Prism Academy 5- Interlude 4 (after 37 and before 38) (Patreon)

Interlude 4- Battle Joined

Inferna and Valkyrie stood side by side, watching as the grotesque monster lumbered toward them. Its body was a horrific sight - covered in pulsating tumors that seeped a viscous, sickly green fluid. The air around the creature was heavy with a noxious, mind-altering mist that distorted their perception and threatened to overwhelm their senses. Inferna's eyes narrowed, determination and grit set on her delicate features, as she prepared herself for the upcoming battle.

The monster let out a guttural roar, its voice reverberating through the air like a sinister symphony as it charged toward the two heroes. The ground trembled beneath the weight of the creature, its movements a sickening display of unnatural power. Inferna stepped forward, her hands wreathed in flames. The fire danced around her fingers, casting a warm, orange glow upon her face. She raised her arms and sent a torrent of fire toward the monster, the intense heat searing the air as it traveled.

The flames collided with the creature's hide, scorching the oozing tumors and emitting a putrid smell that filled their nostrils. Valkyrie, undeterred by the stench, commanded her mecha to spring into action. The mechanical behemoth soared into the sky, the roar of its engines echoing across the battlefield. Valkyrie guided her mecha with expert precision, avoiding the deadly acid spray that spewed from the monster's many tumors.

She fired a barrage of photon cannons and particle weapons, the brilliant beams of energy leaving a trail of smoke and destruction in their wake. As the mecha attacked from above, Inferna continued her fiery assault on the ground. The flames licked at the monster's legs, burning away the cancerous growths and causing it to howl in pain. The creature retaliated, launching a volley of acid projectiles towards Inferna.

The petite blonde hero dodged and weaved, her lithe form evading the lethal spray. But she was not unscathed; a droplet of acid splashed against her arm, burning her skin and sending a wave of distorted hallucinations coursing through her mind. Shadows flickered and danced at the edge of her vision, and the ground seemed to shift beneath her feet. Inferna gritted her teeth, fighting to maintain her focus as her world twisted and warped around her.

She knew that if she succumbed to the hallucinations, the monster would gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, Valkyrie's mecha continued to engage the creature in a high-stakes aerial battle. The two combatants danced through the sky, exchanging volleys of bullets and acid, locked in a deadly exchange.

The mecha's advanced weaponry caused massive damage to the monster, but the relentless assault also took its toll on the robotic suit. Acid corroded the mecha's outer shell, weakening its defenses and compromising its systems. Nanites shifted to cover the damaged portions, but there were only so many of them.

Inferna, still struggling with the effects of the monster's acid, managed to regain her focus long enough to send another wave of fire towards the creature, but it went wide. She cursed inside her mind. She knew something was off but couldn’t quite focus on reality. Then she thought to turn her flames inward. Her body began to burn off the hallucinogenic toxin which had affected her.

Free of the fog, she was able to attack again. Her flames seared the monster's flesh, the pain causing it to stumble and falter in its attack. Valkyrie seized the opportunity, commanding her mecha to launch a salvo of missiles at the monster. The missiles exploded upon impact, tearing through the monster's hide and sending chunks of its tumorous flesh flying through the air.

The creature roared in agony, its once-fearsome form now a mess of seared flesh and gaping wounds. Despite the damage they had inflicted, Inferna and Valkyrie knew that the monster was far from defeated. The creature, driven by primal fury, launched a final desperate attack. The remaining tumors on its body swelled and burst , releasing a torrent of acid that engulfed the entire battlefield. The noxious cloud threatened to overwhelm the heroes, their senses assaulted by the hallucinogenic properties of the toxic fumes.

Valkyrie's mecha shifted its internal structure to filter out the toxic fumes and protect Valkyrie. She grinned, for that was the flexibility of her power. She might not have the raw might of many of Aden’s bonds, but in combination with tech, she could fill almost any spot on a team.

Her mech, however, continued to take damage and so she drove it into the ground and shifted its form to become a shield for Inferna. The blonde woman smiled back at her. That moment of respite was all that she had needed as a blue force field generated by the former mech shimmer in front of her. Valkyrie’s shoulders sagged. Her desperate need to protect her friend had pushed her to her limits. Now it was up to Inferna.

