Slugterran Saviours

two

Two people bounded silently through the dead of the night.

Their footsteps made no sound when the balls of their feet hit the forest floor, midnight black covering the two individuals neck to toe, face paint camoflauging the skin that was uncovered. Their piercing red eyes were the only things that were distinct in the dark. As they moved through the thickening forest, slugs moved away from them in a hurry, discomfort filling their entire bodies, fear eating them up before they awoke and hopped away swiftly from their path. As they ran through the wood, one of the two people turned to the other, a burning question lingering at the back of his mind, despite the perfectly plotted out scheme, despite the flawless strategy that was planned out to the very last detail. From the moment the Masked Damsel was created, to when the Dark Energy started to manifest in his bloodstream and body, giving him the ability to control any part of the human body, if he could master it, to the moment the 99 caverns would be degraded to nothing but rubble.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Her compainion asked as the two ran through the jungle, his concerned voice echoing through the quiet forest. She looked up into his ruby red eyes, then rolling her own eyes when she saw that they were once again filled with worry.

"Yes, Twist, for the last time, I do!" The Masked Damsel hissed as they travelled through the vast forest of mushroom trees. Irritation started to boil in her blood as Twist asked her the same exact question for what seemed like the millionth time, for a reason she couldn't even fathom. She had no problem destroying entire caverns, she watched as crimson red, toxic gases infected hundreds of people and didn't falter at the slightest. She heard screams and cried of terror as she drew the sign she drew on all her victims, not even flinching before she killed them, watching the ruby red blood leak from each red curve to each and every slash, staring into their eyes as the life faded from the orbs of colour.

What made him think she couldn't carry on with Phase Two?

"Okay, fine, just confirming." He affirmed defensively, turning his attention back to the path, still running, for mecha beasts woud have made too much noise. They couldn't risk getting caught, even being barely noticed at the corner of someone's eye could jeopardize this entire plan, and they were too far ahead to fail now. So they ran to their destination as fast as they could, their lips sealed and their footsteps noiseless against the forest floor, not even the small crinkle of leaves to be heard as they traveled through the forest.

Until a jolt of pain rang through her head, and she halted in her steps.

She gasped at the sudden torment that took over her mind, and quietly as she could she continued on, grimacing and hissing as it continued to haunt her. She took a few steps forward into a clearing, but each step causing her world to spin. She attempted to shake the sudden aching in her head, but it only increased. Black spots danced around in her vision, tilting back and forth, and she fell onto the forest floor. Deafening screams and shrieks of rage seemed to echo in the distance, and she writhed in agony before her world went black.

Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly looked around, before she recognized her surroundings. Her surroundings glowed red, the tall mushroom trees towering over her head, the undersides of each tree crimson red as the rest of the mushroom trees were coloured a reddish brown, the grass that decorated the ground wilting and dying at her feet. Bushes and plants weren't the healthy, leaf green they normally were, but instead, the dead leaves broke off the branches and fell to the ground. A girl stood tall, brave before her, but she saw how her hands shaking, the fear and intimidation in her eyes. The Masked Damsel chuckled at the girl that stood before her. The girl's determination was admirable, but it was pointless.

"You think you can stop me, insolent bitch?" The Masked Damsel asked her prisoner, but the prisoner chuckled as a hand went to her hips as she retorted,

"You're calling me a bitch, when your attitude reminds me of a feral slughound?" She smirked cockily as the insult ran in the air. The Masked Damsel snarled as she lunged at the prisoner, who dodged out of the way, the confident smirk still etched onto her face.

"You missed me. And you never miss, right?" She taunted bravely, swiftly dodging blows from the Masked Damsel's daggers, kicking one out of her hand, sending the blade clattering to the floor.

"Face it, Savea, no matter how powerful you are, you'll never truly defeat me." The prisoner growled, her smile gone. But her words fuelled the Masked Damsel's anger, because as much as she wanted to hide it...

The prisoner was right.

She could never beat the woman she held prisoner, and she knew it. Her determination grew stronger everyday, the agony the prisoner caused in Savea's head came more frequently, she was breaking her every chance she got. Her persistence and her sheer will would eventually break Savea, and she knew it.

But even if she can't beat her, she'll never let her succeed.

"And you'll never win."

The Masked Damsel's eyes snapped open, and she quickly got up, the pain that attacked her head previously conpletely gone. She felt the cooling breeze sweep through the blades of grass under her palms, some of it ending up in her hair, the fragrance from the nearhy plants reminding her of vanilla. She patted her sides, sighing in relief when she felt both of her daggers there. She sat up, scanning her surroundings quickly, unsheathing her daggers in case she saw a threat. But thankfully, none came, the forest of trees thick as they surrounded the clearing she stood in. She looked upwards to find threats in the trees, but she saw none, only the dark, cavern ceiling.

And she looked at the ground to seventeen orchids dancing in the small breeze.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the flowers dancing in the breeze, each one in a vibrant colour, grimacing as seeing those flowers brought back a memory, one she frowned as it came back into her mind. Feeling the Dark Energy surge through her veins felt powerful, and filled her with adrenaline, but the process it took to get it into her system was agonizing, five days of pure torture as it finally set inside her body.

And those were the last flowers she saw before she was dragged into the ghouling chamber.

She remembered vividly how she could feel the dark energy corrupting her from within, how it scorched her skin, how it burned into her skull, bubbling up her blood, how her screams rippled in her throat, tears streaming down her eyes as they turned her irises red. How agony was all she could feel. How, before the dark energy took over her completely, she saw a girl with tawny brown hair walk past the room she was trapped in, her changing, desperate eyes meeting her cyan blue ones, before she walked away heartlessly, leaving her to suffer.

"Kid! Finally, I found you, I've been looking everywhere!" A voice echoed with relief in the distance, and The Masked Damsel looked up from the orchids, her head whipping towards the direction of the voice, her grip on her daggers tightening, loud footsteps coming in towards her. But they loosened once she saw who was making their way towards her. Strands of pineapple blond hair stuck out from the cap he wore to cover his striking, bright blond hair, his eyes familiar, despite being ruby red.

"Got another episode with her again?" Twist asked concernly, and she nodded, quickly adding after that,

"I'll be fine. Let's go." She sheathed her daggers into the raven black scabbards strapped to her belt, continuing into the wood, heading to their destination. Twist quickly jogged to catch up with her, slowing down when he reached her side, before he asked once again,

"Are you really sure you can do this?" The Masked Damsel groaned as she heard the question once again, her eyes sparking up with irritation as she snapped in extreme annoyance,

"For fucks sake, Twist, stop asking that! Unlike you, I'm perfectly capable of setting my emotions aside and carrying out the plan, and I won't jeopadize the whole thing for someone I love!!" Twist froze on the spot with her harsh words as her ruby red eyes sent an ice cold glare into his, silence ringing between the two as the words sat in with the two, Twist's ruby red eyes filled with not anger, but hurt at the young lady that just snapped at him. The Masked Damsel rolled her eyes once again, her back turning towards Twist as she growled,

"Let's go." Twist finally collected himself enough to speak, but he couldn't deny how hurt he felt at her words, how much they felt like a stab to the heart.

"Okay, kiddo." He finally exhaled as he followed closely behind her, the two making their way to the hideout.