Rise and Fall- The Fight Inside

The Battle of Sisters

"This is over when I say it's over." Reagan acknowledged. 

Grainger squinted at Reagan. He could feel a dark presence but had no clue were it was coming from. He was puzzled by Reagan's appearance. What had happened in the short time he was gone? Luka and Mackenzie moved in on Azalea. 

"What happened to you?! You used to be a nice person but now look at you! Look at the monster you have become!" Mackenzie yelled. 

Azalea ignored her statement and concentrated on Reagan. She had sensed that Reagan had grown more powerful since the last time they had met.  Grainger stood to the side. For the first time in his life, he felt lonely.  Grainger felt a different kind of lonely however. The kind that seems as if you are drowning in a sea full of people. The believing that you existence is insignificant and that he has been lost to a tragedy kind.  He felt almost as if he had been unloved, discarded, and unwanted. He felt as if he was stuck in a bad dream and could never be awoken. As if he would never see the light of day again. Grainger's train of thought was broken when Reagan bumped him as she walked past. He snapped out of his thoughts and watched her walk behind him and circle around to intimidate Azalea. 

"You want to go?" Azalea challenged.

"This is just a walk in the park for me. Hit me with you're best shot!" Reagan chanted. 

Azalea's cheeks turned pink as she leapt into the air. Reagan followed her, preparing  her hands. 

"Reagan, Azalea, it doesn't have to be this way. We can work things out!" Mackenzie suggested.

"We past working things out a long time ago." Reagan muttered as she struck lightning at Azalea.

Azalea dodged it and played with some fire. Reagan caught the fire, turning it dark purple and throwing it back at Azalea. Azalea conjured some kind of super blast and threw it at Reagan. The blast wave surrounded Reagan, knocking her to the ground. Grainger and Luka gasped as she hit the ground. She landed on her knee with her head down. She paused for a second, balling up her fist and jerking her head up causing her hair to fly behind her.  She screamed and thrust her fist into the ground.  The ground below shattered like glass. The shockwave threw Grainger, Mackenzie, Luka, Azalea, and any person standing for miles to  their feet. The sky shook in fear. Grainger sat up quickly, looking around for Reagan. She remained kneeling as she had before. he turned to see Luka and Mackenzie lying side by side on the ground. They sat up and flashed a concerned look back at him. He returned his attention to Azalea. She rested in a heap near the side of the building. Grainger ran forward, sliding down beside Reagan. 

"Reagan?" he gasped.

"Leave me alone." Reagan murmured, brushing Grainger's hand off her shoulder. He gave her  a discussed but concerned look. She stared into his pale eyes and reached backwards to pull the hood over her face. 

Reagan jumped off the ground and made her way back to the ship. Grainger didn't mind her actions. Luka and Mackenzie caught his eye. They were leaning over Azalea. He jogged over to join them. 

"She is dead." Luka announced. 

Grainger stared down at the corpse. She hit her head against the corner of the building. The impact to her head was the obvious cause of death. Grainger pulled himself away from the mess and continued to search for answers. His thoughts came back to Reagan who was long gone. While they were looking at Azalea, she had gone back to the ship. Reagan felt no regret, no remorse. She was proud of the person she had become. However, there was still a small spark of light deep inside the darkness. This spark knew that what she had done was terrible and wrong. In her case, the bad outweighed the good. The darkness silenced the light. She justified her actions with the fact that she didn't mean to kill Azalea even though she wanted to see Azalea dead. It was a.... happy..... accident. She made her way up the stairs to the main ship dock. She found an old Starjumper and climbed inside. She started the engines and raced off into the night sky. The sudden flash of light from the distance gave away her secret.

"Reagan. She...she killed her..." Mackenzie stammered. 

"She's getting away!" Luka yelled, pointing to the flash of light in the sky.

Grainger and Mackenzie craned their necks to see in the direction Luka's finger was pointing towards.  Grainger bit his lip. He wanted so badly to be with Reagan and understand why she did what she did but he knew he couldn't. 

"She is evil." Mackenzie growled. 

"She is a villain, a murderer." Luka chimed in.

"She was no worse then Azalea." Grainger pointed out, turning to face Luka and Mackenzie. They appeared to be stunned by his response.

"You're on her side! She killed Azalea!" Mackenzie scoffed.

"And she did it to save us! Killing Azalea was an accident!" Grainger argued. 

"Grainger, Reagan is evil, can't you see that? She did it because she wanted to, she didn't care about you, or me!" Luka continued.

"From my point of view Azalea was evil!" Grainger shouted back at Luka.

"You are just as bad as Reagan, trying to make good of her actions! Are you mad!" Luka yelled.

"I hate you!" Grainger retorted as he ran back to the ship. 

It was more clear now then it has ever been. For once, Grainger understood what he was meant to do. He would stop at nothing to bring Reagan back and if that didn't work, he would join her and keep her in check.  He knew that in doing this he would be a disgrace but Luka and Mackenzie just seemed to always be against him. Grainger figured it didn't matter. He hopped into another Starjumper and began tracking Reagan.