The force field shimmered with a faint blue light, shielding Inferna from the worst of the acid onslaught. The petite blonde heroine, her vision clearing as the hallucinations subsided, realized that this was their last chance to defeat the monster.

With a surge of determination, Inferna gathered her strength and channeled her powers into one final, all-consuming blast of fire. The air crackled with heat and energy as she unleashed a torrential inferno that engulfed the entire battlefield. She called out, “Shield yourself. It’s about to get very hot.”

The monster, weakened and battered by the relentless assault, stood no chance against Inferna's ultimate attack. Her blonde figure became flame itself as she exploded with the force of a sun going nova. The flames tore through its body, incinerating the last of its tumors and reducing its once-mighty form to nothing more than ash and charred bone.

As the firestorm subsided, Inferna collapsed to her knees, panting from the effort she had expended. Valkyrie rushed to her side, concern etched across her face as she helped her friend to her feet.

Together, the two heroes surveyed the battlefield, their hearts heavy with the knowledge of the destruction they had wrought. The monster, once a living embodiment of darkness and decay, now lay defeated, its reign of terror brought to an end by their combined might.

But even in victory, Inferna and Valkyrie knew that their battle was far from over. The other monsters still fought against their allies, and the heroes would need every ounce of strength they possessed to emerge victorious.

Precision’s voice came to them. “Hold your position. Catch your breath. I’ll let you know where you’re needed.”

They clung to one another as they saw that most of the rest of their companions were bringing down their foes, but the battle was definitely a titanic mess.

________________________________

Silk couldn’t help but say, “Remember it’s Silk now. I’ve got a home again. I’m not gonna be quite so crazy.”

Aqueous chuckled, “Don’t worry, crazy fits in well with us, but I’ve got your back either way.”

Precisions voice came through. “Focus on the fight. You’ve got the tall, gnarled one.”

Aqueous grinned. “I like’em big.”

“Good thing your bonded with Aden then,” Silk said with a laugh.

The two exchanged one final laugh and wink of understanding before focusing on their foe. Their gazes locked on the towering, twisted monster before them. Its elongated limbs stretched out like gnarled branches, ending in razor-sharp talons that gleamed menacingly in the dim light. Its movements were fluid and unnerving, its body seemingly capable of impossible contortions as it stalked closer to the two Rays.

Aqueous prepared to transform into her battle form, her body shifting and morphing as she focused on the chemical composition of her preferred combat guise. With practice, she had learned she could make her hide harder than steel and could add weight in just the right parts to give her punches more oomph. Within moments, her slender frame had grown into a ten-foot-tall, armored beast, her thick hide and powerful claws a testament to her incredible strength.

The only thing which remained the same was her signature green hair, which still cascaded down her back. As she towered over her partner, Silk, she exuded an air of confidence and determination that seemed to fill the very air around her.

Silk, on the other hand, slipped behind her larger partner. She was hardly bashful about combat, but if she was truly part of a team she needed to play her part. Her telekinetic powers would allow her to support Aqueous from a distance. She concentrated her psychic energy, creating an arsenal of blades and projectiles that hovered around her like a deadly swarm, ready to strike at her command.

The twisted monster wasted no time, lunging forward with a guttural growl, its talons slashing through the air with terrifying speed. Aqueous met the creature's attack head-on, her powerful limbs deflecting the monster's blows as she countered with her own ferocious strikes.

Silk watched the melee unfold; her eyes focused on the ever-changing battlefield. She provided Aqueous with support, using her telekinetic powers to create a protective shield around her partner while simultaneously launching her psychic projectiles at the monster. She grinned. Since Aden had enhanced her, she could handle more projections at the same time. She felt so damn powerful.

As the battle raged on, Aqueous found herself matching the monster blow for blow, her immense strength allowing her to keep the creature at bay. The problem was that each time her claws connected with the monster's hide; it seemed to regenerate almost instantly, the twisted flesh knitting itself back together with an unnerving ease.

