Everglow: Friend From Far Away

37 - The First Sunset

Ko was flung backwards by the force of Dane's fist impacting her head. Her vision went black momentarily, followed by the feeling of sharp pain as she ploughed into the dirt. A huge red mark had dug itself into the right side of her face and she could feel her whole head throbbing as she lay there.

"Ko!" Fischer cried out, watching as she tumbled to the ground. Wasting no time, he bolted forwards, throwing himself into Dane's back. The behemoth of a man was struck in the spine, doubling over and falling to the ground. Fischer groaned in pain as he too slammed into the ground, bracing himself with his arms. As quickly as he could, he brushed his elbows off and jumped to his feet. He looked around, slightly dizzy. But then he saw what he was after. Just beside where Dane had fallen lay his handgun.

Dane seemed to notice what he was looking at, and scrambled across the ground. But he was too late. Being on his feet, Fischer was much faster than a crawling Dane, and seized the gun right before the agent could grab it. Immediately, he whipped around and aimed the weapon right at Dane's head.

He looked up at Fischer, a strong look of disdain burnt into his eyes. His brows were slanted as far down as they could go and his mouth was as curved as a banana.

"Ko, you alright?" Fischer asked, not wanting to take his gaze off of the mountain of a man in front of him. Dane reminded him of the Spiderman villain Kingpin, just with less cartoony features.

Ko stumbled to her feet, shaking her head slightly.

"Yea. . . yea I'm good," she mumbled, rubbing her cheek. Her balance was a little off, and she wobbled around slightly like she was drunk.

"Can you untie Mira? I'll keep this fucker right here," he sneered, lining up the gun's sights with the agent's eye. Over by the tree, Sim still sat with bloody hands, clutching his face in pain and groaning. Any white on his suit was now stained in blood and dirt.

Ko waddled over to Mira, who lay on her side in the dirt. She struggled slightly as Ko approached her, appearing much taller than normal from Mira's perspective. Kneeling down, she helped her sit up and with her claws sliced through the gag that wrapped around her mouth.

She gasped slightly, happy to finally be able to speak again.

"Thankyou. . . thankyou," she wheezed, looking up at the alien who she'd feared just days before.

"It's ok," she quipped, smiling as best she could. Moving around behind her, the hand ties were a little harder to cut. But with a few good strikes, eventually they fell to the floor. Ko held out her hand to Mira, who was a little hesitant about taking it. But she figured now wasn't exactly the time to be picky about who it was that was helping her.

With the help of Ko, she raised to her feet and looked her rescuer in the eyes. The same eyes that Fischer had stared into countless times. She began to realise why he was so adamant about her. She carried a very child like innocence with her. Well, even though she quite possibly just gouged someone's eyes out.

Looking behind her, she spotted Fischer. He was still holding the gun and pointing it at Dane.

"Fischer!" Mira called.

"Mira, here," he called.

Keeping his eyes on Dane, he backpedaled slightly and handed Mira the gun.

"Wh-what? What are you-"

"Keep it trained on him. If he so much as even moves, you know what to do," he ordered. She nodded firmly and took his place as watchdog.

Fischer turned round to Ko. He was now able to see the full extent of damage she'd taken. The mark across her face began to turn a slight shade of purple as it bruised.