avenge the fallen!”
“The Chosen will save us!”
The Chosen have saved us!”
“Long live — THE CHOSEN!”
Marley gave a look of conviction to the others. “They’re right. We saved them and we’re going to keep doing it. Whatever shit we’re all dealing with, we’re not just going to force ourselves to get over it... we’ll face it together. Anything this city of the slain wants to throw at us, we’ll make them regret it. We’re going to finish what Dad was supposed to. We’ll save those who need us, and then, when we’re ready, Ignotus Shade will die.”