[CE : 95%]
I was in the air, crossing my arms. Below me was a large forest known as Happy Valley Forest. Full of green trees and fresh air, it is a perfect place to camp during the summer. I haven't gone on the trail myself, only hearing murmurs from students at school. But it wasn't the time to enjoy nature, no.
This forest, or at least the top of it, would soon become a battleground. I only hope that I don't damage the area all too much; it does look like a wonderful place to camp. I returned to Emily's house early in the morning, sneaking in through a window and leaving a note on her bed. That was about a couple of hours ago. Now I stood, waiting for her to show up.
I shut my eyes, using my Mind's Eye to scan my surroundings again, and the results once more are that aside from me, the forest was empty, aside from the animals scurrying about. Which was good, seeing I didn't need to worry about others during my brawl. Gavin made a few phone calls, which resulted in the place being closed to the public for the time being.
Still, I felt extremely bad for the animals; without a doubt, their homes and even some of them will be destroyed in this fight. But, it was either that or city or a town.
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Maybe."
Gavin sighed. "That's not reassuring. This is a terrible plan. How do we know she'll accept your terms? And wouldn't be better to fight her at sea?"
I shake my head. "We don't. The only thing I could do is have faith in her."
I paused before wincing, its true another good place to fight was on top of the sea, where Emily didn't have much to use throw at me aside from the water, but in my haste to save her, I completely forgot its the perfect setting to fight her. I kind of want to punch myself for not thinking of it. Its too late now, Emily should be heading here any second, I mentally apologize to the critters below.
My SEE goggles started to beep. I opened my eyes to see that it had detected a fast-flying object coming at me. Speaking of the devil, I uncrossed my arms and let them relax to the side, though I was ready to use them when necessary. I stared in the direction of the 'Flying Object', though not too long after they came into view. I was surprised she wasn't wearing anything to conceal her identity.
Her face was out to the whole world to see. She slowed down just a few feet away from me and glared, blue eyes glowing intensely. I looked down at her clothes, how ironic that she would fight me in those same baggy clothes she wore when Emily and her dad tried to rob that woman weeks ago. We didn't say or do anything; we just sized each other up, waiting for any sudden movements. Emily was the first to break the silence.
"Enough with the silent treatment, how did you know?" Emily demanded her voice dripping with anger and malice.
I thought of my words carefully, mulling over in my head what I would say. It was funny, I spent yesterday and all night thinking of all I could say to her to calm down and stop the fight entirely. Now that I faced her, all the words dried up in my throat. Emily must have thought my silence was mocking her because she growled, clenching her fist, ready to slam at my face.
"ANSWER ME!"
Her shout snapped me from my thoughts. She was getting angrier by the second, and I still have no clue what to say. This may not be ideal, but I'm just going to wing it and hope for the best.
"Emily, I-" The words caught in my throat, which made me let out a frustrated sigh.
I tossed my hands in the air before dropping them, giving up my speech. One of the things Gavin upgraded my SEE goggles was now I could now telepathically open the visor, since I'm connected to it, it reads my brain and intention and now it allows me to reveal my face. Its function was so I could use my laser beams without frying my goggles. According to him, the red glow from my eyes when I fired my laser hid my face. I was hoping he would be right, though hiding my identity didn't matter right now. Emily's angered face was quickly replaced by shock and awe.
"Hey, Emi. It's me..."
She opened and closed several times. Like I was earlier, Emily was completely unable to get her words out of her mouth. Too stunned to say anything, I don't blame her. It didn't take too long for her face to return to anger; actually, she looks even more pissed now.
"You tricked me?" Her voice was dripping with malice.
I raised my hands in the air defenselessly. "N-no, it wasn't my intention to trick you. When we met in the library-"
"You were laughing, weren't you..."
"What?" I say, my face scrunching up in confusion.
"You're sick, did you seriously make friends with me after what you did to my Dad!?"
My eyes shot open. The worst part was that she was right, I knew about my actions, and yet I remained friends with her because for the first time, I had someone I could talk to who was about my age. Her eyes were full of fury. At the time, I could tell she was hurting too. The tears leaking gave me my answer.
"I'm sorry," I said.
Her eyes widened before closing them and tears flowed out even more. Then Emily's blue eyes shone like the sun.
"You'll pay."
I barely had time to guard when Emily darted forward, throwing a punch which connected to my wrist. And I felt it, it wasn't at the level of Atlas' powered-up state, but it definitely could contend with his base strength. I was pushed back. Emily tried to aim for my face, but I ducked and started to fly away from her.
