CHAPTER 30
Pike and Mindie face off against a fallen Star
Two silhouette-like effigies sprang from the swirling, shadowy visage. Each vaguely resembled its originator and hurtled towards her stunned nephew. But before they could reach their mark, something that glowed in the shape of a hockey stick whacked each of them away. True to form, Mindie didn’t hesitate for even a moment in the face of chaos. She brandished her instrument and held it ready to take another swing, leering at her chaos-influenced professor.
Behind the shadowy veil of chaotic energy, Sheila’s purple eyes flashed. Her voice carried the familiar, grating undertone apparent in all Shades.
“Do you truly believe you can stand against me with such meager luminescence?”
“You just tried to rail on your own nephew. You think I’m gonna let that slide?”
“Ohhh, you’re so gutsy. Just like your mom a long time ago.” The two clones floated by each of her sides, facing Mindie and waiting for Sheila’s command. “I’m sure you’ll be a fine Superstar one day… if you survive.”
The clones threw themselves at Mindie once more. Leaving her companion to gape helplessly, she rushed forward and met them head on. As the clones engaged her in close-quarters combat, she stayed on the defensive, swinging and spinning her hockey stick like a warrior and her quarterstaff. Her mother had trained her well; these martial movements were second nature to her. Even so, Mindie knew she couldn’t be reckless against a Shade that was a former Superstar.
But the Shade clones’ movements were surprisingly sluggish and predictable. It was as if she were facing any other that she encountered around campus. Neither even scored a hit anywhere as she continued to block them and smack them when she saw an opening.
This confrontation was done far more quickly than she anticipated. With two slapshot-worthy swings, the clones burst into harmless wisps of chaotic energy. Mindie smirked to herself. If these clones’ abilities reflected her professor’s own, she had much more of an upper hand than she initially thought—
Sheila didn’t give her a chance to relish in that brief bout of overconfidence. As soon as her clones were disposed of, the former Superstar herself was suddenly right in front of her. And a split second later, a sharp knife-hand jab shattered her student’s glowing hockey stick.
Catching Mindie off-balance, she began to unload much faster, much more powerful blows. Each strike found a direct opening as Mindie faltered and struggled to adapt to the abrupt change in combat tempo.
“I suppose you thought I’d be slower than this!”
Sheila gave no room for the plucky young Star to recover. Such a relentless assault visibly chafed at her yellow aura. It was sure to break with just a few more blows. A kick to Mindie’s gut sent her backpedaling uncontrollably until she fell over backwards. She leaped towards her for the final strike.
But as she came down to drill her foot into her student, Sheila found herself ricocheting off a glowing sheet that appeared between them. She spiraled gracefully back into the air and landed without much fuss, her gaze turning sharply to the culprit.
It seemed her nephew had finally come back to his wits, pointing a pencil-shaped instrument at her like some magic wand.
“Are you getting in my way now too?”
Pike grimaced. His arm trembled at the thought of squaring off against his aunt. But it wasn’t her strength and skill that had him rattled.
“When we started this, you believed that a Shade could be returned to normal! I don’t want to fight you if we can reverse you!”
“Ohhh? But I think I rather like what I’ve become. So much so that I’ve decided you should join me.”
The swarming aura around Sheila sprouted a handful of effigies in her likeness. They hovered and loomed over him menacingly.
“Now, give in to the chaos…”
They all hurled themselves towards him. Pike waved his pencil frantically, stringing out a mess of curves and lines that raced around him and Mindie. In the space of an instant, a glowing web formed over them, which then melted into a dome-like barrier. The clones bashed themselves against the obstacle, trying to find any weak point to take advantage of. Although there was none to be found, each collision still gradually whittled away at its radiance.
Pike clenched his teeth, feeling their impact like a mental migraine. “I can’t keep this up. We have to get out of here somehow.”
Reorienting herself to the situation, Mindie rose to her feet and stood beside him. Her own aura flickered, but it wasn’t ready to go out quite yet. “I think I’ve still got a bit more lumi to spend.”
“Good. I think I have a plan. Think you can take a leaf from your sister’s book?”
She looked at him curiously as he quickly explained the plan.
=-=-=
Outside her dissenters’ temporary sanctuary, Sheila watched as her squad of clones continued to punch, kick, and throw themselves at the barrier. Like a bubble exposed to the air for too long, its layer was so thin that its glow barely radiated.
There was nothing left in her mind but the scenes that gave rise to her chaos. The fading memory of Soren’s bright, smiling face. The incessant memory of his slow descent into the lowest depths of depression, eating at his sanity. Books and papers of research that amounted to nothing for so long. The look in Chiaki’s eyes after all these years as if nothing had happened. All her resentment fueled her to achieve what she had been longing for.
But she still needed more—every last bit of emotional energy that she could get her hands on.
She didn’t care anymore that Chiaki’s daughter, or even her own nephew, was in her way. In only a few more moments, her clones would break through and suffocate them both. They would join in her despair. When she finally retrieved Soren, he would be even stronger for all the chaos she had to offer him.
The barrier finally disappeared.
Suddenly, a streak of yellow light shot out from the shadowy clones’ clutches and zipped through the air. While they had to dodge and weave around the swarming, shadowy effigies, Pike and Mindie held on tight to each other. They burned as much luminescent energy as they could muster to power their explosive speed, keeping their eyes on the goal—the exit.
It was a desperate, last resort move. When they cleared the swarm, and nothing left stood between them and their escape route, Pike felt the knots of anxiety start to gingerly unravel within his chest.
“Almost there…!”
But just before they reached the door, an abrupt gust of chaos blew them off their course. Even trying to weave around to get back on track was futile as waves of shadows washed over them and sent them crashing against the wall. Pike and Mindie fell pathetically to the floor, both their states broken.
The chaotic wind receded, retracting back into the aura that surrounded Sheila. She stalked towards them.
“Let’s not be so hasty. I still need both of you, after all.”
The two budding luminescents groaned as they sat up. As his gaze fixed itself on the Shade of his deranged aunt, Pike lost all will to move. He watched with wide, hopeless eyes as she approached them like a menacing black hole. Mindie, defiant to the last, threw her arms around Pike’s head and covered his face, glowering at her former professor.
This was the only defense they had left. No words would sway this dark effigy. She wanted their energy. She wanted their souls. And cornered at the top of High Tower, they were ripe for the picking.
Sheila’s army of chaotic clones bore down on them.
Just then, the door swung open—and from the entrance rushed an assault of glowing swords that darted through each shadowy effigy. The clones burst into harmless chaotic wisps, and Sheila reflexively leaped back to avoid being jabbed as well. She leered towards the defiant perpetrator.
“Consorting with chaos and picking on smaller fry? I expected more from a former Superstar—especially if she’s a good friend of mine.”
The barrage of glowing swords darted and swirled around their wielder, emphasizing the bright aura surrounding her. Putting herself between the helpless students and the Shade they were no match for, eyes flaring with a furious purple glow, Chiaki boldly strode forward.
