More Than A God (IV)

XIII

"ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT, IRIS!" Mara screamed as she stomped the floor.

"Wait... Iris?" Penny thought, but then instantly brought her attention back to Mara, who was still speaking.

"You'll never understand because you're all IGNORANT. All I'm trying to do is set you free from this world! None of you know the truth of why you're here!"

"Yes we do!" Skye screamed. "We know this is afterlife! That's no excuse for you to try and destroy this place!"

"Why do you want to be here though!?" Mara said, sounding a little concerned. "You should be resting, relaxing and feeling inner peace... What's the point of being here!? I'm only trying to break The Balance to set everyone free..."

Penny was somehow touched by Mara's words. She felt like she was telling the truth, and she slowly started to trust her. However, an unexpected event made such trust break apart in an instant.

"Like if we were gonna believe that..." Iris said.

"OH, YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE NOW!" Mara said as she rushed to stab her knife in Iris's chest.

"Wh- NO!" Penny said as she interfered.

She created a dark orb and threw it at Mara, stunning her and stopping her from harming Iris. She rushed and punched her in the face, then kicked her so that she dropped to the floor. Mara stood and looked at Penny as her eyes turned red. She wasn't angry, she was furious.

"You asked for this..." Mara said as she grinned. "I wish Eli was here to see your sweet little DEATH!"

"I'd like to see you try, BITCH!"

Penny's eyes glowed purple yet another time, and she was ready for a dirty fight. Mara screamed as she wielded her knife and rushed to attack her. Penny felt power flowing through her veins, so it was easy for her to avoid Mara's attempts to harm her. When she found the opportunity, she moved away from an attack and quickly rushed in to throw a punch at her face. Mara's nose started to bleed, and she looked angrier than ever.

"Y- You can hurt me too!? THIS DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" Mara said as she lost her sanity. "I need to kill you... YOU NEED TO DIE!"

She threw her knife, and Penny couldn't avoid it in time. It was able to cut her face, and he screamed in pain. Everyone was worried at what had just happened, and they tried to set themselves free so they could help. However, trying to fight the shadows surrounding them would be a suicide mission.

"AGH!" Penny grunted in pain. "You're going to PAY FOR THIS!"

She grabbed the knife from the floor and got a clean stab in Mara's shoulder. The floor was being stained with their blood, making it a horrifying battlefield. Everyone was scared, but Penny didn't plan on dying anytime soon. She rushed to hit her chin with an uppercut, and then kicked her away so that she could use her powers. She threw a dark orb at her, but Mara teleported away. She was right behind Penny, and she tried to stab the knife in her neck. Penny was able to move away and punch her again, and it wasn't looking good for Mara. She jumped away and looked at Penny with pure rage in her blood, knowing how to get some time to recover.

"If, I can't harm you, I'LL JUST KILL THE OTHERS! Shadows, get rid of them!" Mara screamed.

All of the shadows looked at Skye and the others, and they all freaked out. Penny knew that if she didn't do anything, her friends wouldn't make it alive. She forgot about Mara for now, and she rushed to defend the others. She took them down one by one, feeling like the fight would never end. She tried to untie everyone's hands so that they could help her fight, but she never found the right moment to do it. One wrong move, and she would fade away with all her friends.

"How many more tricks do you have under your sleeve!?" Penny screamed as she got angry. She started to throw dark orbs to get rid of the shadows, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to fight back for much longer. She was starting to get tired, so she used the last bits of her energy to get rid of all the remaining shadows.

"AGH! I HATE YOU!" Penny screamed again as she unleashed a dark call from her chest. A dark wave of power made all the shadows vanish, leaving Mara at clear sight in the distance. Penny wanted to attack her, but she decided to stay back and catch her breath again. They looked at each other, feeling the deep hatred from afar.

"I don't blame Eli for despising you... YOU'RE A MONSTER!" Penny said.

"Eli is just building his own doom when trying to take me down... All I want is for everyone to be free! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!?" Mara screamed with all her might.

"We clearly don't, idiot..." Iris whispered.

"I didn't want it to go this way, but if I need to take all of you down... I'm not afraid of doing i-"

Mara got distracted by a strange feeling on her leg. It was as if some sort of fur was rubbing against her, so she looked down and saw what it was. It was a white and fluffy-looking wolf, simply sitting down and holding something with its mouth.

"What the...?" Mara wondered. She picked up the shiny thing from the wolf's mouth, and she looked at this with more detail. It was a necklace in the shape of a star, a necklace that was familiar to Penny's eyes.

"Oh, you're in trouble now..."Penny said.

"What do you think you're say-"

The necklace started to glow in Mara's hand, and it felt hotter and hotter. She dropped it to the ground in pain, and someone started to emerge from it. A guy with black and red clothes and a cape with the same colors appeared, looking at Mara with resolve in his eyes.

"Did you miss me?" Eli said. Mara was fully shocked, and the god took this opportunity to attack. He punched her in the face and followed it with a kick. He charged his fist with fire which then turned blue, punched her right in the face again and sent her flying away.

"All of you! Get out of here, NOW!" He screamed. Penny quickly cut all the ropes that stopped all her friends from moving, and they all began to run away.

"OH, YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Mara yelled as she recovered from the impact. She ran towards Penny to try and kill her, but Eli stopped her as soon as he noticed. He created a rope with his powers and trapped Mara's leg in it, making her trip and fall. Eli, angrier than ever, grabbed the rope and pulled Mara right towards him. He took his sword, raised it to the sky so it caught a lightning bolt, and struck Mara with it right in her chest. He heard a scream of pain that he had never heard before. Eli started to gain confidence, but he still didn't let his guard down.

"Maybe Diiran wasn't lying about you..." Mara said as she gritted her teeth. "WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME DOWN!? YOU THINK YOU'RE MORE POWERFUL THAN ME!?"

"Hearing your voice just makes me want to kill you more..." Eli said.

"You're just wasting your FUCKING TIME! You really think you can stop me!? YOU REALLY THINK THAT!?" Mara screamed as she kneeled at the ground. "I'm a goddess... A GODDESS! No matter how hard you try..."

The place slowly began to get darker and darker. Eli created a fireball for him to see clearly, and he didn't like the way this looked. Mara was staring at the ground, while Penny and the others got closer to see what was about to happen. He never lost focus on Mara, who seemed like was ready to snatch someone's soul.

"All this effort will be in vain... Everything you've worked for... I WILL DESTROY ALL OF IT!" Mara screamed.

The ground started to shake, and it caught Eli a little off guard. He looked away for a second, only to look back and see Mara rushing at him to try and kill him. He quickly moved out of the way and tried to punch her, but she was able to dodge it. Something about her felt different, and Eli wasn't looking forward to this fight. He pulled his sword out and tried to hit her, while she quickly parried all his attacks. They both jumped back and stared at each other, knowing that this fight wasn't going to end until someone died.

"It's now or never, Eli..." Mara said from afar.

Eli's heart was racing, but he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He thought about Diiran and Iris. But most importantly, he thought about Penny. He opened his eyes, which were glowing blue after a long time of not seeing them that way.

"If you plan on killing me..." Eli said. "Then what the fuck are you waiting for..."