DP: Betrayal & Corruption (Unrevised Version)

Ch: 18

Tucker had the same idea, and moved closer to Sam’s position so he could defend her while Skulker makes his way over to them. He narrowed his eyes at the active tendril, then drew a metal lasso out of his sash, and tossed it into the air. In doing so, he grinned when it was in his direction, whirled the hoop around until flinging the rope over the fifth to secure it in place, and pulled it towards him as best as he could. Successfully, the limb came tumbling down; the genius teen flipped the switch on the end of the rope and activated the contraption, a blast of electricity coming across the metal rope. The tendril took it like an electric fence did to an escaping criminal, fizzling under the currents and being surrounded in light blue flashes.

Tucker shielded his eyes with his free arm, blocking the flashing lights from his sight. It lasted for 30 seconds, and when the flashing stopped and a sizzling sound came, Tucker dropped his arm. The teen was amazed how his plan worked and admired the power the jolts given to the tentacle. But it wasn’t the time to continue his admiration, for the black snake shakily rose slowly and small light blue sparks bounced off its skin. Tucker glanced for a sec at Sam, who was lying on her side still holding her injured side and breathing shallow breaths. A look of worry and concern was masking his face, the puddle of red liquid about a basketball’s size and continues to grow centimeter by centimeter under her draining body. Tucker thought no matter how long it will take him to finish off the nearly functional appendage, he’ll will always protect his friend between dangers.

****

During the mess, Maddie, who was done with the third, went to the right side of the RV for a break after handling the tendril breathlessly. It was rough as it looked and fought like a knight blocking an armored sumo wrestler from reaching a pound of cake, having its guard up as the appendage moved around randomly. Dodge and swipe, dodge and swipe was its techniques, and often changed its battle strategy by nicking her without knowing the small slice was there. The dauntless, cocky arm was an unacceptable opponent to her thoughts. She sighed heavily, her heart still pounding out of her chest as she tried to steady it for another sweeping round, this one to help Jack and her daughter with the first and fourth.

The night wind flew across her as she looked at the battlefield in front of her, seeing how the others were doing with their shares. Jazz had the bazooka aimed at the fourth while it punctured the asphalt next to Jack’s feet, sticking into the road and cracked some of the edges in its impact. Jazz pulled the trigger and fired a direct shot, sending its spine back in a blinding light, making Maddie squint slightly behind her goggles.

The light lasted for a good five seconds and after the flash appeared with the mark on black skin sizzling, the charred area scabbed and a small stream of gray waved off of the spot. The appendage snapped out of hole it struck into and sharped the aim like the third had done to attack Skulker at Jazz’s position. Maddie picked up on the tactic of the similar arm and got up above the RV, pushing herself up over and went straight forward to stop it from hurting her little girl. As she ran in a courageous and mild dumbfounded action, the arm begun its own direct attack towards a stunned Jazz, shortening the distance it had in a matter of a second. When it closed the space between itself and the red-headed teen, Maddie stepped in and pushed her daughter out of the spear’s way, but she wasn’t so lucky to make the landing.

Before they’ve both hit the ground on top of each other, Maddie’s arm was caught by the limb, stinging the point into her arm, and quickly pulled her injured self away from Jazz swiftly out of her reach. As it took her up, she yelped by the surprise and gasped by the pain from the appendage as it had dragged her roughly upward, clinging tightly around the punctured wound and the rest of the limb. The woman thought she can lose her arm just by the first yank to the air, the plunging of the spear nearly getting to Jazz, and the loss of blood draining out of her veins in red, trickling strains. She fought the upcoming spots protruding the edges of her vision as she tried to keep her conscious mind functioning, taking off the blood dripping from the hole and finding a way to escape the grasp of the appendage.

Maddie looked at the black thing latching onto her swaying side to side as if playing her like a child holding their doll happily, watching the figure loll with their arm moving along together. It was toying with her, she decided, but was it going to do something to her somehow, like maybe smash her into the ground and cracking her bones until made into white, small splinters? Or possibly strangle her body like a python does to its prey and suck the breath out until their last breath had left them? Perhaps ripping her limb off in one quick tear and toss her to the ground in a heap of a bloody, rotten mess? The thoughts of multiple death scenarios lingered for a brief moment, which didn’t help at all in her current situation; however, she glanced away from the tentacle and saw how high they were. The both of them were at least twenty feet off the ground, conceivably thirty depending on what length the black snake stretched.

The slimy, leathery skin tightened and she winched from the spark. It’s going to be the death of her if she couldn’t find a way to detach herself without losing more red liquid. And what felt like an infinite time span ticking away high in the air, the tendril was done with its swaying movements, for which Maddie was glad because her arm went numb like Hell soon after, and the black spots clouding her line of sight nearly swallowed her into the abyss. With closed eyes, her final thought was doubting herself if she can hold on longer for the rest of the trip.

Jazz was terrified, seeing her mother taken by the appendage and dangerously drags her up into the sky over her and Jack. Getting up from the shove her mother pulled off, she saw with widen eyes the hole the spear point sticking out of her mother’s arm tighten slightly and strays of fresh, red blood were pumping thinly through the edges. The black thing began to oscillate with her mother going along like the wind pushing briefly onto a stranger hanging on a building’s ledge. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. About five minutes of swinging to and fro, the limb had done its wasted swaying and slipped the tip out of Maddie’s arm, dropping her limp body in the process. Jazz gasped immediately, bringing both hands over her opened mouth and wide eyes viewing the ruthless release. After looking away with both hands covering her eyes, a gush of wind passed over her head and she removed a finger hesitantly.

The red headed teen dropped her hands and looked up, the shock expression still worn onto her still wide eyed face. Hovering above was a shadow creature similar to Furor, but with a more feminine appearance. She didn’t have legs, rather having a curly, dark tail that faded at the end at each whisk. Her whole body was a black void color, with claws sharp and ready to inflict damage to unwanted attackers. A turquoise chain clipped around the feminine shadow’s neck, a purple aura pendent resting on her chest, glowing a purplish magenta color. Her white pupil and purple iris eyes stood out of the neutral hue and stared a comfortable gaze at the panicking Jazz along with a small, graceful smile. It lowered the anxiety for a bit, but she was content that her mother was unharmed. The shadow lady gently bent down in front of the girl and settled Maddie down, making her lay on her back and her calm face away from Jazz.

She looked at the mother of the teenage girl sweetly, and raised her head to Jazz. Levitating slowly so she couldn’t scare the teen no more, the feminine silhouette eased her way towards her and extended a hand for removing a strand of orange hair out of her eyes. Keeping the sweet, small smile on her lips, she said quietly in an echoed, Latin voice, “Do not worry yourself, darling. She’s safe like the other injure. Do you understand?” Jazz nodded, depicting the puzzle of confusion in her mind that cluttered it. The shadow’s smile grew to normal by the acceptance, straightened her stance, and before she floated away, she said a bit more louder to her now mortal friend, “Good. Keep up the great fight!”

****

Happy late April 2nd anniversary and early Easter! ^-^