Chapter 14
Mc ♊️ 24° 48' 🏠 10
Sunny skies. Sun is especially bright this morning.
Just outside Maine's lair sit Micah and Emmit.
Both of them wearing the cloak Maine gave them. Seated on two wooden logs.
Micah plays with his hair.
From their peripheral view, they see Kyle and Tyler.
"Well, well, look who decided to show up. The bear and gorilla," Emmit said with a low guttural growl in his tone.
"Haven't seen them since the meeting," Micah said.
"Y'all picked your fighters yet?" asked Kyle.
"Not yet. We still got prey to eat!" Micah screeched.
Kyle and Tyler sit on the wooden logs across from them.
"Yo, you always talking about eating and hunting some food. Just sit yo ahh behind somewhere," Tyler chimed.
Micah cocked his head like a possessed doll.
"The HELL you said to me? I'll square up with you RIGHT NOW!!" Micah said as he stood to square up.
Tyler gets up in a hurry. Arms flexed. His arms starting to turn into his gorilla form.
His dreads swing across his face, hiding, then unveiling his eyes.
Kyle gets between them. Arms out. A mutant honey badger vs. a mutant gorilla. What could go wrong?
"Hey! HEY!" Kyle roars as he said hey for the second time.
Tyler and Micah stop their bickering. Tyler sits down.
"Now we're supposed to be fighting the zodiacs! Not each other. Micah, you're pissing me off. I don't give a damn how fearless you THINK you are. I'll rip you to shreds. Stop playing," Kyle fired off.
Micah looked at Kyle deeply with his wild, deep-set black eyes.
Micah begins to grunt as if he's in pain and annoyed.
"I NEED TO KILL," he stated menacingly as he continues to lock eyes with Kyle.
"Micah, stand down. Save that energy for one of the zodiacs. I know this isn't natural for you," Emmit stated.
Kyle remains emotionless. Micah finally begins to calm down.
"Fine. You have somewhat of a point. Who's left, and who's picked their opponent so far?" asked Micah.
Tyler rubs his hands together like a fly. Smiling wide. Bears his gorilla teeth.
"I picked Taurus, brodie. I heard that boy got some power in those fists. I'm trying to see what that's about," Tyler recalled.
His hand is on his chest. Dreads swaying back and forth, covering and uncovering his face.
"Your turn," said Emmit while he locked eyes with Kyle.
"It's I and the Aries. They call him Jasiah Knowland, but soon no one will know who he is," Kyle quipped.
"And for Micah and I, we picked K.C. and Samuel. I'll be squaring off against Samuel the Gemini. The twin and his clones will give me quite the blood rush."
Kyle's ears perked up.
"So that's who picked K.C.! I wanted the centaur as carrion!" Kyle whined.
Groans like a bear.
"Well, who says we can't switch?" said Micah.
"Yeah, but I don't think Maine will be going for that. We made our picks. Ain't no reason to go back. We mutant orphans. Our first instinct is the right choice. Always. We ain't human," Tyler remarked.
They all shake their heads together, agreeing. All rise up.
Micah adjusts the collar on his cloak. Shrugs his shoulders.
"So who's coming out alive, eh? Who's gonna live? Because somebody's got to die," Micah stated.
Emmit stretches his arms out. Kyle yawns. Tyler scratches his head.
Micah looks around confused.
"Ain't nobody gonna say anything to that?" said Micah.
"Look, I'm not really combative by nature. And I'm mostly doing this under obligation. I'm not taking this as seriously as you, Micah. That fire you got doesn't burn in me," Kyle remarked.
"Heee-hehe-heee!! You're right. Well, why don't we all go on our way?" asked Micah.
Emmit turns his back to the ground. The sun rays illuminate his eyes, showing their prehistoric Komodo dragon roots.
"And I'll be doing just that," Emmit said.
He turns into a blaze. Black smoke comes from it.
The rest of the mutant orphans stare.
The fire goes away. Black smoke gone. Makes Kyle and Tyler cough.