Silk, sensing her partner's growing frustration, redoubled her efforts, her psychic blades slicing through the air with pinpoint accuracy. Despite her best efforts, however, the monster's regenerative abilities seemed to outpace the damage they could inflict, leaving the two heroes struggling to gain the upper hand.

As the battle continued, the twisted monster seemed to grow more and more enraged, its movements becoming faster and more brutal. Aqueous, despite her incredible strength, began to falter under the relentless onslaught. Her once-pristine armor now bore the scars of battle, gashes and scratches marring the thick hide that protected her.

Silk, witnessing her partner's struggles, made a desperate decision. She focused on a less used aspect of her psychic gift and channeled telepathic encouragement into Aqueous, fueling her ferocity and enabling her to push harder.

Aqueous felt a surge of power course through her, the sudden influx of strength allowing her to match the monster's ferocity once more. With renewed vigor, she drove her claws deep into the creature's flesh, tearing through the twisted limbs and severing the razor-sharp talons.

The monster screeched in agony, its body writhing and contorting as it struggled to regenerate the lost limbs. Aqueous, sensing an opportunity, pressed her advantage, her powerful strikes now capable of inflicting lasting damage on the monstrous foe.

Silk slowed her own attack to try to sort out the best approach. “Aqueous, if I go all out, I can cut deep into its core. Shift into fluid form and you can explode it from the inside out.”

Aqueous couldn’t spare the time to look back at Silk, but a grunt would have to serve as her acquiescence.

Then Silk summoned the most powerful blades she could muster and drove them will all of her increased psychic potential. The translucent blades of pure telekinetic force sank deep into the core. Silk strained and flung her arms wide. The gesture wasn’t technically necessary, but it helped her focus. The creature’s chest cavity was ripped open and in that instant, Aqueous struck.

Instantly, her body morphed into the most concentrated acid she had been able to form. She blasted forward like she was shooting from a water torch into the center of the creature. Inside she found its body to be almost tree like and she followed the tracks inside, spreading as she did.

It writhed and tore at its own flesh as it fell to the ground, but could do nothing to get rid of her. The monster’s vaunted regenerative capabilities were useless and soon its insides were mush before its shell split like an overly ripe banana exploding in every direction.

Silk just barely managed to raise a telekinetic shield in time to keep herself from being covered in monster remains. Aqueous rose up in human form and slowly transformed from acid to flesh. Together they surveyed the ruin of their enemy and Silk taunted, “Regenerate from that bitch.”

Aqueous held up her hand and they exchanged high fives. “I think I’m gonna like having you on the team.”

___________________________

Demis and Sybilla stood shoulder to shoulder, their golden fiery wings casting a warm, radiant glow in the midst of the battlefield. Sybilla joked, “You look good in gold.”

Demis snorted. “I should punch you. But I won’t. Aden likes that pretty face of yours.”

Sybilla winked at her. “Guess we should get series. Which one’s ours, Precision?”

“I was getting to it. You get the one with all the worms on its back.”

Demis groaned. “Oh, thanks.”

Precision didn’t even bother to reply, but Demis shook her head. That woman was too serious for her own good sometimes.

Before them, a monstrous creature the size of a bull crawled low, its limbs bent and broken, yet its movements suggested an unnatural strength. The monster's body was covered in a writhing mass of serpentine tendrils, each one wriggling with an eerie life of ts own.

Demis pushed one fist into the palm of the other open hand as she activated her Entropic Shield. “This should be fun.” The air crackled around her when her shield sprang to life and Sybilla could see dark energy dancing along her hands.

Sybilla opened up for them by reaching out with her mind. There was no finesse in this as she drove it like an icepick into the creature’s brain, but it was almost as though it didn’t have any higher consciousness. The creature seemed to have only one aspect, which was the desire to kill. That didn’t stop her from pushing, though.

Despite her best efforts, she struggled to make a connection, her psychic powers meeting a resistance unlike any she had encountered before. Undeterred, she flew up to gain herself some distance. Demis would have to handle the heavy lifting here. Still, she could make use of one of her rarely used powers and fired off bursts of lasers from her eyes which seared and burned a few of the worm-like tendrils.

