BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Fourteenth Feather: She's Calling Him 'Pitcher The Kid' Now

Corna, right after retrieving the needed information, found herself nested in a hidden spot near the Kid's house to make sure that the intel was correct. Thankfully, it was. She spotted him heading back home after baseball practice and decided to keep herself concealed for the time being. Just as he was about to step inside his house, he stopped and said: "I can see you, y'know."

Corna didn't believe him, since she made sure that she was as unnoticeable as possible, even going as far as putting on military-like camouflage. He narrowed his eyes and said: "Heeeey, I can see yoouuuu! The red girl in the buuuush!"

Corna angrily sprung out of her hiding spot, shouting: "Okay, How the fuck?!"

Dennis: "Before that, why the hell are you in our undergrowth?"

Corna: "Before 'before that'! How did you spot me?!"

Dennis: "Eagle eyes, baby, I never miss a thing. And speaking of not missing things, ain't you the red devil I sniped out of the air yesterday?"

Corna: "As a matter of fact, yes, that's me! And I wanna tell you something."

Dennis: "Look, missy, I get confessed to a lot, but right now isn't the-"

Suddenly, Corna punched him in the face, knocking him down before kicking him a few times for good measure. He yelled in pain: "Ow! Agh! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Corna: "That's for almost blowing my head off, you prick! Take this! And this! And this!"

Dennis: "Ow! Ow! Ow...! Ow... Wait, this doesn't hurt at all. Girl, are you made out of spaghetti noodles?! Are you kicking me or wiping your shoes on me?"

Corna had enough and took a few steps away, allowing him to get up, wipe the dust off of his clothes, and exclaim: "What's wrong with you?! First you hide in my hedge then you try to beat me up! Are you okay in the head?!"

Corna: "You brought this upon yourself for being a jerk!"

Dennis: "You... Y'know what? Whatever, you got your revenge, now leave me alone."

Corna: "Wait, there's another thing-"

Dennis: "Enough already, goddamn it! It's almost scary how persistently petty girls are, holy shit!"

It was at this moment that Corna realised that beating him up and then trying to ask him to join her cause was the incorrect order of doing things. Before she could attempt to remedy this situation however she could, an abrupt, loud scream was heard coming from one of the neighbouring houses. Pitch the Kid turned his head and whispered: "What was that?" Meanwhile, Corna's automatic telepathy received the answer to his question, causing her to whisper as well: "Oh no..."

The Kid looked back at her and asked: "Oh no? What do you mean 'oh no'?"

Just as her ability foretold, the reason for the scream was another Corruption breaking loose. It was an ugly, massive, metallic and floating head surrounded by several spinning spiky rings. The death ball in question burst out of a house nearby, startling and terrifying both kids. While it was barreling down the road toward them at a concerningly high speed, Kid reflexively stood in front of Corna defensively and pulled out his bat, saying: "Stay behind me! I'll deal with this!" But before he could act upon his claim, Corna grabbed him by the shoulders, sprouted a pair of wings, and flew him out of the way, making the Corruption barely miss them. Kid was freaking out, screaming and shouting: "AAAAAAAAAAA-"

Corna: "Shut up! I'm trying to think!"

Dennis: "You can fly?!"

Corna: "Yes, Now stop squirming! We need to flee immediately!"

Dennis: "Hell no! We need to do something about that monster!"

Corna: "Are you crazy?! We have a whole organisation dedicated to dealing with them and you wanna dive head first into your grave?!"

Dennis: "No! My family is still home! They might be in danger! Let me go!"

Corna: "We're too high up! Hold on a second!"

Corna then nosedived down and dropped the kid per his request. She then asked him: "Hey! Do you have any powers?!"

Dennis: "Yeah, I have a Beyonder called Malacoda, it speeds up everything I throw to three thousand kilometres an hour, precisely."

Corna: "Okay, listen, I need you to create an opening for me so I can touch that thing's forehead and pacify it!"

Dennis: "Pacify it? Are you gonna put a binky in that thing's mouth or something?!"

Corna: "I'll explain later! Just do it!"

Pitcher the Kid, not having enough time to come with any better ideas, rolled with her plan and pulled out a baseball. He tossed it in the air, whispered: "Eat this, you corrupted piece of- '' and hit it with his bat as hard as he could, sending it like a cannon blast and breaking two of its spiky rings. With its attention now fully directed toward him, it immediately started rolling with murderous intent. The Kid clenched his bat, prepared to swing, and did his own echoey commentary: "And now...now...now...! The MVP...P...P...! Denniiiiiiis... iis...iis... Monterooo...rooo...rooo...!" And hit the Corruption at point blank range at an upward angle, sending it straight to heaven and back and shattering the rest of its rings. Corna immediately flew up as it was falling and used her mind altering ability to calm it down, allowing it to transform back into a person. She caught the poor soul and laid him down on the sidewalk. Pitcher the Kid ran up to her and exclaimed: "Yo, that was sick! How did you do it?!"

Corna: "Well, I can control and read people's minds, that's my ability."

Dennis: "Nice, nice! What's your name?"

Corna: "Aunt Mary Corna the Second, no relation."

Dennis: "...Aunt?"

Corna: "That's my first name."

Dennis: "For real?"

Corna: "Yeah, but just call me Corna."

Dennis: "Epic."

Corna: "Look, kid-"

Dennis: "My name's Dennis Montero."

Corna: "Too bad, I decided to name you Pitcher the Kid."

Dennis: "Damn, without even asking?"

Corna: "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you for a favour but I got caught up with... Beating you up."

Dennis: "Sure, what's up?"

Corna: "I'm looking for a missing friend of mine and I want to expand my field."

Dennis: "Meaning?"

Corna: "I'll fill you in later, but I want you to help me out. It's not anything major. Just... When you catch wind of any clues, please tell me."

Dennis: "Alright, sounds like a fun way to kill time. Plus, I'd love to help a cutely-dressed girl like you."

Corna: "So, do we have a deal?"

Dennis: "Until you give me more details, sure, I'll play along. Now, for the sacred high-five of partnerships."

When the two of them exchanged a high-five, however, the aftermath of Nigel's eternal edge reached them and cut their right hands off.

Fourteenth Feather:

Plucked