Ough! Ough!
A black ring is where he was standing.
"I guess that's our signal," Tyler said.
Micah holds out his palm.
"Wait! What about the other zodiacs?" asked Micah.
"Let Maine deal with them. I'm pretty sure his plan for them is much more tumultuous than we can summarize," added Tyler.
"Besides, who wants gamey meat? I like it fresh," stated Kyle.
"Since when were you into eating human flesh?" asked Tyler.
"Haha. Not fully human, remember? They are hosts to a zodiac. The one I picked just happened to have a ram inside him," Kyle said.
Micah smiles deviously. Teeth dripping with saliva.
"Smart mutant. I wouldn't expect anything less from one of nature's most intelligent creatures."
"It's time to hunt the zodiacs we have hand-chosen. Let's go," Tyler said.
Starts crawling with his knuckles away from Micah and Kyle.
"What now?" asked Kyle.
"We go on our way," said Micah.
Kyle takes out a fully cooked salmon from the inside of his cloak and eats it.
"I'm going with Tyler. We're fighting together. It'll be quicker," Kyle said with a mouthful of salmon.
Pieces of it are strung along his facial hair.
"You do you. I don't share. I do everything alone," Micah responded.
"Good luck."
Kyle gets on one knee. Sniffs the ground. Places his hand on the maggot-infested dirt.
"Bear Instinct: Grizzly Form!"
Kyle's body quickly grows grizzly bear hair. His head turns into the head of a grizzly.
Follows the scent he's smelling.
#
Breezy. 20 mph winds. Late in the evening.
Emily is flying high in the air, riding the turbulence. She's having fun.
"Weeeee!! Flying high ba-by! Where is she?? Where is that woman. That crab? My PREY!?" Emily said.
Her voice slowly unraveling, becoming higher-pitched and more frantic.
Animalistic.
Darts her eyes below and sees the sweet Cancer girl she's been eyeing to kill and devour.
Daiyu Cze-Feng-Li.
Emily propels faster in the sky. Aims her beak downwards.
"Propulsion!" she screams in her bald eagle form.
#
Daiyu is by The River Of Intuition. Along the bank.
She checks her hair for any leftover strands that she didn't take care of earlier.
SWOOP.
"Argh!! What the heck?" Daiyu exclaimed.
She covers her neck with her hands.
SWOOSH!
The wind gusts violently.
Daiyu nearly falls on the ground but breaks her fall with her knees.
Blood leaks from a horizontal cut across the back of her neck. Medium-sized.
Daiyu wipes the area with her finger. She shakes uncontrollably with disdain as if she's shivering as her eyes lock onto the blood.
Eyes bulge out. Pants. Clenches her fist until her knuckles begin to turn white. Looks up in the sky.
Sees Emily soaring above her, but to Daiyu, all she knows is she was attacked by something. The bald eagle possibly.
But that animal being something else? I don't think that was on her agenda.
Emily perches herself on one of the nearby trees. Stands about 12 feet.
Daiyu is looking over at the bald eagle curiously.
Finally talks.
"Hey, Daiyu. My name is Emily. Let's be friends," Emily stated.
Her crisp brown feathers ruffled in the wind.
"The hell?? A talking bald eagle?? So you attacked me!!!" screamed Daiyu at the top of her lungs.
Ravens and doves fly away in a flock above them.
"Oooooh, don't be so mad, child. I love that intensity you have. I know betrayal dirties and hurts your soul. But you're special to me," Emily said.
Daiyu continues to clench her white-knuckled fists. She begins to hiss.
Skin turning red.
"Don't play with me!!!"
"Hahaha! Ok, fine. I won't. However, let's get to the chase a little quicker. I was handpicked by someone who you may know."
Daiyu calms down considerably. Unclenches her hands. Relaxes.
"Someone sent you to me? That knows me? Get lost. And if you do anything again, I'll end you, bird brain."
Daiyu begins to walk away from Emily.
"Maine. What a name. Don't you say?" Emily says with a melody in her voice.
