Chapter Text
"Got anything else to say?" ████ asks the dying woman before she slits her throat, waiting with drops of rain that echo the ticking seconds . The silence stretches on and slowly she tilts her head to the side, a long hum vibrating in her throat. "C'mon, nothing? You're such a boring one."
The May night is dreary and damp as ████ squats over the twitching, half-dead woman. A small knife hovers over her throat, dripping crimson onto pale skin that rain washes away. Her roots extend from the hollows of her core, trailing out of a deep self-inflicted stomach wound and plunging deep inside of the woman's body. Her roots poke around the woman's innards, at organs and bones and when they twitch the woman's body jolts, blood spilling down her chin with a strangled gasp. ████ enjoys the sight.
"Alright," she drawls eventually, all to aware that the fun has to end at some point. "This was fun-"
A spear cuts the night in half. Cold metal slices open warm freckled skin as rain washes away the blood. That sharp edge cracks apart bricks as it digs in, the sound echoing across the heavens.
████’█ heart gives a great thump as she raises fingers up to run along the fresh cut, relishing in the feeling of the warm wound before she gazes down at the stained skin. Rain tainted with her blood streams down her fingers, washing crimson and a saccharine smell away. She watches as it drips down from her wrist to the asphalt below her, swirling into a puddle that reflects the buzzing lights.
████ is slow to turn her head, meeting the stark white eyes of a girl standing in the rain. She is wrapped up in a dusty blue color that attempts to hide dirty blonde hair. Her left arm is outstretched, her stance undeniably tense. ████ studies her expression in the dim light. The way her brows are drawn together, eyes narrowed, and lips pressed together into a thin line. Her gaze darts between ████ and the woman that lay on the ground.
She looks too in the corner of her eye, admiring her work. The woman lay in a gruesome state. Slumped against the alleyway wall, limbs twitching and contorting. Her head is thrown back in agony as she struggles not choke on her own blood, sweat beading down her forehead. Gnarled roots tear through her abdomen with two puncture wounds, exploring the insides of a human body. They wrap around bones and a liver, entwining around intestines. And slowly she squeezes, cracking bones and draining the functions out of those organs.
"Hello there?" ████ is ultimately the first to speak. She raises her bloody free hand to wave at the girl, holding her knife behind her back before she adds, "I like your spear, you kinda missed though."
She's not graced with a response. The girl clenches her fist and brings her arm down, the rain slowing with the fluid motion. Steady rainfall slows to a soft patter and ████ casts her gaze up. The clouds are still thick and grey, blocking out stars and the Earths moon. Sounds of much heavier rain are just a bit distant and ████ smiles. A power?
Her gaze is dragged down to the sound of heavy boots approaching and she gives a small laugh. Those who fight with powers are typically hero's—unless they're wannabes of course. She's only been doing this for a short amount of time, a little under a month since she was chased away from home. She's never met a hero before, someone who will fight back and give her a challenge.
Her roots squirm in the assumed hero's direction and the dying woman gives a scream. ████ stops, eyes darting back down. She'll have to take her roots out to fight, most likely killing her in the-
The crack of an elbow against her jaw sends her train of thought to a screeching halt. She stumbles backwards from the impact, colliding into the wall at her back. The hit echoes around her skull in something that's not quite pain and she's quick to right herself as the hero grabs her spear out of the wall.
The hero's eyes land on hers as she spins around with her spear in hand, holding it above her head. Her white eyes dart around and ████ takes a step back in preparation, expecting a swing, an attempt at a killing blow. But the hero's eyes train down not on her body but her roots. She doesn't the wiggle room to dodge, the reaction time to pull out of the woman in time before the hero raises her spear and brings it down.
There is sharp sting as she feels the loss like nerves dying and decaying plant matter finally taking its last breath. She stumbles back on bloody feet, what's left of those roots slipping across the ground and squirming back into her stomach.
She raises her gaze to the end of a spear being lifted to her chest, one jab forward and the hero could gut her. ████ smiles at the thought, fingers curling into her stomach. Nails pick apart flayed flesh and blood coats her fingers in a layer of slippery warmth.
"That doesn't look good," The hero's voice is a soft observation, falling over her like a gentle mist.
████ gives a small hum, pulling her blood coated fingers out of the wound, inspecting them, "I don't think you need to worry about that."
She rushes forward before the hero can reply, planting a foot against the asphalt and propelling herself forward. The hero gives a small yelp but rises to the occasion, swinging her spear around. The staff strikes ████ across her face as the hero extends an armored boot to kick her in the side.
████’█ shoulder crashes into the wall as roots spool back out from her stomach. Her appendages glide around the hero, slithering across the ground until they curl around the woman's ankle and she lets out a cry of alarm, grabbing the hero's attention.
Blood smears across the ground as she's dragged and with a powerful motion thrown across the alleyway, rolling and colliding with a trashcan. There's less blood then there should be, she notes. Part of her root mass has remained inside of her, clogging those wounds she made, preventing her from bleeding out.
The hero curses under her breath, turning her back on ████ as she makes to rush towards the woman. ████’█ smile lowers into a curious frown as her roots uncurl from the woman's ankle, leaving the start of a bruise in her wake.
Her roots bunch up inside of her as she pulls back, gnarled roots striking hard against the hero's stomach. It makes her laughably trip, falling down onto her hands and knees. She rolls as she falls in a fluid motion, spinning herself around on the ground and barely turning her head towards ████ as she tosses her spear.
The blade lands right before her feet, and after it lightning. The bolt is bright and hot, burning black spots into her vision and searing arms thrown up to protect her face. Her flowers curls in fast to protect herself, leaves acting as a delicate shield.
She feels her heart thundering against her ribcage and she wills it to slow, the thumps reverberating through her roots making her head spin. The steady downpour turns into a storm as ████ lowers her shaking hands, chest rising and falling quick succession, one short breath after the other.
Fear is slow to turn into excitement, thrill making her roots squirm underneath her skin, in between her bones. She lets out shrieks of laughter that echo down the alley as she pulls her roots back to her. They snake up by her side like tendrils, dripping blood and rainwater onto the concrete, and her eyes dart around for the hero.
The blonde girl sits at the woman side, hand on her shoulder as she comforts her through tears. ████ lets roots go lax around her spine, head falling to the side. Is this how all hero's are when they fight? Ignoring their opponents to tend to the poor, wounded humans. She much prefers it when the police shoot at her, she enjoys the dance of dodging those tiny projectiles, the thrill of being struck and having to carefully find and shed the bullet after.
"Stop worrying about her!" She calls through the rain as her roots stretch out to strike again, "You're meant to be fighting me, aren't you?"
The hero narrowly avoids the attack with the warning of her shout, rolling out of the way as her roots crash into bricks. She hoists herself up to her feet, a challenge burning in her eyes, "Then why don't you try actually hitting me and stop torturing her?"
The jab sends a shock of excitement through ████ and she finds herself nodding. The moment that follows is silent, ████ staring deep into white eyes as the hero stares deeply into her singular one. And then the two are advancing.
████’█ roots curl towards the hero as the two propel forward. ████ skids a stop, roots plunging down on the area the hero once was as she keeps going, skidding to a stop at the other end of the wall. She yanks her spear out of the ground and in the brief moment her back is turned ████ changes the direction of her roots.
Her packed together appendages split apart. One smashes into the wall by the hero's head, doubling back to curl around her neck, tightening slowly. The other pierces her through the shoulder in a splash of blood and a scream let out through clenched teeth. She uses the leverage of both roots to jerk the hero to the side, slamming her into the wall.
"There!" She chirps, walking forward one slow step at a time, "Was that good?"
The hero's face twists before she spits a glob of blood onto the concrete, red washed away by rain as she aims a glare up at her. A smile spreads slowly across her face before she chokes out a, "Yeah."
The single word is chilling, the look exciting and ████ is already flinching back when her roots are grabbed by the hero's free hand. The girl takes the roots around her neck and gives a hard tug. The root goes taunt as she feels the bones in her spine grind together, organs squeezes as her roots tighten and pull. She stumbles and slips on her feet and for a moment she tries to pull back. But the hero has already cut through her roots, the silver blade a painful pinch.
She blinks, falling forward towards the rapidly approaching ground when the roots in the hero's shoulder twitch and tightens around her arm. She pulls the girl down to, slamming her against the cold asphalt and in a moment the hero is upon her.
In the moment weapons and roots are forgotten. They roll on the ground, punching and kicking and clawing at one another as if two feral creatures. ████ kicks the girl in the stomach as thunder lights up the sky, shaking the heavens as she's punched hard across the face.
████’█ head hits the asphalt with a crack and in a moment of her dazed confusion the hero is able to grab her staff. The wooden handle is pushed down against her neck, squeezing the air from her lungs. She takes as much air as she can as she stares up at the hero.
She observes the exhausted look on her face, sweat dripping off of her brow. Decapitated roots mass lay loose around her shoulders, sliding off with each heaving breath. That blood that soaks into her shoulder is pretty, tiny white petals and bits of alien foliage sticking to fabric.
When ████ lets out a wheezing laugh the hero's face twists. And she can tell she doesn't notice the roots snaking up her thigh. She curls the root around the hero's hips in a swift motion, turning her body as she throws the hero off.
████ coughs and splutters as she refuses to let herself stay still. Bare feet scrape against asphalt as she pulls herself up just in time for a spear to come her way.
Her back slams against the bricks as she dodges the first strike, silver cutting through rain as the weapon is then diverted. She twirls the weapon in a wide arch, light from street lamps glinting off of the metal as it cuts towards her.
████’█ form goes still against the wall as she watches a singular white bloom fall gracefully from her face. The flower is swept up in the harsh winds and rain, landing in a puddle of blood swirled into water.
████’█ scream is a guttural and raw sound that bounces off of the walls and rings in her head. The pain that sparks in her head is sharp like knives and scalpels digging past her muscles, tearing into her veins and organs. It is unlike anything she has ever felt before, a pain deep in the very core of her being. It dredges up old scars, claws open her chest. She feels the aching wound of her stomach, the feeling of smashing her back against the bricks, and digging her nails into her cheeks.
Warm flesh wraps around her wrist, roots underneath shrinking away, squirming horribly and she feels the hands hold stutter in discomfort.
"Hey," The hero's voice is soft in comparison to the throbbing pain, the way she holds her wrist careful, "It's ok, you're alright." Her voice is uncertain but steady, nearly grounding.
████ views the hero through blurry vision as she pulls in labored breaths, each one through shaking roots. The motion of expanding her lungs hurt and she lets out a sob as they deflate. She peels her eyes away from the hero, blinking away salty water as she searches for herself. The white bloom is stuck in a pile of wet garbage, the edges curling in with death.
That's her.
The hero lets her hand go and she brings it back to her remaining flower. She curls away from the human touch, leaves protecting herself. She has had many people touch her flowers before, gentle touches of inspection as some try to pull and rip her away. No one has ever truly cut her off though, severed those precious parts of herself from her roots.
A hand burns her waist and she sucks in a sharp breath. The hero curses under her breath but keeps the hand there, using it to urge her up out of a half-sitting position on the wall.
"You're ok," the hero's voice is sharp in her mind, and when she looks back her eyes hold a gentleness to them.
She pulls her hand slowly away from her flower before balling her fists and swinging in a wide arch. A fist connects with a nose and there's a crack under her fingers, traces of blood.
████ scrambles away from the falling form, the ground slippery under her feet and the world tilting with each hurried breath. Her heart thunders in her chest like the storm clouds above.
"Hold on!" The hero shouts but she doesn't.
And for the first time in her life, ████ runs from a fight.