The Witchblade EqG: The 13 Artifacts

Sugarcoat did not know how to react to what she saw, after that incident she had removed the Heart Stone bracelet and put in her pocket. Part of her wanted to leave it in a drawer back at her house, but another part of her didn’t want to leave it behind. Mostly because it was something that her late grandmother gave to her, and she wanted to treasure it. However, after seeing what she saw from Indigo and Sunset, and even more so what she saw radiating off Sour Sweet. It haunted her, even while she was asleep that night, she couldn’t get the image of that demonic face out of her mind.

Why was something like that coming from Sour Sweet? Is it…Is it because of her bipolar disorder or something?

She tossed and turned in her bed until she couldn’t take it anymore, curiosity, morbid possibly, won out in the end. Sugarcoat tossed the blankets off herself and walked over to the drawer that contained a journal. The journal that her grandmother left to her detailed all the different things she had seen in her time using the Heart Stone. Sugarcoat took it out and brought it over to her desk and began thumbing through the pages to find something, anything that could explain what she saw.

She hadn’t really gone through it since Candycoat’s passing, but now was as good a time as any to figure out what was going on. After turning through a few pages, Sugarcoat landed on one that seemed to be about what she saw.

“I’ve seen a few things in my time, but there are things that I wish I hadn’t either. Just as there are good spirits, there are also bad ones. However, the bad ones don’t compare to the demonic. I quickly learned, thanks in part to another who wielded an item that was similar to mine, that Heaven and Hell did exist, and that demons often traversed into our realm…”

“Demons?!” Sugarcoat exclaimed in low whisper. In all honesty this shouldn’t be that much of a shock, not too long ago, their city was subjected to a war between demons and angels, guess it was too much to ask that all of them were defeated during that fiasco a week ago. With that revelation, she continued to read.

“My friend tells me that demonic possession is not unusual, but it is infrequent, you never know when it will happen, but when it does it can have severe consequences on the possessed, and those around them. My first encounter with a demon possessed person made me physically ill.”

“Just like me…” Sugarcoat whispered.

“Some demons won’t notice when someone is watching them, but when I focused on its aura the demon was giving off, it seemed to notice me the more I tried to home in on it. I realized that I had to keep my awareness of it down, otherwise I could set it off and it could harm me or the person it was possessing.”

“This is interesting, Grandma, but how did you get rid of it?” Sugarcoat turned a few more pages until she found something close to what she was looking for.

“Exorcising a demon is not easy, but it can be done. There are different methods for doing so. The first method involves the kind of things you see in that one horror movie, ‘The Exorcist’, priests, prayers, and holy water. The second and third methods are more for those who have paranormal abilities or items. I cannot comment on the latter, but the former is easier. The Heart Stone allows me to see the auras of others, but unfortunately it’s not easy, I used a technique to allow me to manipulate the aura of the possessed and excise it like a tumor, but if it’s a strong demon, it won’t go away without a fight. I was able to separate the demon from the possessed without harming the possessed person, but my friend told me if it was a demon of a higher echelon, it would’ve required more power than I possessed with the Heart Stone, at least not without tapping into my own life force.”

Sugarcoat read this passage over and over again, and the following pages that went into detail on how she performed the exorcism with the Heart Stone. Although Sugarcoat wasn’t planning on it, she wanted to be sure about how to do it, but part of her was hoping that what she saw was just a trick of the eye. After all, that was the first time she had worn the Heart Stone since her grandmother died, all the time before that she had kept it in her pocket.

“Maybe it was just sensory overload, I saw a lot of things yesterday,” Sugarcoat rationalized. “Yes, my mind wasn’t ready to take all that in at the time.”

With that belief, Sugarcoat put the journal away and went back into her bed to sleep. Still, one thing did bug her, if what she saw coming off Sour Sweet was a demon, then what was the thing that she saw coming off Sunset and Indigo? Seeing those things didn’t make her feel sick, no, it was more like she was intimidated on a primal level, as if she was witnessing great phantasmal creatures for the first time.

Sunset has some kind of power…that much I know of. Was that what I saw? And if so, why did I see it coming off Indigo too?

The next day Sugarcoat was back at school, this time keeping the Heart Stone in her skirt pocket, she didn’t want to see that again, but whenever she saw Sour Sweet in the hallways she would do her best to stay as far from her as possible, unfortunately this did not go unnoticed by Sour Sweet. Sour Sweet’s would always follow her as she passed by, or when they were at lunch, she would see the bipolar girl eyeing her from time to time across the room.

“You sure you’re okay, Sweets?” Sunset asked. “You’re still looking a little pale from yesterday.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses and took a longer look at her, “I’ll have to agree with Sunset, I think you should take a day off, personally speaking.”

Sugarcoat was actually happy to hear that Sunset and Twilight were this concerned about her, she couldn’t remember the last time that Sour, Indigo, Sunny, or Lemon were interested in her wellbeing, outside if it was going to hinder any plans they had made. It put a smile on her face. “I…I’m okay, aside from my episode yesterday I’m feeling better…”

Sunset and Twilight looked at each other with a raised eyebrow and said in unison, “Yeah, we’re not buying it.”

“W-What?!”

“Sugarcoat, you’re brutally honest, to a fault. I know it’s something you can’t help, but it’s not that hard to tell when you’re forcing yourself to lie,” said Twilight.

Sugarcoat facepalmed herself, but again, she couldn’t help but smile. They actually paid enough attention to her to notice when she was lying. So, this is what it’s like to have actual friends…god, I wasted my time with the wrong people. Deciding that it wasn’t going to be much help lying any further, Sugarcoat settled on telling the truth, about as much as she believed they needed to know. “Okay…there is a reason why I was sick yesterday…it may sound crazy, but I swear to you it’s the truth.”