Daiyu stops in her tracks. Mouth drops. Blinks non-stop.
"Di-di-did you just say—"
"Did I stutter? Or you thought I was playing with you? Now do I have your attention?" Emily said slickly with sass.
The sun begins to set.
Daiyu whips her body around to Emily.
"You tell me where he is. Now," she said with authority.
"Ohhh, now you got some bass in your voice. How perfect. Just the reaction I wanted."
"Tell me!!!"
Daiyu flails her arms downwards.
"Mhmmm. Do you even have that option? Daiyu, I told you that not for your benefit but to stop you right in your tracks because I want something I've never had. And you embody it. I want what you have to offer. Your specialty," Emily explained.
The river water picks up.
"This is freaking me out, but I have to stand my ground. What is this chick? I'm going to fight. I will beat her," Daiyu thought to herself.
Emily flies to the ground in front of Daiyu.
"Let's have fun, Cancer. I want your love and your emotions. I admire that, but no one else can have that. Only muah! Mutation!" Emily commands.
Emily turns into her human form. Legs, feet human. White feathers covering the ankles.
Body turns to her regular one. Her hair comes in, showing her wolf cut. White on top, the rest brown.
Shoulders, chest are white feathers. Below that area up to her ankle area is brown feathers.
Human hands with girl's claws. 6 inches in length. She stands 6 feet tall.
Places hands on hips. Blows Daiyu a kiss.
"So what do you think of my true form? Do I look good?" asked Emily curiously.
Daiyu immediately gets into fighting position.
Spreads legs shoulder-width apart. Crouches down.
Left arm raised behind her head. Come-hither motion with right hand.
"You'll look better dead," said Daiyu.
Emily giggles. Crosses her arms. Scratches the top of her head.
"So aggressive. I guess I triggered that motherly instinct. I'll make the move. Air Element: Catastrophic Winds!" Emily shouts.
Emily swipes the air with both of her claws.
A violent, dark gray wind blows Daiyu into the river, but that's only the beginning.
Emily puts both of her arms in the air. Two mini hurricanes form high in the air.
They start to disturb the river water.
"Crab Style: Crustacean Transformation!" she said.
Daiyu's body splashes in the river. As soon as she hits the water, she turns into a blue crab.
Her Cancer insignia is on top of her shell. Sparkly and glittering. Deep ocean blue.
Full moon on her sternum. Moves claws.
"Ok, that's better, but this girl wants to kill me. It's either her or I, and it's not going to be me."
The hurricanes are picking up momentum. Growing in size.
Zap!
Lightning from them strikes the water. All of the river is completely see-through for a brief moment.
Whirlpool forms. Rotating rapidly.
Creates a gaping hole in the river.
Wind picks up. Water is slowly becoming uncomfortable. Like it's being affected by a massive thunderstorm.
"Come out and play, Cancer!! Show me what the crab can do! Just don't go back in your shell!!!" she shrieked.
Her voice pierces the eardrums like a blaring whistle within earshot.
The hurricanes move closer. No more clouds.
Football-sized hail is coming down. Sky is completely dark.
Emily stands and admires her precious attack and the work it has done thus far.
Twirls a strand of her wolf cut in one of her claws.
"Now I just wait for the mother of intuition…" Emily daydreamed.
Daiyu swims in the river away from the whirlpool.
Bubbles blow from her mandibles.
"Time to attack. Aaaahh!!!" Daiyu releases her battle scream.
Emily grins ear to ear.
"Hurricanes. Come on down," she said.
And they do just that. The river water is now slowly rising in the air as they approach.
"Water Element: Frigid Temperature Change!" Daiyu commands.
Outstretches her claws in the water.
Above the surface, the water is bubbling. Hail still hitting the water.
Hurricanes inch closer and closer, but they are dissipating in size rapidly. The river water rains back down.
A 36-foot ocean wave pops up as the hurricanes approach it. It absorbs the impact.
Boom!
