Experiment X

32 | Fire and Ice

32 | Fire and Ice

Emberly doesn’t scream. Doesn’t accept that this will be her time. Not at the hands of this girl. There would be no chance of that, not now, not ever by her. Something within Emberly, a raging fire bursts from within, and she doesn’t even give Anya the chance to strike through her chest; she casts out a hand immediately, and Emberly cries aloud as a blinding orb of fiery light blasts from her palm. Anya cringes as she falters, cursing and stumbles in the darkness: her icy spear smashing into the ground.

Taking this moment to roll about, Emberly forces herself up grimacing as her arms scream out in exhaustion, and wearily she stands to her feet. Anya is perched upon the ground, catlike, arm stretching forth, leaning as she glares at her in the dark. Her nose flares, and she slowly flicks away the trickling blood from her mouth, not lifting her freezing stare once. Emberly braces herself, waiting, watching Anya too, carefully. What is she thinking? The redheaded girl ponders. Something malevolent, and the bloodied image of Emberly sprawled out dead most likely.

It’s Anya who makes the first move. She plunges herself into a frenzied run toward Emberly who maintains her ground, not fleeing. Baring her clenched teeth, Anya pitches an arm forward and a wave of shooting ice shrieks straight for Emberly; the wave covers the entirety of the narrow passageway before Emberly, but evading its freezing clasp, she sprints in a flip, and concentrates on phasing, and vanishes through the bordering wall. There is a gasp, and she hears the muffled shout of Anya on the other side cursing.

Not wasting any time, Emberly phases again through the wall, feeling the silky sensation pass through her, and when she emerges, she flings her arms forward powering an incinerating beam toward Anya. Gritting her teeth, Anya manages to escape it barely, but in doing so, the heat singes the tail end of her long hair, and suddenly it catches afire. Anya screams almost to the point of being comical, and instantly frosts away the flames licking up her backside, but Emberly’s too quick. Distracted by this, Anya isn’t aware of Emberly leaping toward her, and by the time she does, Emberly’s fist smacks into her face: there’s a crack of bone and string of blood as Anya stumbles backward, and her glare is seething at Emberly, who’s only smiling in return.

“Didn’t expect that did you, Icegirl?” she says, with fiery amusement, flipping her nickname back upon her rival.

Anya’s eyes narrow, and she spits, “You’ll pay for that!”

“Come on! You were so keen on killing me before. What happened?”

“SHUT UP!” Anya screams, and she bounds into the air, twirling, and sends a shower of ice shards down upon Emberly. They whistle stridently as they fall, crackling onto the ground at shattering impact, and Emberly has to swiftly move to avoid being lacerated, but she isn’t rapid enough. A few manage to rip open her skin, slice against her cheeks, and forehead spilling streams of blood, and stinging as if someone had poured liquid fire into the scathed wounds, before Emberly can get to a safe distance.

“Why run, Firegirl? HUH?” Anya taunts, laughing her terrible laugh. “Scared to die? Hmm!?”

A sneer bends Emberly’s lips, and she executes a somersault onto the ground, and when she rises, she throws a ball of flames toward Anya. The flames tear through the dismal dark, and Anya quickly vaporizes the heat with a gust of icy wind, expelled from her palms. The wind whips through the passageway, blowing Emberly’s hair, and she’s chilled to the bone. And then they’re running at each other madly.

Anya readies her pulled back left fist with a hardened icy exterior before slamming directly to Emberly’s face, and Emberly barely avoids being knocked senseless by ducking and propels herself forward. The redheaded girl phases through Anya’s body, wincing in slight disgust, and then spins about as she emerges behind her. Emberly grabs at Anya’s neck, and flings her to the nearby wall with a grappling force. There’s a surprised shout from the Icegirl, but she quickly regains stamina, and launches herself toward the wall, and Emberly’s eyes widen as she sees her running up it, and then the girl is flipping into an arc right above Emberly, spiraling—and then she’s right behind her. Before Emberly knows it, Anya’s hand is clenched about her mouth, and she’s whispering darkly into her ear: