Touch of Evil

Chapter 5 "The Blitz"

A tremendous explosion at night, illuminated only by the occasional ray of moonlight shining through the clouds. A building collapses as the roaring of bomber engines could be heard overhead. About 2 minutes pass before an inferno erupts from under the rubble, sublimating enough of it to give Murdoch space to climb out. He took deep, worrisome breaths and looked around, spotting a shrapnel-riddled sign that reads "bomb shelter" in front of a metro entrance. He runs down the stairs, but finds the door is locked.

Murdoch; "Hello?! Let me in!"

Murdoch banged on the door a couple times, glancing back towards the skies are more explosions were heard in the distance. The door opened with an old woman at the entrance, frantically gesturing for him to come in. He would see an incalculable amount of people huddled in the tunnels, both on and off the tracks. He was settled in next to a bench, where a woman in nurses' garb was sat. Murdoch took note of the attire and slowly turned his eyes up to see it was Squall in her Denise disguise. He cringed upon looking up at her, and her eyes turned to him, giving a slight smirk and speaking quietly.

Squall; "They'll just let anyone in here, huh?"

Murdoch; "Yes, it appears so."

After a moment of awkward silence, Murdoch let out a petite cough, looking up to Squall again.

Murdoch; "Aren't you going to do anything?"

Squall; "I'd love to, but I can't here. They'd all come after me, you know. Your kind can barely handle a different shade, imagine how they'd feel about someone that didn't even have flesh."

Murdoch nodded in understanding, resting his hands in his lap. After another few minutes, Murdoch shifted uncomfortably in his seat as bombs continued to detonate outside.

Squall; "I can tell you're dying to say something, so spit it out."

Murdoch; "... Why are you after me? What about Ardra and me are worth persecuting? I understand she's essentially the devil, but surely that's not a universal concept... Right?"

Squall finally turned to face him, crossing her arms.

Squal; "Well, you see, Ardra has a special role in the Primordium. Mortalis was made with a goal in mind... And if Mortalis fails to live up to that goal, it's her job to wreck the place and start it over. If they find out mortals have forgotten about them, or worse, don't care anymore, they'll give Ardra the go ahead to cause as much pain and destruction as she chooses... There won't be anything left."

Murdoch stared at Squall, wide eyed, letting his arms rest at his sides. In the background, the explosions seemed to be getting closer, they both took note.

Murdoch; "I mean... They don't have to know, do they? I'm already trying to keep a low profile."

Squall; "They can see anything they want to in Mortalis, except for each other. It'd only be a matter of time before they look at Earth and decide they've seen enough."

Murdoch; "Well, they're not omniscient, I could definitely try and hide."

Squall; "I'd much rather deal with the problem than sweep it under the rug, y'know?"

Before Murdoch could respond, the bunker was rattled by an intense shockwave, knocking out the electric lights. As always, there was only one person to let out a shriek when the lights went out.

Squall; "Crap."

After a moment of silence, there was a creak of metal and then a slam. A few candles began to be lit with some matches from the crowd, and Squall could now see Murdoch wasn't there next to her. She grimaced and looked towards the door, which didn't get closed all the way.

Squall; "Ugh, come on!"

She got up and stepped over a few people and ran out the door, making sure to close it behind her. She ran up the stairs and saw Murdoch running down the street as another bomber flew overhead. She shapeshifted into her metallic form and sprinted to catch up to him, but slowed down when she heard a whistling noise overhead. A shell exploded between Murdoch and Squall, cutting her off from her quarry as two halves of two separate buildings collapsed onto the road. She groaned in frustration as she slowed to a walking pace, approaching the debris with squinted eyes. She could see an orange silhouette getting progressively smaller, and a crimson scar on the right hand. She took in a sharp inhale (or a facsimile thereof), and held out her hands with orange plasma. The fog steadily broke down and sublimated the rubble, creating a path through the fallen buildings.

When she made it through, another detonation was heard, throwing up a mass amount of dirt and dust. She heard a gross "plop" sound next to her and turned to see an arm of Murdoch land to her right on the ground. Disappointed that it was the left hand, not bearing the brand, she waited for his body to reform. A wire of scarlet flame shot out from the crater and attached to the burnt end of the arm, making it tense up before pulling it into the crater. A gout of Negative Iskel fire rose up from within the crater, and Murdoch eventually climbed out, looking back to see Squall standing there with crossed arms.

Murdoch; "... You're not getting fed up with this?"

Squall; "I don't get tired, physically. You do."

Murdoch; "Adrenaline is a hell of a chemical..."

A great roar was heard overhead, followed by a whistling. Both of them looked to the sky with a wince.

Murdoch; "Don't stand in one place to long!"

Murdoch took off as the whistling grew in volume, and the ordnance struck the ground mere inches away from Squall, shattering her metallic form. When the dust settled, a shard of glowing, orange crystal was half buried in the crater. It exhuded a cloud of orange plasma and morphed the dirt around it into metal, condensing it into a humanoid shape in the span of 5 minutes. When she reformed her eyes, she looked around, but couldn't find the silhouette of Murdoch. She grumbled quietly before walking off to a destroyed building, hiding in the rubble disguised as it until morning.