Explodes on contact. The ocean wave turns into a thick mist. Water particles everywhere. Beautifully dangerous.
"How glorious. Cute trick," Emily said cockily.
Daiyu shoots up out of the river. In human form.
Everything soaking wet. Wet hair sticking to her cheeks.
Emily spots her quickly with her Bird's Eye View technique. Yellow rectangles spin in her pupils, creating a 3D look.
"Just in time. I love these eyes. Hahahaha!" Emily laughs.
Launches herself to her. Spins in the air, making herself a horizontal tornado. Claws out. Glistening. Protruding.
"Not so fast. Crab Style: Pincher Claws!"
Hands turn into blue crab claws. Glowing in moonlight. Water encompasses both claws.
Daiyu hears the sound of a freight train coming as she nears. Emily's horizontal tornado has reached its apex.
"Claw vs. Claw!" Emily said.
The two finally clash. Wind speeds over 100 miles per hour exude from their clash.
Underneath them, the river splits into two. Showing the floor of it.
Water keeps flying in different directions. The river shifts tides with every attack.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh. The river goes into a low tide.
Tornado is gone.
Emily and Daiyu are both struggling to one-up each other as they are claw to claw.
Lock eyes. Emily smiling. Daiyu determined and pissed.
Their claws grind the other. Both of them are grunting extensively.
Emily takes special notice of Daiyu's eyes. Admires how blue they are.
"Your eyes are so full of emotion… they neither fleet nor analyze but absorb everything."
Exchange claws. Back and forth. The mist slowly fades away. River water droplets float near Emily's eyes.
Click! Click!
The exchange continues. Each strike producing clicking, tapping sounds.
"Got you!" Emily said with glee.
Swipes downwards. Daiyu evades it by moving to the left.
"Garbage," Daiyu counters.
Daiyu tries to grip Emily, but moves her head downward. Just narrowly missing.
"Too slow."
Swings her right claw downwards. Aiming for the bridge of Daiyu's nose.
Daiyu catches it right in time inside one of her claws.
Daiyu makes more intensive eye contact.
"Got you."
Daiyu uses her free claw to grab and pinches the rest of her arm. Some feathers fall off her arm.
"OUCH!!! DAMN IT!!"
"Get lost!"
Daiyu swings her round and round, then throws her.
"Cheap. Air Element: Spike!"
Emily inhales. Belly out, cheeks chunky like a squirrel. Blows a funnel of air below her. The air produces a cone shape.
Bounces on the air pocket like a trampoline. Up in the air she goes.
Two wings grow. Left white. Right brown. They flap in the wind.
"Nice try, but I can fly. That's just one of my specialties."
"Shut up and get out! Water Element: Waterspout Madness!"
8 waterspouts spin at speeds of 140 MPH. The thickness of the base of them comparable to the width of a house.
Emily remains unfazed.
"Oh, Cancer, this attack is adorable! I'll make it gorgeous… Eagle Instinct: Ravaging Talons and Feathers!"
The waterspouts surround Emily. Inching closer and closer. Whole body is soaked.
Feathers blowing in every direction possible, and some are flying off her person.
Crosses forearms in an X. Claws grow an extra 10 inches. Feet become talons.
A pair of eagle's talons, Emily's claws, and a large formation of Bald Eagle wings.
"Ravage!" Emily commands.
Talons come down fast like an eagle swooping down to get a meal. Each talon slices 2 waterspouts.
BOOM!
Implosion on impact. The windfall nearly sends Daiyu flying in the opposite direction.
Then the claws come down next. Slicing directly downward, splitting 2 waterspouts cleanly in half.
The water from them feeds into the river like a dam.
"Wings, do your most perfect work. Mountain Style: Mountainous
They flap, creating two snow-tipped, mountain-sized tempests that each have one of her feathers.
The tempests collide with Daiyu's waterspouts and force them to rotate in the opposite direction.
The waterspouts make puckered human lips. Spitting out Emily's feathers. Lose their speed.
Die out.