Then the battle began in earnest as the monster lunged toward the Demis, its tendrils snapping through the air like whips. Demis charged forward, her mighty fists striking at the creature's hide, each blow accompanied by the sickening hiss of necrotic energy breaking down its flesh.

Despite the damage, the monster's body proved to be incredibly durable, and it fought back with a ferocity that seemed impossible given its twisted, broken form. Sybilla continued her psychic assault, her laser eyes cutting through the air and searing the monster's flesh, while her illusory duplicates danced and taunted the creature. She figured that any blow it delivered to an illusion one less that Demis had to tank.

The tendrils writhing over its body lashed out, seeking to grasp the heroines and drag them into the monster's gaping maw. Demis seemed safe as her Entropic Shield slowing the tendrils allowing her to evade their grasp for the most part. However, the sheer number of tendrils and their paralytic venom posed a constant threat.

Sybilla wasn’t quite as lucky as one of the tendrils managed to wrap grasp her foot. It entwined her entire lower leg and began pulling her down. At first Sybilla beat the wings granted to her by the Bonded Affinity and pushed, but then she felt an odd sensation come over her.

A green slime covered the tentacle and was oozing between the tiny gaps in her nanites armor. She tried to restructure the armor, but some of it had already contacted her skin. She felt the world spin and didn’t know what was going on. A voice spoke into her mind in sibilant whispers about how the creature was her friend.

Sybilla was the undisputed most powerful psychic in the world, so she was completely unprepared for an attack of that nature. She fell from the sky and couldn't tell up from down. The creature was pulling her toward its massive maw and she didn’t even struggle. It just seemed so right.

Then Demis was on the ground next to her. A burst of black fire pushed back all the other tendrils till she could grab the one that had Sybilla in its grasp. Necrotic energy rotted it away in an instant, but Sybilla still laid there.

“Fight it.”

Her friend wasn’t listening, so Demis pulled out the big guns. “If you break free, I’m sure Aden will spank you in front of the rest of us.”

Somehow, that got to her. Her mind had never stopped fighting, but just hearing something like that grounded her so deeply in the world that she wanted, that she was able to reject the visions the toxin had been giving her.

The creature surged forward, trying to bulldoze them, but Demis caught it and held it up as she fed more necrotic energy into its frame. Sybilla senses an opening. She had to rethink everything. This creature wasn’t one that would respond to normal mental attacks. The shadow had always been incredibly resistant to such things, but now she had the Intangible Mind evolutions. With that, she pushed through the defenses and triggered its own desire for death upon itself.

This provided enough distraction for Demis to go to town. Her fists crackling with necrotic energy as she aimed a devastating blow at the creature's head. The impact was immense, and the monster's twisted form shuddered under the force of the attack.

Still, the creature refused to fall. Its tendrils whipped through the air with renewed fury, latching onto Demis and Sybilla with a vice-like grip. Soon a paralytic venom coursed through their veins, threatening to render them helpless in the face of the monster's relentless assault.

In a last-ditch effort, Sybilla focused her psychic powers on the creature's mind once more. This time, she managed to break through the barriers that had resisted her earlier attempts. The monster's confusion intensified, its movements becoming erratic as it struggled to comprehend the psychic onslaught. Demis, fighting through the paralytic effects, she turned her power inward and broke down the paralytic before it could affect her.

She summoned the full force of her necrotic powers, channeling the destructive energy into a single, devastating attack. With a primal roar, she drove her fist into the creature's skull, the necrotic energy consuming its brain and breaking down its body from within. The monster's tendrils writhed and twitched as the corrosive energy spread, leaving its once-fearsome form a rapidly disintegrating husk.

As the creature's body crumbled to dust, Demis and Sybilla collapsed to the ground. The venom was not running its course and their powerful constitutions worked through it. Demis said, “We did it, sister.”