Sunset leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. “After everything that’s happened recently, trust me, whatever you have to tell us won’t be crazy.”

Sugarcoat sighed and prepared herself for a possible mocking. “Okay…when Sour Sweet was in the hall yesterday I…I saw something…I saw something bad around her, let’s just say I saw a bad aura around her, and it didn’t feel right. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but it’s…horrible. I can’t really describe it well, but believe me, it’s something that’s concerning to me.”

Sunset and Twilight sat there and listened and Sugarcoat waited for their response. She didn’t know how much they would believe her, but she could already hear the mocking that would be coming from her former group of acquaintances.

“Seriously, are you mental or something?”

“Sugarcoat, you gotta lay off the horror movies.”

“Are you calling me some kind of monster, bitch?!”

“Jeez, we need to put a muzzle on you for that ‘no-filter’ thing.”

“Okay, so you suspect that Sour Sweet isn’t well, beyond the norm. I’ll admit…she does look off…more so than usual,” said Twilight.

Sunset took a quick glance at the bipolar girl, the events of last night coming back to her. She wondered if…? Nah, can’t be that easy…could it? “Anyway, just try to keep your distance as best you can. After what she almost did to Twilight, I’m not about to doubt that she isn’t capable of worse.”

Sugarcoat nodded, but now that incident was called into question. Was Sour Sweet’s wanting to hurt Twilight that day mostly due to her disorder, or was it because of something else? Either way, Sugarcoat needed some more info before she could definitively say that Sour Sweet was possessed by a demon.

Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. The students dispersed, heading to their classes. Sunset and Twilight walked Sugarcoat to her class, they did it to provide her some comfort and safety, and it was much appreciated on Sugarcoat’s part.

Sunset had dropped off Twilight at her class and was heading to her locker to switch out her books right quick. However, what Sugarcoat said to them at lunch still rattled around in her mind. Could Sour Sweet be in possession of the Blood Sword? If so, one of the thirteen Artifacts was so close, plus, she had the element of surprise. Sour may not give up the Blood Sword willingly…worst case scenario I might need to kill her. Sunset thought about that for a moment and then shrugged. Eh, after what happened with Twilight, no real loss. Plus, it gives me a very good excuse to beat the living shit out her for that.

As Sunset opened her locker and swapped her books, a clanking of locker metal drew her attention to the left and saw none other than Indigo Zap. The fiery haired teen’s blood began to boil instantly upon laying eyes on this girl, it raged further when she noticed that smug expression on Indigo’s face.

“S’up, Shimmer,” said Indigo.

“Zap, you have about thirty seconds to explain why you’re anywhere near me before I slam your head into these lockers, and believe me that’s twenty-nine more seconds than you deserve,” Sunset warned.

“Good, then I’ll make this short. You, me, showdown, one-on-one.”

Sunset had to pause when she heard that, did Indigo just seriously challenge her to a fight? “I’m sorry, did the ass kicking I gave you last time give you amnesia?” Sunset turned to fully face her foe and shot Indigo with her own smug look. “Y’know, I heard the story that’s going around the school. How you survived on a glacier for almost a week, I’ll give you props for that, but don’t think you’re hot shit just because of that.”

Indigo put her fists on her hips and stared her down. “I learned a few things on that mountain, surviving in the frozen wilderness will do that to you.”

Sunset growled at Indigo and said, “Okay, so where do you want to do this? Back of the school? In front of the school? I’d like to know where you’d like to have your beating.”

“Some place where we can go all out, where we don’t have to worry about cops or anything getting in our way,” Indigo suggested.

Sunset thought for a moment, a place that was out of the way, and where there wouldn’t be a lot of police presence. “I know, the old warehousing area, ten o’ clock tonight. There’s not a lot of cops there, ever since that whole fight between the demons and angels, places like that have been abandoned. That is, if you’re not afraid of fighting someplace where the Blood Kings used to roam around?”

Indigo puffed out her chest and grinned. “Sounds perfect, I’ll leave you in a ditch there. And it’ll be a fitting story for the news, I’ll make sure to leave your body in such a way that they’ll think you’re a junky whore who got her ass beaten to death.”

Sunset laughed at the ridiculousness of that statement. “Oh, that’s rich because this time, it won’t be as tame. Last time, Twilight’s life was top priority, but since I’ll know she’ll be safe and sound at home, I’ll be able to fully concentrate on beating you to within an inch of your shit life!”

Indigo didn’t flinch from the stare and continued her own. “Good, keep that up, it’ll be sweet when I’ve made you my bitch.” Indigo put her hands behind her head and leisurely walked away but stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Oh, and Shimmer, don’t think your witchy fire power is going to save you.”

The sun had set after a few hours, and nighttime had settled across the city. Indigo Zap was at her home, overlooking the courtyard from her room. She was antsy with excitement, because tonight was the night, tonight she would beat Sunset Shimmer and save Twilight from the fire witch. Of course, it was a school night, and her parents – as trusting as they were – weren’t going to let her out of the house this late, especially with a killer still on the loose. Thankfully, she had a contingency plan.

“Right on time.”

Indigo saw a car pull up, a tricked-out Dodge Charger, green in color with black racing stripes, and neon green light emanating from below the car. The sports car continued up the driveway and parked out front, Indigo put on a violet hoodie, black pants, and a backpack, and headed downstairs. Just as she thought, when Indigo made it downstairs, she ran into her mother along the way.

“Indigo, where are you going?” her mother asked.

“Oh, sorry, Mom, I need to head over to Lemon Zest’s. We have a group project and most of the stuff is at her place,” said Indigo.

“Okay, but call us if you’re planning on staying over, we can have your uniform delivered to Lemon’s house.”

Indigo opened her backpack and revealed her school uniform. “Already got that covered, just in case.” The CPA sports star kissed her mother on the cheek and bid her farewell. Once outside she hurried to Lemon Zest’s car. “Zesty.”

“Indie, what up,” Lemon Zest replied.

Once Indigo got inside the car, Lemon Zest pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road. Indigo had already told Lemon about the real reason she wanted to go out and she was one hundred percent onboard. Indigo looked out the window, watching the world pass by as the various streetlights passed over them. She looked over to Lemon Zest who was happily jamming to the tunes that were playing from her car stereo. Lemon was dressed in short-shorts and a t-shirt that was low cut enough to show off her cleavage, the party girl always liked to dress just a tad risqué, but whenever Indigo was involved, she went the extra mile.

It wasn’t as if she was oblivious, she knew what Lemon Zest was doing. Indigo was very aware that Lemon had a crush on her, they started out as actual friends but over time Lemon Zest started to feel something more towards her. Indigo could honestly say if she never saw Twilight, or become so enamored with her, Lemon Zest would be the girl she’d be dating. But her heart was set on Twilight, and Lemon Zest knew that, and despite knowing that, Lemon was willing to help her with her pursuits of the teen genius.

Zesty, I gotta pay her back somehow. Once this is all over, maybe we can change up this relationship. Maybe become friends-with-benefits? Oh, that actually sounds hot, maybe I could convince Twilight to have Zesty come to bed with us for an occasional threesome. Now that’s something, having two hot girls goin’ down on me.

Indigo shook her head, trying to dislodge the sexy thoughts.

Get your head out of your pants, Zap! You have a fight to concentrate on.

After about a thirty-minute drive, the two CPA students made it to the old warehousing district and parked just outside the fence entrance. It was every bit as creepy as Lemon expected it to be. The empty large warehouses creaked and moaned with rusting machinery, the fences around the property would rattle from time to time, Lemon wasn’t sure if that was due to some stray animals or something else. Despite the war between the Angelus and Darkness being over, there were some who were still uncertain that all their forces were gone from the city. Lemon Zest was one of them, wondering if there were still Blood Kings or demons skulking in the night, then there was that serial killer still on the loose that was hacking people to pieces.

“I-I don’t like this Indie; how do you know that Shimmer’s going to even come?” Lemon asked.

Indigo reclined the seat and placed her hands behind her head. “Because Shimmer and I think along the same lines, at least when it comes to these kinds of things. She won’t pass up a chance to fight me, especially if she thinks she can get away with killing me.”

Lemon Zest gulped at the mention of that word. “Are you…Are you really going to kill her?”

Indigo’s expression became neutral. “Depends on her. If she gives up Twilight before it comes to that, then maybe not. But, then again, with that freaky fire power of hers, she’s too dangerous to keep around. Even if she backs off Twilight, she could just find a way to take her back. So, I guess the answer is yes, I will.”

Lemon turned to her friend and gave her a worried look. “Indie, I…please think this through. You said it yourself, she has freaky fire powers! She might humor you with a fair fight for a few seconds, but if she thinks she’s going to lose she might–!”

“Zesty,” Indigo turned her head towards Lemon Zest and smiled at her. She reached out with her left hand and gently cupped the party girl’s cheek, the action appeared to have an instant calming effect. “Don’t worry, I got this. Before I didn’t know about her powers, but now I do. And trust me, I got something for that. But y’know, I like it when you worry about me, you’re cute when you do.”

Lemon Zest’s face burned red; her heart skipped a beat for a moment when Indigo said she was cute. “O-Okay…at least let me record the fight, that way you’ll be able to re-watch your kicking Shimmer’s ass. And in the worst-case scenario, I’ll have video evidence to put that bitch away.”

“A good idea, but it’s better if you don’t. Believe me when I say, I don’t want you anywhere near where we’re fighting, for more than one reason, understand?” Indigo asked.

Reluctantly, Lemon Zest agreed. Just then the sound of a motorcycle caught their attention, Lemon looked in the rearview mirror and saw a single light approaching them from behind.

Indigo righted her seat and smiled. “She’s here.”

(A few minutes earlier…)

Sun was lying down on her bed, she had been texting Twilight for a couple of hours now, just to pass the time, and because she liked talking to her cute nerdy girlfriend. She kept a close eye on the time, she wanted to head out, but had to make sure that her big sister didn’t get suspicious.

*knock*

*knock*

“Come in,” said Sun.

The door opened and revealed Sunset, she was wearing a bathrobe. “Hey, Sun.”

“Hey, are you heading out on patrol tonight?”

Sunset leaned against the doorframe and said, “Yeah, I don’t think Blood Sword will make an appearance so soon after getting her ass handed to her by us, but you never know, she might have more balls than we think. At least this time around I’ll be ready to fight her now that we know what she can do.”

“Mind if I set this one out? I got some homework to do, shouldn’t be too long, I’ll head out once I’m done,” said Sun.

Sunset smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I already got done with mine, so go ahead and do yours. The last thing I need is for the both of us to start flunking due to a demonically possessed serial killer. Call me when you are heading out and we’ll meet up.”

“Cool, see ya, Sis!”

Sunset left the doorway and headed downstairs, Sun went to her window and watched as a shiny metallic bat flew out into the night, heading straight for the city. Sun hoped that Sunset would be alright while she took care of her business with Indigo Zap, she didn’t think it was going to take long, before Twilight’s safety was on the line, but now, she could bury Indigo’s head in the pavement and be in the sky next to her big sis in no time. Part of her didn’t like lying to Sunset, even more so to Twilight, she promised her girlfriend that she wouldn’t kill Indigo. However, that girl hurt the person she was in love with not once, not twice, but multiple times and caused her mental scares. For that, Indigo deserved to be punished, severely.

Sun watched the clock on her cellphone and saw that it was almost time for their showdown. Wasting little time, she donned a leather jacket and navy-blue denim pants, a pair of black boots, and fingerless gloves. She made her way to the garage and, instead of taking her car, she took one of the various motorcycles she owned. Sun was still a little peeved that Sunset didn’t ask her to buy her a new bike, or hell, ask to have one of the various ones she already owned, it wasn’t like she would miss them. But alas, it was before they met, so that opportunity had passed. Sun mounted her Honda bike, revved the engine, and took off down the driveway, made a sharp turn, and headed up the road.

The world passed by her as she kept her mind concentrated on the fight to come. Sun had the idea of using the Ember Stone’s powers, but that would be overkill, besides, Indigo may be the top athlete at CPA, but she doubted the girl had spent the past few years learning different martial arts forms. Sometimes, being filthy stinkin’ rich has its perks.

About a thirty-minute drive later Sun found herself at the old warehousing district. The place was as creepy as she remembered it, this was the same place where the rave that she and Twilight attended, and it was also the same place where she revealed her powers to her lover. It is also the same place where she killed a few gangster wannabes who tried to hurt Twilight, so it seemed only fitting that Indigo meet her end here. As she approached the fence line, Sun spotted a car. The rich girl pulled up to the right side of the car and pulled off her helmet, waiting for the occupants to exit.

The passenger door opened and revealed Indigo Zap, Sun’s gaze narrowed when she saw that the driver was Lemon Zest. “What the hell, Indigo, I only called you out. What, too scared to fight me alone?”

Indigo scoffed. “Cool your shit, Lemon’s my ride. She’s not fighting or getting involved at all, so back off her, go it?!”

Sun glanced between Indigo and Lemon, the party girl flinched, fear was present in Lemon’s eyes, but also determination. “Fine, so long as she sits her ass here, I won’t touch her. So,” Sun got off her bike and broke the lock off the fence, opening the entrance, “we going in or are you going to run away now?”

Indigo chuckled and shoved her hands into her hoodie’s pockets, she stood beside Sun and together they walked inside. They kept walking, deeper and deeper inside, passing by one rusted building after the other. Sun was impressed that Indigo hadn’t lost her nerve yet, this place was creepy, but Sun had the added safety of the Ember Stone, this girl had nothing but her fists and athletic skill, to be fair, she had no doubts that Indigo could kick the ass of any normal person, but she wasn’t up against a normal person tonight, was she?

The two of them walked for about ten minutes, making several turns to make sure they were out of view of the entrance. They found an area that was clear of debris and was wide enough that the buildings wouldn’t get in their way. Sun walked ahead a few more paces and then turned around sharply, making Indigo jump back a bit in a defensive reflex.

“I think we’re far enough in that we won’t be disturbed,” said Sun.

“Good.” And far enough away that Lemon won’t get hurt, thought Indigo.

Sun took off her jacket and threw it off to her left, revealing a magenta tank top underneath. Indigo did the same with her hoodie, revealing that she was wearing a black sports bra underneath. Both women got into their respective attack stances and sized the other up from a distance.

“I just want to know one thing before we get started. Why? Just, why the fuck are you so obsessed with Twilight?!” Sun demanded.

“Is it that hard to understand? I love her!” Indigo stated.

Sun’s brow furrowed as she bared her teeth in a low growl. “You call what you’ve done to her love?! That’s NOT love! No, all you’ve done is molest and rape her! And if you truly loved her, then you would’ve protected her against all those assholes in your school instead of just compounding the problem!”

Indigo’s fists lowered a tad as her gaze followed. “I admit, I let my own fame keep me from doing what I needed to do as a real girlfriend, but I won’t make that same mistake again!” Her gaze rose as Indigo stared down Sun. “I’ll save Twilight from you! I know why she’s with you, it’s because of those powers of yours, you must’ve threatened her life or family to make her be with you!”

Sun scoffed at the accusation and then chuckled at the absurdity. “Oh, my fucking god, you actually believe that’s the reason why we’re girlfriends? No, she’s with me because I genuinely love her, she’s with me because I respect her, we’re together because I protect her! And after tonight, she’ll have one less thing to worry about!”

“Come and try!”

Sun and Indigo charged for the other, both girls cocked back their right fists and punched as soon as they got to the center. Their fists curved around each other and in perfect sync struck each other in the face, their blows were strong enough to knock the other back a couple of feet, but their disorientation didn’t last long as Indigo moved in on Sun, the flame haired girl raised her arms up as Indigo began punching at her, but Sun managed to block one after the other. A smirk formed on the rich girl’s lips as she realized her theory was correct, Indigo was a brawler, but the CPA star athlete hadn’t received the length of martial training that she had.

Before Sun could retaliate, Indigo ducked below her guard and delivered a right hook to her ribs. Sun coughed as she heard and felt one of her ribs break upon impact, the pain caused her to stumble back a few steps as she hissed from the pain. What the fuck?! She hits harder than she did last time! Indigo came in again and punched her stomach, followed by a right uppercut to Sun’s jaw. Sun was further disoriented, allowing Indigo to rush Sun and get behind her. The athlete managed to hook her arms around Sun and put her into a choke hold.

“Gotcha now, bitch,” said Indigo.