Talons, claws, wings drop in the river at the same time. Creates a crater-sized hole momentarily. Everything calms back down… for now.
This battle is intense.
Daiyu is wheezing. Hand on her chest.
"Before I kill you and devour you, I must say you have quite the punch in your techniques. So resilient," stated Emily.
"Just what the hell do you want from me!!??" Daiyu pleaded for an answer.
"I want how you feel. Your emotions. I've never known true or unconditional love, just instinctual. Every technique you use excites me. They give me a new zest for life.
Life has become boring, and I don't just want to kill anymore, but I want to feel something when I do it. That's why I want your essence. And no other sign embodies that better than yours, who you happen to be the host of," Emily explained.
Daiyu growls.
"And one last thing. Maine? Serenity's brother? He sent us to confront you all, and we got to pick. Hahaha! How sweet and precious of him.
He's letting us do as we please, so instead of directing all that heat towards me, honey, you should focus it on Maine. I'm just a pawn, but I still get to have my fun," Emily said in a nice-nasty tone.
"So that's who's responsible… I have to tell the others before it's too late. Especially Serenity…" Daiyu thought in her head.
"Time for my final form. Eagle Instinct: Full Bald Eagle!"
Emily blows thick brown smoke from her mouth. Completely shrouding her appearance.
"Goodness gracious, she's doing more??" questioned Daiyu.
From the smoke come out two human legs. Talons for toenails. Completely spiritual and see-through.
Next, the arms. Human arms, claws for fingernails. Then the head. Bald Eagle head and beak. Wolf cut is still prevalent. White hair on top, the rest brown.
The smoke finally settles, revealing her body. Bird chest, belly down her human appearance.
Her body is completely spiritual. Emily is now standing 60 feet tall. Legs planted firmly in the water.
"Don't I look beautiful, Ms. Feng-Li? Does muah look good?" she asked.
"Screw you and your pompous beauty. We can go tit for tat. Let's settle this once and for all. Crab Style: Giant Crab!"
Water bubbles underneath Daiyu's feet. Out emerges a 60-foot-tall Japanese Spider Crab.
Glittering silver Cancer symbol on its sternum. Top of the head, a half blue-pearl-colored waning crescent moon. Constantly twinkling like stars.
Daiyu is on top of its head. Eyes scanning the area and locking in on Emily.
"Daiyu, what seems to be the problem?" asked the Japanese spider crab.
"This mutant orphan woman must be eradicated. I need your help," Daiyu said.
"I see. She looks like she's in her awakened state. Her emotions are high, but her intuition is next to zero. I feel her emotions in my shell," it stated.
"That's what I thought too. She's bloodthirsty. She wants how I feel everything in the world. My heart."
"Well, we can't have that. You're my host. Daiyu, let's beat her together."
"Took the words out of my mouth. 4th House: Motherly Intuition!"
Daiyu and the crab's eyes glow a transparent ocean blue. The crab sees a silhouette of Emily's form and focuses on her brain.
Daiyu sees the inside of her head, and she sees her brain in pieces floating around in her head. Looking like pink dots in her sight.
"She's scatterbrained right now. Her next attack will most likely be an all-out one. We'll match that, then go in for the kill. How does that sound?" asked the crab as it was strategizing.
"Perfect to me. Come on, Whitney. Crab Style: Moonlit River Cannon!"
Whitney opens her mandibles. Out shoots a water-beam infused with its claws, Tasmanian crab claws, and ones from snow crabs.
Water-beam is pastel blue and silver. River water rises and combines with it, increasing it 4x its size. Swirling fast.
Attached to the base of claws is a set of crab eyes on each one. End of beam is a giant snow crab claw opened up.
Daiyu opens her palms.
"Moons!"
Folds arms across chest.
Gray mini waxing and waning crescent moons form in them.
Two in between the pointer/middle fingers. Same for her index/pinky. Both hands.
Grips and throws them like shuriken.
Inhales deep. Cheeks full of air. Blows.
Out her mouth shoots out warm white moonlight. Comes out like a laser.