"GET BACK HERE!!"
I clicked my tongue. I knew fighting her had a high chance of happening, but I was still hopeful, we could skip that part. No choice now, I can't afford to stand still like last time. I got to fight and even hurt her, I have to do it to stop her. Because I'm her friend.
The SEE goggles' lenses snap back shut, allowing me to see the HUD once more.
[CE : 94%]
"So much for the peaceful route," Gavin grumbled.
Emily roars as she chases me, thrusting her hand in my direction and almost instantly, I feel my weight become heavier, slowing me to the point of not being able to move. Emily pulls back her fist, intending to hit me, probably thinking I'm helpless, but I'm not; I wanted this to happen. Before Emily could thrust her fist at my face, I moved even with the telekinesis holding me in place. This spooks her and tries to stop, but it is too late, her momentum carrying her forward against her will. I pulled back my hand and formed a fist, and once she was close enough, I swung.
Just before it made contact, the invisible forcefield tried to stop me, unlike last time, I broke through it. Once I did, glowing structures which sort of look like glass appeared where my fist tore the barrier.
"Ghfu!?"
My fist landed in her abdomen and launched her backwards, making her tumble in the air for several seconds. I looked at my fist, which shook slightly. Hitting Emily felt wrong, not just because she was a friend. But as a girl, I was taught not to raise my hand against women, even if it was kind of sexist. But it wasn't just that either; it was the fact that I hurt someone who wasn't an evil scumbag like Atlas.
It just felt wrong. My eyes shifted to Emily, who had now recovered, and she was glaring at me as she nursed her abdomen. I took a deep breath. There is no time for hesitation; I have to fight. Emily clenches her fists and suddenly, multiple trees start to get pulled from the ground and into the air surrounding her. Emily darted forward, with the trees trailing behind her.
"Get ready!"
Emily shot 4 trees at me. My eyes grew hot, and my visor opened, allowing me to release crimson lasers from my eyes. The red lasers split the woods coming at me, with just a slight head turn, I vaporized or cut the trees before they could hit me. Though I had to drop down to avoid the ones I couldn't get. My visor slammed shut, and I kept moving as Emily spammed, launching trees in my direction.
"Stop moving!" Emily screamed.
"Are you kidding? The point of a fight is to win and not get hit!"
It didn't take long for her to run off to throw at me; instead, she chased me. Though unfortunately for her, I was faster than her, and I wasn't even using my full speed! I clench my right fist, feeling the warm sensation of the scarlet electricity covering my hand. In a single instant, I suddenly halted my movement, which caused Emily to stumble in the air. She tried to slow down, but it's too late. While charging at me, I pulled back my arm before I swung it. With my super strength powered up by my red lightning, my hand tore through her barrier like wet paper.
I made sure to lessen to hold back my punch the last second before it landed on Emily's chest. Once again, Emily flew out of control in the air for several seconds before regaining her footing. She took several deep breaths while nursing her chest.
"Give it up, you know you can't beat me!" I say.
Emily glared, intensified. It seems she's still itching to fight. My eyes trailed to my CE.
[CE : 78%]
I clicked my tongue. I lost that much power after barely two minutes? My power is suited for fights that are not drawn out. I have some food in my utility belt, but still, what if I can't beat her at that time? No, Red Justice, focus. We are obviously stronger than Emily; we need to keep pressuring her until she runs out of gas or is too hurt to fight.
Neither option was pleasant; I'd rather we talk things out. My gaze hardened when Emily lifted more trees in the air. I guess I have to beat it to her head that she can't beat me. Fine.
"Are you going to do it?" Gavin chimes in.
"Yeah..."
"Are you willing to hurt her though?"
I released an uneasy breath.
"No choice, I hope she forgives me after this."
I straightened up before shouting:
"Emily, I don't want to fight you, but I will if I have to! If you are so adamant about fighting me, hoping that you would find some way to win this."
Emily roared and charged at me with trees trailing behind her. Instead of throwing them like javelins, she was using them as bats to hit me. Though I nimbly dodged her attacks.
"Are you even listening to me!? WOAH!?"
Distracted by talking to her, I barely dodged a tree that was aimed at my head. I flew backwards, my eyes never leaving her as she chased me.
"Fine, have it your way. It's time to show you what I'm capable of. I'm sorry it had to be this way..."
