The Fall of the Society

Chapter 66: Untouchable

"Be on your guard," Sid said quickly.

Rose looked around the room desperately but saw no sign of her opponent. Suddenly, Phaze appeared directly in front of her, kicking her hard in the abdomen and causing her to topple backward onto the floor. Rolling to her feet, Rose sent a blast of fire to the location that Phaze had been, but the effort was futile as she was gone. Rose looked around once more, before a heavy weight fell onto her shoulders, wrapping their legs around her body, and slamming her to the ground by flipping her over onto her back. Her aura blazed into being, but Phaze had already disappeared once more. A wave of anger spread across her face, as she took up a defensive stance, trying to be ready for the next attack.

"That is a nifty trick," Phaze's voice rang out, seemingly coming from every direction at once. "It will not be enough though."

Rose felt a tremendous tug from behind her, as if an invisible force had grabbed ahold of her, pulling her from her feet. As she flew through the air she turned and could see one of Phaze's portals, and she was rushing directly into the center. She threw her arms up, covering her face, but the portal vanished, causing her to slam violently into the wall, debris falling to the floor around her. Rose scrambled to her feet, looking around while keeping her back to the wall. Another portal opened on the opposite side of the room, and even though she tried to fight it, she was pulled from her feet once again. As she flew, the portal closed and a new one opened above her, changing her direction from horizontal to vertical. Anger coursed through her as she focused and began flying away from the portal, toward the floor. A sudden blow caught her in the small of the back as the portal above her blinked from existence. The force she was exerting combined with the force of the blow sent her rocketing toward the ground, where she collided with the cement, fracturing it into a crater.

Her aura disappeared as she struggled to breath. The landing had knocked the wind out of her as well as dazing her, causing her head to spin wildly. In her concussed state, Rose rolled onto her back and put her arms in front of her face, waiting for another attack to come, but nothing happened. After a few minutes, she was able to see clearly and a hand reached down and grabbed her wrist, easily pulling her to her feet. Phaze released her wrist and backed away from her.

"Round one was mine, do you think you can win round two?" Phaze asked her casually. "You can have a moment to regain your bearings before we start again."

Rose shook her head, trying to clear the spots that were floating in her vision. "Why did you stop?" she asked as her head cleared, and she was finally able to think properly.

Phaze shrugged, "It isn't any fun if it is one sided."

Her statement angered Rose, but she was not completely sure why. She was clearly losing, but she was often losing before pulling out a win. Rose focused and her purple aura emerged from her body, shimmering brightly. Phaze held her hand out in front of her and motioned for Rose to begin, she answered with a nod of her head. Rose shot forward, slamming directly into the wall behind Phaze. She stumbled backward, realizing she had flown directly into a portal. Phaze was still standing in the place she had been originally but had pivoted around to smile at her. She shot a burst of fire that disappeared after it left her hands and burst onto her head a moment later.

Phaze was messing with her. She was playing a very dangerous game, and Rose was going to make her pay. All she needed to do was keep her aura powered and eventually she will make contact. She had to watch for openings and flaws within her combat style. Keeping her eyes on Phaze, she rocketed to her left, casting a stream of blazing white fire directly at her opponent the entire time. A portal opened in front of Phaze and followed Rose's movements, absorbing all her attack. As she let off the portal flashed, and a knee connected with Rose's abdomen. The wind was knocked out of her for the second time, but she remained on her feet, her aura still intact. She grasped desperately in front of her, catching her hands on Phaze's wrist. A sudden jerk pulled her head down and this time the knee met her chin. Rose's head jerked backward violently as her aura disappeared. She had released Phaze's wrist and she felt as though she was floating. Expecting to crash hard on her back, a light pressure emerged under her arms and she was laid gently onto her back.

Rose rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself onto her hands and knees. Blood was flowing from her nose and mouth, and it felt like a couple of her teeth had been knocked loose. She glanced around the room, little lights floating in her vision again. Phaze was standing, leaning on the wall opposite of her. Her movements were impossible to read, and she was extremely fast.

"Are you able to go for a round three? Or should I just finish things up now?" Phaze asked her in a tone that portrayed that they were old friends playing a game.

Growling, Rose forced herself to her feet, a blue flame spreading across her body. She felt her nose pop back into place as it healed. Her teeth no longer felt loose, and her mouth was no longer filling with blood. She spit the remaining blood that was in her mouth onto the ground and glared at Phaze.

Phaze smiled at her. "I have heard that you do not know when to give up," she stated appraisingly. "If you give up, it will make everything easier on you. I promise."

Rose shook her head slowly. "I will never give up!" Her hands blazed white as she shot two blazing beams across the room to where Phaze was standing. The wall exploded, shaking the entire room as debris cascaded all around the chamber. She put her back against Sid and circled the room, her beams of white fire cutting deep gouges into the walls as smoke rose upward and chunks of cement fell around them. Everything was shaking as Rose pushed more energy into the attack, one of her beams blasted the doors into the corridor they had come from, blistering the walls as the attack flowed down the hall. There was a sudden jerk from behind her and she fell into darkness. She could see Sid looking into a small circle with light around him, that quickly closed, leaving her alone. Landing softly on a hard surface she looked around and saw nothing. Panicking slightly, she shot a burst of white flame in multiple directions, but they just flew until they disappeared, running out of energy.

"Control your emotions," a voice chimed behind her.

Rose spun, white beams of blazing energy cutting across the vast open and dark space. There was no one standing before her. The darkness echoed around her, making her feel claustrophobic, as if it was pressing in on her. She screamed her frustration and fell to her knees, covering her head with her hands.

"I would never leave you here," Phaze's voice rang out again. "Calm down and I will send you back, I would not wish this place on my worst enemy." Rose looked around, dropping her hands onto the ground, Phaze was standing behind her, watching her. A second later, Rose dropped onto her knees, kneeling beside Sid.

"Welcome back," he said casually.

Rose glared up at him. "You could help you know," she said angrily.

He shook his head with a smile, "This is something you have to do for yourself, besides it is good practice."

She sighed and climbed to her feet. "Practice is only worthwhile if you survive it, I would have never guessed she was this strong last time I met her."

"Never underestimate an opponent," Phaze's voice stated flatly from behind her.

Rose's aura blazed purple and she spun around to face her. Whip like tendrils shot from her fingers and whipped the air between them. Phaze stood unfazed by the movement, waiting for the full attack. Rose whipped her hands, and the tendrils flew toward Phaze. Portals just big enough for the whips to pass through opened in front of them and they disappeared into the darkness. The portals then closed, cutting the tendrils off. Rose pushed more power into her attack and the tendrils blazed back to full length. She swung them once more, but Phaze vanished from view. A sudden tight pressure wrapped around her abdomen, just below her arms. Next thing she knew she was soaring through the air backward, landing on the back of her neck and shoulders. Her aura disappeared once more, and she lay dazed on the ground.

She could not understand how this kept happening. How was she able to grasp her, to throw her around so easily? Her body hurt all over from this last attack. Her mind was beginning to race, she had to figure out a way to beat this opponent, she had to prevail. After a few moments laying on the ground, she rolled over and stood up. She was feeling wobbly from the blows to the head, but the pain she was feeling receded. Phaze was standing about ten feet away from her, arms crossed in front of her chest. Rose stared at her defiantly, no idea coming to mind on how she could win the next confrontation.

Phaze stretched her arms above her head and smiled. "We have played long enough; it is time to finish this." Rose stepped her left foot back, attempting to take up a defensive stance. Phaze put her hands in front of her and her eyes took on a dark aura. A moment later there was a bright flash of light, and everything went dark.