Sun let out hacking noises as she felt her airway constrict, Indigo flexed and squeezed harder, taking joy in watching Sun struggle for air. However, Sun wasn’t about to let Indigo choke her out, she quickly raised her right arm and began elbowing Indigo in the stomach. Indigo let out several pained grunts with each strike, on the next hit, Sun reared back and drove her elbow as hard and as deep as she could into Indigo’s stomach, to the point that she felt she was going to puncture her abdomen. That seemed to do it as Indigo let out a pained gasp, releasing Sun immediately. Sun took in a big gasp of air and spun on her left heel for a spinning elbow strike to Indigo’s head. She scored a hit in Indigo’s temple, making her see stars for a few moments. That allowed Sun to return the punishment, she quickly jabbed Indigo in the face three times, followed by a knee strike to her stomach, and for insult to injury, a hard punch to her right boob. Sun and Indigo backed away and took a moment to assess themselves.

“Fucking dammit, OW! You seriously boob punched me?!”

Sun mockingly shook her hand as if it hurt. “Not much to punch really, seriously, you don’t have much up top. Jeez, I think I hit more of your ribs than your boob.”

“FUCK YOU!”

Sun chuckled at the rise she got out of Indigo, however, there was something that bothered her. Despite the hard blows that she gave to Indigo, there was no indication of damage, no bruises, not even blood. What the hell? There’s no way a bruise hasn't formed yet, especially with how hard I hit her. That’s when she realized that her own body seemed to be more damaged than her opponent. Sun’s knuckles were more scraped up, the bones felt like they were breaking, even her elbow’s felt like they were going to break as well. I know she has muscle under that lean figure, but last time it didn’t feel like I was punching a diamond wall. What’s going on here?

Indigo took a deep breath and centered herself before smirking at Sun. “What’s the matter, Shimmer? You starting to regret accepting my challenge?”

“No, I was just thinking that you actually gave me a decent enough warm up.” Sun concentrated, allowing the flames of the Ember Stone to fix the internal damage, the fires burned under her skin and quickly faded once their work was done. “But now I’m not going to hold back, I’m about to take out all the frustration that Twilight can’t out on you!”

Indigo raised her hands and motioned to Sun in a sort of “come here” fashion. “Then what are you waiting for, do it!”

Sun charged for Indigo again, she threw a roundhouse kick to Indigo’s left knee, but the moment she did, Sun felt pain radiate into her shin, but Indigo didn’t flinch. Undeterred, Sun began throwing a flurry of punches at Indigo, although the athlete did budge a bit, overall, it seemed as if Indigo wasn’t taking any damage at all. “What the hell is this?!”

“My turn BITCH!”

Indigo punched Sun in the gut, lifting her off the ground for a moment, much to her surprise. The CPA athlete brought her hands up, interlocked her fingers, and brought it down in a powerful hammer blow to Sun’s back, making the redhead fall to the ground. Indigo didn’t stop as she wheeled around to the side and kicked Sun hard in the ribs, the hit sent the rich girl rolling on the ground for a few feet before finally stopping. Sun coughed up some blood and wheezed as she felt one of her ribs puncture her lung.

Son of a bitch…what’s going on here?! How is she so strong and so tough?! She DEFINITELY wasn’t like this weeks ago! Did surviving on that damn mountain really make her this strong?! Sun picked herself up and coughed up a bit more blood before wiping her mouth. I can’t afford to mess around…I won’t leave Twilight to this monster!

At that moment, Sun’s body was swamped with flames, her hair caught on fire, and the color in her eyes changed from turquoise to orange red. The damage done by Indigo’s assault healed immediately, now she stood tall and faced Indigo with her furious rage. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but you’re too dangerous to allow around Twilight!”

Indigo crossed her arms and sneered at Sun. “Pot calling the kettle black! You’re on fire and you’re saying I’M DANGEROUS? Bitch, please!”

Sun’s hands ignited with flames. “I promised Twilight I wouldn’t kill you, or the others for what you did to her. But unfortunately, you’re going to make me break my promise tonight!”

“I’m not afraid of you, Shimmer! Not your freaky fire powers, your money, or whatever you got! I’m going to keep Twilight safe! NOT YOU!” Indigo declared.

“You should’ve picked better last words!”

Sun brought both of her hands together and unleashed a blast of wildfire that roared towards Indigo. The flames washed over the abuser, completely obscuring her from sight, but Sun kept the flames going, she wanted to make sure that even the ashes would be incinerated. But something happened, something that caused Sun some worry, she could still sense Indigo’s life flame within the fires. That’s when something unexpected happened.

A glaive made of pure blue ice rose from the flames and split them down the middle. Sun ceased her attack and took a few cautious steps back. From around the pillar walked out Indigo Zap, but she was different. Her skin had turned to navy blue and resembled ice, her eyes were now icy blue, and her hair was crystalline white ice. Upon her chest a bright blue sapphire glowed in the night, radiating a mystic power that fueled the ice and Indigo.

“What…the…hell…?”

“Like what ya see?” Indigo asked as she gestured at her body. “Yeah, my old man found this necklace on a business trip to Norhay. When I was lost on that mountain, this necklace gave me the power to survive, and the power to fight against someone like you.” Indigo took a step forward, and immediately a trail of ice shot forth and snaked its way past Sun’s right side, spikes grew from the trail and continued until they impaled the building behind Sun. “So, go ahead, use your fire, it won’t hurt me. Now, the only question is, how am I going to kill you? Freeze your arms and legs and snap them off one at a time? Turn your blood into ice slowly? Freeze your chest and tear out your heart? We can get really creative here, Shimmer!”

“Ha…Hahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Indigo now felt uncomfortable, Sun was laughing, hysterically laughing. She was literally holding her sides and laughing. “Ooookay, did you just snap?”

“NO!” Sun managed to get out. “It’s just so beautiful! I’ve been looking for the Glacier Stone forever and now, here it is, laid out for me on a silver platter, and on the person I hate the most!” Sun thought about that and amended her statement. “Well, second person I hate the most.”

“What are you talking about?! You know what this thing is?!” Indigo asked.