"Shut up, you-!"
Emily didn't have a chance to finish her sentence in a blink, for her at least. My hand easily broke the barrier and grabbed her leg. I grabbed it tightly, earning me a yell from Emily, but it wasn't over. I spun her around in the air several times before I let go. Emily helplessly tumbled in the air, however managed to regain her footing, though that didn't last long as I was in front of her. Emily gasped and thrust both hands to do something, I would never know though, as before she could do anything meaningful, my fist was implanted on her gut.
She stood frozen for a second before she violently started coughing, moving away from me to gain some distance. Emily's face remained defiant, though. But I knew she was acting tough; despite the hardness of her expression, I could detect some fear in her eyes. My heart trembled being reminded of that day when I hurt her father, and the person I had saved gave me a look that chilled me. These moments remind me of that moment.
My stomach churned, and I wanted nothing more than to fly away to read. To ease up after everything. But it's too late to stop now. She knows my identity, and if I want to save her from going down this dark path, I have to do this. Even if I have to hurt her.
Emily yells, thrusting her hands in the air, trees and rocks start to float around me. There is no exit; all of my surroundings are covered. At this point, there was barely any light as the entire area surrounding me was a maelstrom of wood and rock. The only reason I could tell Emily was was there due to my Mind's Eye. With a primal roar, she slammed her palms against each other. Just then, the wood and other debris started coming at me.
But I wasn't worried. Not one bit.
Emily panted as she watched her crushing attack create a dirt explosion, sending chunks of wood and debris everywhere. It created a smoke which made her unable to tell what was going on. Her face was full of sweat and dirt, but looked ready to fight. She was most likely thinking, 'Did that hurt him?'
And the answer being...
"Did you get him?"
Emily sighs, shaking her head. "I'm not sure, he's tough-"
She cuts herself off, turning around to see me, with a smug smirk crossing my arms to make myself look cooler. She floats away slightly.
"How-but I-!?"
"What do you think? I dodged it." I dusted myself off with the tiny bit of dirt that remained in my costume.
"Then again, I doubt that attack would do anything aside from me making a trip to the laundry." I could see the fire in her eyes die out a little.
This made me drop my grin. "Are you ready to listen now? You know you can't beat me, might as well let me talk."
Emily didn't say anything, her face downcast. Her face was devoid of hope.
"First of all, I'm so sorry for what I did to your dad. I was playing around with my powers without thinking about what would happen if I used them on other people."
Emily remains quiet. I'm not even sure if she is even hearing me. Regardless, I continued on.
"And I know it was a mess to befriend you, knowing who you really are. I'm sorry, but I didn't have the strength to cut ties with you, because you're my first friend."
Emily looks to face me, her eyes watery. My lips quivered, and the visor opened to reveal my face.
"I didn't have any friends at school, everybody thinks I'm weird, and while I occasionally try, I don't usually make the effort to make friends. It frustrated me, but I think I was fine being alone. Then, when I first talked to you, you didn't think I was weird or anything, you talked to me like I was here and like I was normal."
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "Actually, I thought you were weird. But I guess we're both sort of different from normal people. Maybe that's why even if our time was short, I was glad to be friends with you..."
Then her eyes shot open. She floated back a little, looking at her hands with horror.
"Oh my god, and I just tried to kill you..." Tears leaked out of her eyes like a waterfall, she shut her eyelids closed and clenched her fist, making sobbing noises.
I slowly approached her, my hand moving to her shoulder to comfort her, before suddenly, I found myself being pulled into a tight hug from the Esper.
"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" She repeats over and over.
I was unable to say anything; my thoughts and feelings were a mess. The only thing I could do was rub her back as she sobbed on my shoulder. We stayed there, quiet except for the sound of her whimpers. It was a silent moment that neither of us didn't dared break. Though eventually the moment was interrupted by Gavin chiming in.
"Not to break the moment, but I'm detecting multiple choppers arriving in your area in about two minutes."
Huh, that was pretty quick. I would have thought the government would take at least a few hours before noticing our fight. Regardless, I've got to take her out of here before they see Emily's face. I gently pushed her off, staring into watery blue eyes.
"There's going to be party crashers coming real soon. Why don't we find a quieter place to talk?"
Emily nodded meekly. The fact that she was acting like a shy girl compared to the rageful, angry Esper from earlier is giving me whiplash. Still, this was good news for me, it's time we talked to each other, this time, though without our masks.
[CE : 55%]