_________________________

Titana and Twinkle surveyed the battlefield, their eyes narrowing in determination as they assessed the horrifying scene before them. The putrid smell of decay hung heavy in the air, a testament to the twisted, mutilated monstrosity that shambled toward them. Its body was an abomination, a grotesque amalgamation of limbs and faces contorted in eternal agony. Once human, this monster was now a nightmarish fusion of suffering and hatred.

Precision’s voice sounded out. “That one’s yours.”

“Been needing something to smash. These wings are great and all, but I was meant to be here on the ground with two feet ready to stomp the baddies.”

Twinkle just laughed. “Fine, you can take it on. I’ll provide support.”

Titana picked up a broken pipe from the ground. She activated her power, shoving more mass into it. “Hmm… this’ll do.”

As the abomination drew nearer, its shuffling footsteps and eerie symphony of joints clicking and bones grinding sent a shiver down the spines of the two heroines. They steeled themselves for the battle ahead, knowing that they would need to muster all their strength and cunning to defeat this monstrous foe.

The battle began in earnest, with Titana rushing forward to engage the monster in close combat. First, she shoved the pipe deep into the creature. The jagged end broke the creature's thick hide and went in… well she wasn’t exactly sure where it went. This thing was such a jumble of mishmashed bodies it was hard to say. But it did what she wanted. By the time she released the pipe, it had more mass than a twenty-foot steel I-beam and was tearing at the creature's body. That gave her the opening she wanted.

Her massive fists pummeled the creature, each powerful blow landing with a sickening thud. The monster, seemingly immune to pain, responded with a flurry of attacks from its multitude of arms and legs, its many mouths gnashing and biting at the air.

Twinkle, meanwhile, danced around the battlefield, teleporting in and out of the fray to deliver swift, precise attacks. Her movements were graceful and fluid, like a ballet dancer performing a deadly dance. She utilized her ability to suppress the monster's energy, attempting to neutralize its life-draining aura.

Titana, grappling with the monster, found it difficult to determine where its vulnerable spots were. The creature's multitude of limbs and faces made it an unpredictable and formidable opponent. Despite her incredible strength and durability, she found herself hard-pressed to land a decisive blow.

As the battle raged on, Twinkle began to take more daring risks, teleporting herself and Titana out of the monster's reach when necessary. At one point, she transformed her body into pure light, evading the creature's grasp as it lunged for her. This brief moment of vulnerability allowed Titana to land a powerful punch, momentarily staggering the beast.

However, the monster was relentless, its multiple limbs flailing wildly as it continued its assault on the two heroines. Despite their best efforts, Titana and Twinkle found themselves battered and bruised. Titana was getting angrier and angrier under the constant barrage of attacks.

Realizing that they needed to change tactics, Titana and Twinkle exchanged a glance, a silent understanding passing between them. With a nod, they executed a daring plan, hoping to turn the tide of the battle in their favor.

Titana reached down and grabbed a piece of debris from the battlefield, increasing its mass as she prepared to throw it at the monster. At the same time, Twinkle teleported behind the beast, using her energy-suppression abilities to momentarily weaken its defenses.

With a mighty heave, Titana hurled the now-heavy object at the monster, the increased mass and her own incredible strength propelling it like a missile. Twinkle, anticipating the attack, teleported herself out of the way just in time. The makeshift projectile slammed into the monster with incredible force, sending it reeling backward.

Seizing the opportunity, Twinkle transformed her body into pure light, darting around the monster and distracting it with a series of rapid, disorienting movements. The creature, overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of light, flailed its limbs in a futile attempt to fend off the attacks.

Titana, seeing the monster momentarily disoriented, charged forward once more. Her powerful fists rained down upon the creature, each blow landing with devastating impact. The creature's once-impenetrable defenses crumbled under the combined assault of Titana's strength and Twinkle's dazzling light show.

As the monster staggered and faltered, the two heroines pressed their advantage. Twinkle, still in her light form, darted in and out of the monster's reach, slashing at its exposed weak points with beams of brilliant energy. Titana, drawing on her reserves of strength, continued to pummel the creature with her massive fists, each strike sending tremors through its grotesque form.