Sun smirked, she pulled on the chain-link of her necklace and slid it out from under the tank top, revealing her Ember Stone. “I do, because your Glacier Stone is the sibling of my Ember Stone, they’re two halves, one represents life and the other death. Now I get to kill you and get the Glacier Stone, two birds, one stone!”

Fire erupted around Sun, enveloping her form until she was fully transformed into her fire armor form. This time it was Indigo’s turn to take a step back in caution, this just got more complicated for her, she didn’t think that Sun had a magic necklace like hers, and to find out that the necklaces were related in a way. “Guess now we don’t have to play nice anymore!”

“No, no we don’t.”

Sun wasted little time and began lobbing fireballs at Indigo in rapid succession. Indigo swept her left hand upwards and created a wall of thick ice, every fireball that was lobbed exploded upon impact against the wall, but each hit resulted in a thudding explosion that shook the ground and the ice wall. Indigo jumped high into the air and pointed her open palms towards where Sun was. Her hand glowed bright blue before unleashing a barrage of diamond ice shards at Sun, the wielder of the Ember Stone noticed and took off by igniting the soles of her feet, dodging the first wave of the barrage. Indigo landed on a nearby rooftop and fired ice rays at Sun. The ice rays struck the ground and created a frozen trail as she strafed them across their little arena, but Sun retaliated by thrusting her right hand forward and creating a dozen fire serpents.

Indigo stopped her attack as soon as she saw the hissing flame snakes coming straight for her. She jumped out of the way, allowing them to collide against the roof. The snakes melted right through but then popped back up and gave chase. Indigo concentrated and created two ice axes, when the first serpent came close, she slashed and cut off its head, and then the second, and third, all while running across the roof. Sun smirked and launched a fireball right where Indigo was going to be before taking off for her.

The wielder of the Glacier Stone stopped just in time to avoid the fireball as it hit the area in front of her and exploded. The attack served its purpose as Sun came in from the sky and slammed herself into Indigo, sending both careening into the warehouse and smashing through several floors before crashing into some machinery at the bottom. A burst of fire and ice went off, sending both in opposite directions. Sun cracked her knuckles and summoned a fire sword into her right hand, Indigo saw this and created an ice shield on her left forearm and a dual sided battle ax in her right. The fire wielder made the first move, jetting across the warehouse and coming down with a powerful overhead strike. Indigo proved she had good reflexes as she raised the shield in time to block the attack, the impact made the ground beneath Indigo fracture, and it even made her wince in pain.

Sun disengaged and transformed the sword into a whip, she twirled herself around and lashed with the whip, she managed to wrap it around Indigo’s leg and pulled hard. Indigo suddenly felt the ground leave her feet as she was falling, but then Sun twirled the whip around and Indigo with it. The ice wielder slammed into many machines and debris that was scattered about the first floor, even into support beams. Indigo had had enough and released a wave of her ice energy to sever the whip, her efforts were fruitful as she managed to get free of the whip. When she landed on the ground, Indigo waved her hands aggressively, creating ice waves that created multiple glaives that rushed towards Sun at rapid speeds. Sun hurriedly jetted away, but the ice was proving to be just as fast as the glaives got closer and closer.

The ice waves rounded behind her and created a wall that Sun slammed against, stopping her in her tracks. Indigo used an ice pillar to vault herself straight towards Sun, she cocked her right hand and created a giant ice fist construct around it. When she was in range, Indigo punched Sun with it, the blow smashed the ice wall and had the two of them flying through several walls and into the next warehouse where they fell off from each other. When they both regained their bearings, Sun released a fire blast at Indigo, and Indigo shot an ice ray. The two attacks collided and created a pressure explosion that blew a huge hole in the roof, forcing the metal to bend outwards from the sheer force of the blast.

Sun reengaged Indigo, flying across the way, and nailing her in the face with a flaming punch. Using the power of her flames, Sun used them to give herself a quick speed boost to each of her attacks. A burst of fire went off when she threw a roundhouse kick, making the blow hit twice as hard, another burst allowed her backhand fist to make Indigo slam against a metal girder. Sun ran for Indigo, jumped, somersaulted in midair, and struck the abuser in the chest with both of her feet. But she wasn’t done, the soles of her feet gathered flames and released them in a jet fire burst that made Indigo go through the girder and outside the building.

Indigo rolled onto her front and coughed, she felt all of that, she felt pain. It surprised her, considering that nothing managed to hurt her out on the mountains. Then again, wolves and bears don’t exactly have magic necklaces of their own…fuck, how is she so powerful?!

Sun emerged from the building, leisurely walking towards Indigo without a care in the world. “You lost the moment you showed off your Artifact, Zap. You never stood a chance against me.”

“Bullshit…!” Indigo got back to her feet, her ice powers mending the damage to her cracked body. “We have the same magic necklaces, so what’s the difference?!”

“Heh, let me guess, you’ve only had the Artifact for, what, a week? I’ve had mine for years, that is the difference. To put it in sports terms, you’re on the junior varsity team, while I’m playing in the major leagues. Or if you prefer gamer terms, you’re a level five going up against a level one hundred, and I’m being generous with the level five part.”

Sun raised her right hand, flames gathered, compacting, and condensing until it was the size of a softball with plasmatic destructive energy.

“This will be overkill, but I think it’s warranted.”

Before Sun could land the finishing blow, a crimson streak of light cut through one of the warehouse walls. Indigo and Sun looked in the direction of the light and watched as Blood Sword, donned in her armor, walked out of the hole in the wall she just made, all while dragging the corpse of a homeless person behind her. “I just came out here to grab a little snack, and here I end up finding Ember and……” Blood Sword tilted her head as she looked at Indigo. “……I’m sorry, but who’s she?”

“Who am I?! Who the fuck are you?!” Indigo demanded.

