Acida continued speaking with a wide, slasher smile on her face. “...I’ll never agree to the terms of some pathetic waste of filth. Friends, family, love--those are links that can and will be used against you by those who’ve cast away everything. I have no one to love, and refuse to love anyone else. That’s what makes you weak.”
“N-no…” Keiji muttered with what little breath he had left, “You’re…you’re wrong…”
“You got stronger because of yourself and your own abilities,” she went on, bending over to look him in the eye, “All of these friends and family you’ve gained have done nothing but make life worse for you and invite people like me to rip it away. If only you had stayed on your lonesome, none of this would be happening.”
Keiji scrunched his face up, gritting his teeth as he held back tears. At this point, it was harder to tell if he was experiencing more pain from the stab in his abdomen, or her words themselves.
“You…complete moron…I’m stronger because of--”
SLAP!
She drew her hand back, and slapped him across the face hard enough to make his head turn almost completely to the left. “I’ve heard enough out of you! It’s time you see what all these friends and family get you!”
But before she could act any further--
“HYAH!”
BLAM!
Rumble had rushed up towards her, and delivered an upward kick to her chin from below--so hard that small splatters of blood flew out of her mouth. “And I’ve had enough of your bullshit, lady!”
Acida landed a few feet away with a thud!, collapsed onto her back. “Dghh! How…dare you…”
Rumble then unhooked Keiji from the pincer that had risen from the ground to impale him. “...How you feelin’ bro?”
Keiji clutched the side of his body, and seethed as he grit his teeth. “...I’m okay--I’m alright. But she…she needs to go. I don’t care anymore--she needs to die.” He hissed as he pulled out his sword once more.
“...” There was a pause from Rumble who shut his eyes and folded his arms. He truly thought that his friend would be able to get through to this woman, but now that she had taken advantage of his kindness and proven that she was willing to continue killing innocent people…there was no other choice.
“Alright, Keij. I’m with you,” Rumble soon replied as he readied himself into his fighting stance, bouncing on his heels, “Let’s waste her ass.”
By then, Acida had finally stood up, recovering from the blow she was dealt moments prior. “...You insignificant ingrates…so over-reliant on each oth--!”
Before she could finish that sentence, Rumble attacked her with another kick, this time, flipping her over his body and into the air so that Keiji could follow up with another attack.
“...I tried to give you a chance…never again.” Without hesitation, he raised his blood-red katana above his head, and performed a quick series of slashes that were impossible to perceive to the human eye. All one could see were a series of red, electrical lines that flew through the air along Acida’s body.
And once gravity had taken control of her body and pulled her back down to earth, Rumble would perform a quick roundhouse kick to her midsection to send her flying into a nearby wall.
CRASH!
The woman landed, and the effects of Keiji’s sword soon took over. The cuts along her body started to produce red light that caused her body to shake violently. “...You cretins…will fall to your emotions…” And with that, she evaporated into a fine, red mist--completely destroyed and removed from the world entirely.
“Gah…argh…dammit…” Keiji collapsed to the ground while clutching his chest. The pain from all of the injuries he suffered through that fight had finally caught up to him. “...Why…why couldn’t she just…accept my compassion…?”
Rumble collapsed a few moments later, rubbing each of his legs due to the soreness inflicted on his body from that battle as well. “No idea…guess she just didn’t wanna be saved, bud. Agh…that was the first time I fought a real opponent in the streets…my legs are killing me.”
Keiji had fallen silent as he ran his hand through his hair--quietly crying to himself with tears running down his cheeks. “Why…why couldn’t I save them? I failed…”
“...” Nearby, Rumble’s eyes darted back and forth once he saw his friend crying. For a moment, he was stuck in silence as well, until finally… “...Keiji? I’m here for you, dawg. Don’t worry.” He reached his hand out, nearly pulled back, but continued until he could put an arm around Keiji’s shoulder. “We did what we could. She can’t hurt anyone anymore.”
To which the vampboy responded with a sigh as he wiped his face with his shirt. “...Thanks, Rumble. I just…wish we could’ve fixed everything…but I guess that’s not how it goes sometimes.”
“Can’t save everyone,” Rumble replied, “That’s what Thunderlane tells me. And I’m starting to think I understand what he means.”
Moments later, Wallflower emerged from behind the parked cars. Her face was awash in relief once the battle was over, but as soon as she laid eyes on the boys, her face dropped as guilt took over. “...If only I wasn’t so weak…” She ran over and approached them to check on their condition. “...Are you guys alright?”
“Been through worse,” Rumble commented, “Gonna be feeling this one for days.”
Keiji blinked his eyes twice--but he remained silent.
“...I wish I wasn’t such a scaredy-cat,” Wallflower lamented as she put a hand on Rumble’s shoulder, “I hope you can forgive me.”
“This is some crazy crap,” he replied, “Don’t worry about--” But just then, he paused, and realized that he could begin to feel his legs again. The strain had been lifted off of them! “...Woah. I feel better already.”
Wallflower looked at her hand and realized that it had been glowing a distinct gold color. “...Wait a minute--is this…magic?”
“Sweet,” Rumble said as he stood up and stretched his legs out, “Looks like you’re a Healer. We could use some more of those.” From the corner of his eye, he noticed Keiji and requested, “Oh! Use it on Keiji. It should help him out too.”
“...If it’s not too much trouble,” the vampboy muttered under his breath.
“It’s perfectly fine--here…” Wallflower did the same to him, placing a hand on Keiji’s shoulder next.
And soon enough, his wounds were closing up. While the pain would need time to subside, he could at least walk again. “Yeah…that’s good. Thanks, Wall.”
“No problem,” she said with a relieved smile, “I’m just happy to be able to contribute something--”
BZZZZ!
Wallflower took out her phone to see that she had received a text. “...It’s from Micro Chips. He says we should head back to the school immediately.”