Seeing that, it was stunned enough. Twinkle took a deep breath and then teleported upward into space with the creature before shoving it back down like a meteor. As it fell through the atmosphere, it began to burn silently, even now its body was immune to pain.

The small amount of it which hit the ground was nothing but charred pulp. None of its many mouths were recognizable. Titana licked up a slab of concrete and brought it down with all her strength on the creature, flattening what remained of it into a fine paste.

Twinkle appeared next to her. They looked at each other and Titana said, “Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.”

_________________________

Precision watched on as the team fought. She cared about each of them and a couple of times she had panicked. When Sybilla had been caught by the creature, she thought she was going to have to jump in, but they pulled it out. When Aqueous disappeared inside the monster they were fighting, she had been terrified, but the outcome reminded her that she needed to trust her companions.

The hardest fight to watch was Aden. He was slugging it out with some sort of squat monster which was built more like a massive Humpty-dumpty than an actual human even if that’s what it had been before the shadow corrupted it.

The creature didn’t seem to be any match for him. It was much slower than Aden, yet it laughed with each punch that he delivered. Its body rippled and seemed to vibrate faster each time. As she watched, she knew something was wrong. Nothing should be able to stand up to Aden’s punches like that, certainly Krig had, but whatever that thing was it wasn’t this.

The monster just kept taking the beating. That didn’t seem consistent with their aggressive nature. Precision called out to Aden, “Watch out, it’s up to something.”

Aden slowed the impact of his fists and stepped back. Hopefully, he was activating Energy Sense. She could only tell that there was a build of energy inside the creature. Then it lashed out. The punch it threw at him was clumsy and slow. Even a normal human would have been able to dodge it, but Aden reflexively throughout his arm to block the attack.

Then it happened. All of the massive amounts of kinetic energy which Aden’s blows had delivered had been stored inside of its body. They all came rocketing out of it with the force of a run-away train but focused into a six by four-inch fist. Aden’s body was sent flying backwards. He rocketed for what Precision’s acute senses told her was exactly two point one miles till he finally came to stop after crashing through an entire city’s worth of ruined buildings.

Precision’s heart stopped. She didn’t know what to say. She reached out through the bond. Aden was there. She sighed. He was alive. He was in pain and confused. He might have a concussion. But oh, more than anything else, he was pissed off. He leapt up into the sky and flew over the creature just as it was moving to attack another of the teams.

“Okay, so boxing is off the table. Let’s see how you like burning.”

Precision knew that Aden’s control of fire was nothing compared to Inferna’s but he had so much raw power at his beck and call that it didn’t shock her when a column of flame shot down from him and blasted into the creature and everything within ten feet of it.

After holding the flame for ten seconds, Aden dove down like a pile driver into the creature. When the dust cleared, she could see that it was still remarkably in one piece. It blasted the fire it had absorbed right back into Aden who simply laughed. Immunity to heat had been one of his first evolutions.

He reached out but instead of punching the creature he phased it, shoving it down in the ground until it was buried up to its neckless head. It struggled, and the ground continued to crack around it but Aden simply placed his hand on its head. He mumbled something but with all the chaos of the battlefield even she couldn’t make out his words.

Then it was like the world went still. She didn’t know for sure what Aden was doing, but the other Rays were all gathering around her. When she saw Sybilla she started to ask, but the psychic cut her off. “I don’t know. It feels like when he enhances one of us. He is reaching into the creature and trying to rewrite it.”

Its body trembled. Then the flailing ceased. A moment later, its entire body had broken down and turned to dust.

Precision forgot herself in the moment and ran forward to grab Aden in a hug. She always had to be so in control, but sometimes she just wanted to be a woman in the arms of the man she loved.

“What’d you do?”

He smiled. Mental Design hit 5 but didn’t evolve to anything else. I guess I was hoping it would, but oh well. It allowed me to redirect the creature’s ability to absorb energy against itself. It literally just ate itself to death.”

The rest of the bonds had joined in now but Willow was happy to share him. This was her family after all and hopefully that family would be growing soon. For now though they all looked at the dome of shadow. That was the final danger.