Sun snuffed out her attack and groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I swear to god, if it’s not one thing it’s another.” She weighed her options carefully, it would be child’s play to finish off Indigo, but as green as Indigo is, Sun had no doubt that Blood Sword could kill Indigo easily. And if she figures out that Indigo has an Artifact and adds it to her own power, then this could get bad. With great reluctance, Sun stepped forward and put herself between Blood Sword and Indigo. “Get out of here.”

Indigo looked at Sun as if she had just grown a second head. “What?!”

“I said LEAVE! You know those murders that have gone on during Spring Break? That one’s responsible, and she’s strong.” Sun ignited both of her hands. “And I don’t need you getting in my way, we’ll settle up later. Besides, it’s not like I don’t know where to find you.”

Indigo growled angrily, she stood up and lit her hands with her mystical cryo energy. “Fuck that! We’re settling this tonight, even if that means we have to kick her ass first!”

Sun raised an eyebrow. “You’ve got to be kidding…?”

Blood Sword eyed Indigo and smiled under her mask. “Ah, I see, the ice one is a newbie. Guess I know who I’m killing first!”

Blood Sword dropped the corpse and took off towards Indigo and Sun, the scarlet warrior slashed the ground ahead of her, sending a crescent energy wave that exploded right in front of Sun and Indigo. Dust shot up from the small explosion that took place, but Indigo fired a blast of cryo energy that blew it away, however, Blood Sword was gone.

“Amateur,” scoffed Sun as she jumped high into the air.

Indigo followed Sun with her eyes and watched as she clashed with Blood Sword in the air. Sun’s fire sword and Blood Sword’s blade grinded against each other as they tried to cut through the other’s weapon. Sun smiled and released a burst of flames from her body that turned into fire serpents hissing as they lunged for Blood Sword.

Blood Sword broke away and slashed the air in front of her, creating several crimson crescents that flew at the serpents. Sun dispelled her sword and brought both her hands together, flames swirled and swelled, and in the next second, Sun unleashed a fire blast that took the form of a tiger’s head. The great beast opened its jaws and Blood Sword whimpered a little as she was swallowed by the beast construct and taken all the way into the building she had burst out of from before. Blood Sword was hurt, but not down, she quickly jumped out of the building and attacked again.

Indigo could only stand by and watch as both Blood Sword and Sun engaged in fierce battle, she could see the intensity in their fight, it was scary. Her eyes wide with shock at how easily Sun was able to fight this killer, wielding her power like it was a part of her body that had always been there. It infuriated Indigo, it was here that she realized that Sun was far ahead of her in terms of not only fighting, but also elemental mastery.

Both Sun and Blood Sword landed on the roof of another warehouse, keeping a good two-meter distance from each other. Sun ignited the soles of her feet again and jetted towards Blood Sword while firing multiple flame blasts at her. Blood Sword energized the blade and used that energy to disperse each attack that came at her, Sun circled Blood Sword and kept the blasts going, when she made another pass Sun released a continuous stream of flames at her, forcing the sadistic warrior to remain on the defensive. Sun smirked and changed up her tactics, she jetted forward again, but this time flipped around and struck with a fire burst kick, the flames on her soles bellowed forward and made Blood Sword quickly dodge to the left.

Sun course corrected, spinning rapidly, and delivering a jet fire ax kick, the flames trailing her kick blew Blood Sword into the air and sent her crashing back to the ground below. Indigo had had enough and stamped her foot on the ground, the result created a surge of ice that snaked its way across the ground, creating ice glaives as it continued. Blood Sword snickered and disappeared in a flash.

“What?!” Indigo exclaimed.

“Chi no Kyōran!”

A myriad of slashes came at Indigo from every angle, forcing her to defend. The slashes hurt as the demonically infused weapon cut into her diamond hard body, Indigo released an explosion of cryo energy, creating an ice wall that pushed outwards and made Blood Sword have to cease her attack. Indigo took this chance and dashed straight for her, Indigo sent out two surges of ice, creating a wall on both sides of Blood Sword to cut off her escape. Indigo raised her hand and concentrated her energy, above Blood Sword formed several ice spears, and with a wave of Indigo’s hand those ice spears rained down on her position. Blood Sword struck the incoming ice spears, shattering them before they could hit, but Indigo wasn’t done, she willed the walls of ice to produce spikes, making them jut out from every angle. Blood Sword grunted in annoyance and began flipping and dodging each attack, along with batting away the ice spears.

“Gotcha, bitch!”

Indigo used her right foot to send another ice surge, this time coating the ground beneath Blood Sword in a thick layer of ice. The moment Blood Sword landed after another flip, she slipped and fell onto the ground. Indigo didn’t waste this chance and began manipulating the ice, creating shackles for Blood Sword’s arms and legs, binding her to the ground. The cryomancer waved her hands again, the ice walls responded, rising with their spikes, and quickly coming down to impale the killer’s body, leaving only her head intact

Sun hovered overhead and watched this all transpire, she crossed her arms and watched with scrutiny, but at the same time her fire serpents were already coiling around her and waiting to attack on her order.

Indigo looked up and grinned with confidence. “An Ice Iron Maiden, now let’s get back to our fight!”

“Yeah, it’s not over until you finish her off.”

“Are you blind?! I just impaled her body with dozens of ice spikes! She’s dead!”

“Think so? I don’t feel dead.” Suddenly, blades of red liquid erupted from the ice, slicing it to pieces until it was a fine mist. Blood Sword got up, her body was skewered from different angles, but what held it together was the blood. Her blood was hovering in the air around Blood Sword, acting as an extension of her own weapon. The blood returned to Blood Sword’s body and in the process healed the wounds that she had suffered. “Not gonna lie, that was humiliating, and it hurt!”