Fuses with the moonlight. It grows just a little bigger. Daiyu's attacks are coming to Emily.
"I like this game. Yes! Hahaha! Show me your full power!! Show your true self, Daiyu Cze-Feng-Li!!!" Emily cackles, giggling with glee.
Raises her claws. Has them open halfway.
"Eagle Instinct: Sky Spears!"
In both her claws form giant air spears. Rotating violently. Each 20 feet in length. Both coursing with lightning. Two large feathers drop in the middle of them. The ends sharpen and curve like her talons.
They suck in nearly all the nearby oak trees.
Emily blows her breath on each spear, and they increase to 30 feet.
Throws them both one right behind the other. She spreads her palms, and a dark brown and white energy beam comes shooting out like a sprinter out the gates.
Combines with her spears.
The attacks are approaching, about to collide.
"This is your end, Emily!" shouted Daiyu.
"Daiyu, your soul is mine! Agh!!!"
Boom!
They clash. Both are struggling to get the upper hand. The crab claws are disintegrating as the beams collide.
Emily's feathers in the spears wither and die.
"Daiyu, just give it up! Your resistance is futile!"
"Not if I'm still alive, you low-class predator!"
The two attacks cancel out. Both of them fly back. Emily eventually crashes in the river, causing a tsunami.
Daiyu and Whitney also fall hard in the river, creating mini whirlpools and a tsunami.
The tsunamis go nowhere and quickly go away. Emily gets up slowly. Her beak broken in half. Stomach has a cut diagonally.
Crab claws in her hair. Daiyu and the crab rise, but Daiyu is gripping her heart. Light bleeding on her knuckles and palms. Scratched up heavily.
"What. A. Battle. But only one can come out victorious," stated Emily.
Each word is followed by deep gasping for air.
Daiyu cracks a smirk. Head down.
"That's right. And that person will be me! Crab Style: Perigean Tide!"
Whitney grips Emily by her torso and hand.
"I-I can't move!" she said frantically.
"That's right. My crab claws in your hair slowly drained the remainder of your energy," Daiyu said.
"You little—"
"Don't be mad. Enjoy the thrill. Whitney!" Daiyu said.
"Got it," Whitney replied.
Brings Emily closer.
Tosses her in the air. Catches Emily in both of her claws. Emily tries to flutter her wings, but she can't escape the crab's grasp.
Slammed down into the river.
Moon inches closer. Looking bigger. The river floods. 55 feet of water and rising.
Bubbles sprout up. Emily is drowning.
"Leave. Me. Alone!!" Daiyu screamed at the top of her lungs.
Tears stream down her cheeks. Eyes illuminate like moonlight.
A half moon manifests over her head.
Motions for it to go down. Goes in the water, hitting Emily's body.
"Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!" Emily shouted in pain.
Letting out one final cry.
"Perigean Tide!"
River rises up to 60 feet, covering Whitney completely. Immerses Daiyu's ankles.
Wham!
Emily collides with the river floor. Deep rumbling. Spews shockwaves.
Blows oak trees off their roots. Grass is plucked from the ground, only bearing dirt.
Underwater, she's out cold.
"It's over," said Whitney the spider crab.
"Finally," Daiyu says with relief.
Emily's body floats to the riverbank in her base state. Whitney walks sideways to the bank.
Takes two steps. Lowers herself to the ground. Daiyu gets off. Approaches Emily's body.
Whitney goes back into the river and evaporates as water droplets.
Soaked, some feathers missing from her ankles and belly. Lifeless. Dead.
"Only one of us could live."
Daiyu examines her. Sees her scroll.
"A scroll? The heck? Interesting."
Opens it. Her hands shake out of fear and anger. Heart races.
"I need to tell everyone else before it's too late! But that's impossible… I need to find Serenity to let her know what's going on. Her brother… I swear if anyone dies…"
Voice trails off. Stuffs the scroll in a pocket on her Tai-Chi outfit. Runs off in the distance.