"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always."
~ Mahatma Gandhi
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The solitary strand of lightning raced towards Evil. Time seemed to slow down as Goodness watched Evil's eyes widen, realising that death was streaking towards him.
Goodness pictured how the next few seconds would unfold. The lightning would come down on him and it would pierce through his heart. It wouldn't even hurt. It would almost feel like the prick of a needle.
His body would hum with electricity for a second, energized atoms vibrating with energy. And then he would completely shut down. His heart would stop, his muscles would go limp. His brain would take slightly longer to lose the life in it but it would, one way or another.
But, at the end, it wouldn't be Evil who would wind up dead. It would be Markus.
Goodness felt a despair rise inside of her when she saw the undeniable future that would become the present in mere moments. She wasn't sure if Blue's own feelings towards her father were influencing Goodness's rational thinking process. Whatever the case, Goodness knew she couldn't let it happen.
She told herself that if Markus were to die, Evil would just inhabit another body which would only create a new set of problems and prolong the inevitable.
Thus, with that thought in mind, Goodness took a deep breath and slapped her hands towards a different direction. Unbelievably, just before the lightning could collide with Evil's body, it completely, drastically changed its course. For a second, there was only a pin drop quiet as Goodness and Evil stared at each other, both their eyes mirroring the same shocked expression, the air around them charged and tensed.
Until, Evil cracked a crooked smile. If Goodness was expecting gratefulness, she did not find it. If she was hoping for a sign of something, anything, other than that loathsome expression he wore every time he looked at her, she was disappointed.
Evil only said the words she dreaded to hear, "And that, my dear nemesis, was your first big mistake."
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Goodness was powerful by nature. But even she did have a few limits. After teleporting haphazardly, wielding lightning bolts, she was, admittedly, a little drained. In addition to that, she had given away some of her powers to Miracle not a few hours ago.
So, she could only cry out in surprise as Evil lunged at her, teleporting away from the desert of ice.When she peeked open one of her eyes, she was both relieved and worried to find herself in the backyard of Blue's house again.
"Since I'm feeling particularly poetic today, let's finish this where it started, yes?" Evil said.
Goodness crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring the slight light-headedness that came with even moving. She took confidence on the fact that Evil looked exhausted too, although he tried to hide it behind a mask of arrogance and conceit.
"Actually, I am pretty sure this isn't where it started," Goodness said, gesturing at the normal, insipid neighbourhood all about them. "If you meant historically, I'm afraid our battle is so ancient that it would be nearly impossible to trace down its place of origin. But if you were talking about this particular decade, well, you're still wrong. It probably started in the midst of nowhere, when you were floating around like a piece of garbage in the sea."
Evil hid his anger well. "What a long speech. I stopped paying attention halfway through. Here's a piece of advice: if you want to make a point, keep it short. Take my word for it, really."
"Being pithy won't really help your case, Evil," Goodness retorted, her face turning red with rage as well. "Are we going to keep throwing verbal insults? I had assumed you wanted to prove your worth by defeating me in a duel. And, so far, we had only been running around like children."
Abruptly, as both Goodness and Evil readied themselves for another round of combat, the back door of the Jennings household swung open. Rita–who had been tending to Miracle after both her husband and her daughter had disappeared in a whirl of smoke and gold powder–rushed out into the porch when she heard their raised voices puncture the quite of the night.
"Blue!" Rita shouted, looking both frightened and relieved by seeing her daughter.
"Ah," Evil exclaimed, his eyes glinting. "Now the little family is complete. The next thing you know, Goodness, we'll be trying to mend our age old differences over a nice cup of Darjeeling tea."
"Joke time is over, Evil. I'm defeating you once and for all," Goodness said, tired of his wit. Plus, it was she who was supposed to be sassy. Since when had his tongue developed a penchant for retorting back insults? He was the one with a tendency to resort to violence while she riled him with her words.
"And you will have help," another voice added. Evil groaned as Miracle appeared behind Rita, very much alive and moving, although he was clutching his head weakly. He was followed by two more figures this time. Sherry and Warren.
"And we've brought a gift for you too, Evil," Sherry said, sneering. She gave a nod to Miracle, who, with his new powers gifted to him by Goodness, flicked his fingers and, abruptly, a rift tore through the air, splitting apart the sky as if it were a gateway to another dimension altogether. Something tumbled out of the fissure.
A sarcophagus.
Actually, the sarcophagus. You know, the magical one used to trap beings like Evil.
"Why, thank you, Miracle, Bad Luck and Wrath. You just made this ten times easier for me," Goodness said, beaming.
Evil snarled. "You will not defeat me! If I go down, I'm taking you down as well!"
Screaming a war cry from the bygone ages, Evil charged at Goodness. Goodness ran towards him too. Sweeping her hands below her as if giving herself a boost, she filliped through the air, rising above Evil.
The group of four, witnessing the unfolding of the spectacle before them from the safety of the porch, gasped, marveling at the extraordinary and cruel beauty of war.
Miracle watched with an open mouth and wide eyes, his gaze rapt and unwavering, at the way Goodness, despite having a child's body, rose up in the sky, descending towards Evil, her form flickering with untamed power. The heavens seemed to reflect down on her, enraptured by the terrible, incredible splendor of this girl.
Evil, his hands bearing his most destructive of powers–those dark, scorching flames that could tear through your flesh and eat away your soul–looked above at the charging entity whose hands were bare except for that golden glow enveloping her.
The moon formed a mystical halo over Goodness's head and Miracle could almost imagine wings sprouting from her back, carrying her, supporting her. She seemed like a war angel about to dispense divine justice.
And, then, Miracle blinked and several things happened at once.
Goodness bore down on Evil, her hands out, a vengeful scream ripping out of her throat as she barely dodged the relentless volley of Evil's black flames. As soon as her skin made contact with his forehead, something ethereal and otherworldly happened.
Gasps rang out from Miracle and the others as a dark cloud of blackness, like glittering ash, ripped out of Markus, shedding from his body as if it were burning. It eerily felt like watching a soul depart from its mortal body and ready itself for a journey to the beyond.
Miracle would have watched it all silently, captivated and spellbound, if it wasn't for Goodness.
"Miracle, open the sarcophagus! Now!" she screamed urgently, as she landed on the ground on her knees, somersaulting to a stop.
Miracle wasted no time. He didn't bother rushing over to the sarcophagus. He was also aware of the fact that opening the lid of the sarcophagus would require a hellish amount of powers. But they had it all planned. Grasping the hands of Sherry and Warren, Miracle used their combined powers to channel it towards the sarcophagus.
The lid almost exploded. Almost.
As the cover rolled open–the inside of it bizarrely looking like a chunk of the void of chaos–it seemed to suck the black ash towards it, as if it were a blackhole. Goodness gasped when the power of the sarcophagus started to draw at her essence too.
A golden shimmer started to seep out of Blue's body, moving towards the sarcophagus like the swirling rays of the sun.
Warren gasped. "What i-is happening?!"
"Close the lid, you idiots!" Goodness snapped but her voice was weak, her eyes rolling in her head.
"I'm trying!" Miracle said, a vein pulsing on his forehead, his heart catapulting in his chest.
Finally, with a resounding, ultimate clang, the lid rose upwards and snapped into place, shutting off the sarcophagus. Maybe Miracle imagined it but he thought he heard a familiar faint voice scream, "No!"
A silence stretched around them for a long, long while until finally Miracle whispered in disbelief, "We did it. We defeated Evil."