Indigo took a few steps back, she looked at her right hand and saw that it was shaking. Was she…afraid? No, I-I don’t get afraid! I wasn’t afraid of Sunset’s fire, and I’m not afraid of-of-of this…monster!

“If you’re done, you’re in the way.” Indigo and Blood Sword Looked up and watched as a fiery lotus flower bloomed around Sun. Sun’s eyes blazed orange red as the Ember Stone on her chest shined with the same brightness. “I’d suggest running, or don’t, either way is fine by me!”

Sun slammed her fists together and made the lotus disperse its petals, she dived towards the ground, the lotus petals following close behind her fists as she descended further and further. Her fists burst into flames as Sun spun around, causing the flames of her fists to rage outwards into whirling columns of fire. The lotus petals caught the blades and were carried along for the ride, the petals glowed brighter and brighter, until Sun landed on the ground and whipped the two fire columns around. The petals flowing around the twin flame tails exploded violently along the path of the two tails, shattering cement and melting the sediment and everything else within a five-meter radius. The flames swirled around the area and culminated in one massive explosion that roared high into the air and rattled everything for a good mile or so.

When it was over, Sun stood at the epicenter, the cement below her was superheated molten slag now, the warehouses around her were in no better shape. Sun looked around but couldn’t see any trace of Blood Sword. “Damn.” The wielder of the Ember Stone rose into the air and grabbed a bird’s eye view of the ground. Unfortunately, there was no sign of Indigo Zap either. “Double damn, oh well, I’ll see her tomorrow. Blood Sword on the other hand…ugh…really wanted to get that over with quickly.” Sun looked towards the city and spotted something shiny heading her way. “Aaaannd I need to come up with an explanation for Sis…right.”

Lemon Zest had been impatiently pacing around the car, she so badly wanted to go after Indigo, she didn’t like this at all. That bitch could’ve planned some kind of sneak attack. She could’ve hired some thugs to help beat up Indigo! Or she could use those freaky fire powers to…to…! Lemon shook her head; she couldn’t afford to think that way. No, Indigo’s tough, she knows about Sunset’s fire powers, she wouldn’t just challenge her to a fight unless she had a plan or something…right?

That was her thinking process until she heard the multiple explosions taking place inside. More and more explosions, coupled with, what appeared to be ice shooting up into the air.

“Oh fuck! Indie! What the hell’s going on?!” Her worries only increased as the explosions continued to go off seemingly without end. Lemon Zest waited another minute, but she couldn’t take it anymore. “That’s it I’m going!”

Lemon rushed to the driver’s side door but stopped when she saw something high up in the air. It looked like a flower made of fire, at first, she didn’t know what to make of it, but her time to think about it didn’t last long as the flower broke apart and descended rapidly. Lemon Zest could only describe what happened next as something akin to a meteor strike. A huge explosion took place inside the district, the shockwave was powerful enough that it knocked Lemon Zest off her feet, while simultaneously knocking the wind out of her lungs. She landed hard on the ground and rolled for a good five feet from her car before stopping face down on the pavement. The shockwave knocked her out, her ears were ringing from the explosion so what sound that was managing to come through was muffled. However, she could hear one voice.

“…Le…wa…Com…Ze…”

Lemon Zest concentrated on that voice, and that’s when she heard it clearer.

“ZESTY WAKE UP!”

Lemon gasped loudly as she took in a deep breath, afterwards she coughed for a second while Indigo, who looked like she was made of ice for some reason, was propping her up. “In…Indie?”

“Thank god, you’re alright!” Indigo exclaimed as she hugged her friend.

Lemon, while happy to be embraced by her friend and crush, was also freezing. “AH! Indie, lemme go, you’re freakin’ cold, dude!”

Indigo hurriedly released Lemon. “Sorry, sorry, I forgot to turn it off!” Indigo closed her eyes and in no time her ice form gave way to her normal human form.

“Indie, what the hell was that?!” Lemon asked.

“I’ll explain later, but right now we need to get the hell out of here! I’ll drive!”

Lemon got up on wobbly legs, forcing Indigo to hurry and steady her. “I was going to do the tough girl thing and say I’m fine and let me, but…”

Indigo grinned. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I barely made it out of there, I’m just glad that explosion didn’t reach here. C’mon, let’s get back to your place.”

Indigo and Lemon entered the car, Indigo revved the engine and peeled out of there as fast as she could. She peered into the rearview mirror, knowing that Sunset was still there, but what irked her was the fact that Sunset was right. Sunset clearly had more training with the power of her Artifact, and the benefit of years of time. Indigo only had a week at best.

“Indie, what happened back there?”

Indigo sighed. “I’ll tell you when we’re back at your place. Your parents home?”

Lemon sighed heavily in slight disappointment. “C’mon, Indigo, you know they aren’t.”

Indigo forgot herself. Like most of the Crystal Prep students, Lemon Zest came from a wealthy family, and as such sent her to CPA for higher education. However, they really weren’t around that much. Her father and mother had…an estranged marriage, to put it in simple terms. At this point, the house she lived in was only for Lemon to live in, her parents only occasionally stayed at their home, either off on business or gallivanting with some other man or woman. So long as Lemon continued to show that she wasn’t slacking in school and kept bringing in high grades, or unless she was in the hospital, they couldn’t care less what she did. This had the added benefit of letting her throw wild parties at her place or use her parents’ money to rent out places for her parties. She could also procure several, ahem, substances for her parties, as well as throw some triple “X” rated entertainment too.

Of course, the only one who looked out for Lemon to make sure she didn’t end up in a sorry state was Indigo.

“I’m sorry, stupid question.”

“Forget it, there are more important things goin’ on tonight.”

“That’s for sure.”