By Jareth
Chapter thirty-four: Zoniha, the purifying light
Winifred stared, horrified, at the goddess in question. “She can’t be Zoniha, she just can’t be!” Her heart was beating so fast, that any normal person have already suffered a massive heart attack.
Foxglove looked at Winifred, a calm expression settling on her face. Slowly, she began to walk towards her.
Winifred said nothing; she was too afraid to move.
Foxglove stopping walking, ten feet away, and began staring at Winifred; not angrily, but in the way an adult looks at a misbehaved small child.
“Wait, why am I afraid?!” Winifred thought suddenly to herself. I’m not a fifty zeno witch anymore, I’m fifty trillion! I can handle her, even if she actually is Zoniha!” An evil grin began to form on her face. “Let’s see how you like being a mold spore. Aokabi gahou henka!” She shouted, flinging her hands out.
The two stood absolutely still for about twenty seconds, before Winifred finally realized that nothing was happening.
Foxglove began to move towards Winifred again.
Winifred began to panic, yelling the spell over and over, as Foxglove grew closer and closer. “Aokabi gahou henka! Aokabi gahou henka! Aokabi gahou henka!” It didn’t seem to be working.
Foxglove stopped, now only two feet away from the panic stricken sorceress. Quickly, she lifted her scepter, twirled it around, and without so much as a grunt of force, drove it into Winifred’s chest… Or attempted to. Winifred had become vapor again, and slowly drifted away, flashing an evil grin before the smoke had completely dissipated.
Foxglove stood alone, a breeze blowing through her fur. She stared up at the sun for a moment, sighing, as if she were waiting for something. Suddenly, without warning, Foxglove Whirled around and threw a punch, landing it right in Winifred’s face; sending her flying backwards and skidding to a halt.
“Aaaargh!” Winifred yelled, grabbing her nose. “My nose, it’s bleeding, and my beautiful face!” She flashed a glare at Foxglove, who was grinning nicely at her. Winifred didn’t understand. Why wasn’t she able to foresee Foxglove’s attack? “HOW DARE YOU!” she bellowed, aiming a hand at Foxglove. “Take this!” With that, an enormous ball of energy red exploded from her hand, and went sailing towards Foxglove.
However, using her scepter, Foxglove effortlessly knocked the ball away, her smile not even flickering for a moment as the ball sailed off into the sky, and exploded in a brilliant flash of scarlet.
Winifred gasped. “Sh-sh-she… knocked it away…”
Foxglove began to slowly approach her again.
“No…” Winifred whimpered “No… You think you can defeat me?!” Winifred spat angrily.
Foxglove said nothing. Unfortunately, her silence only further fueled Winifred’s rage and frustration.
“*Grrr…” Winifred growled, a red glow surrounding her form. “I’LL ANNIHILATE YOU! *HA!” With that, she kicked off, launching herself at Foxglove, and as soon as she was within reach, began to unleash a blur of punches and kicks.
However, none of them were hitting. Twirling her scepter in a blur, Foxglove was managing to effortlessly block every single strike.
“And here’s the kill!” Winifred shouted, extending her hands, closing her eyes, and preparing to fire. Suddenly, milliseconds before firing her final blow, she felt something grab her hands. Winifred opened her eyes and looked at them, only to see that Foxglove now had a tight hold on both of them.
“You’ve hurt enough people for today.” She said calmly. With incredible force, Foxglove brought her knee into Winifred’s stomach, causing her to fly backwards.
“*YA!” Winifred yelled, magically stopping herself. She looked around for Foxglove; she had disappeared. “That’s odd” She said, a tone of worry in her voice, where did she gO— ” Winifred was stopped in mid sentence, as a foot struck her hard in the back, sending her flying forwards.
Foxglove then appeared in front of her, kicking her into the air. “Aah!” Winifred yelled, as Foxglove appeared above her, hammer slamming her downwards with such force, that upon landing, the platform became so shatter marked, it had practically turned gray.
“Aaaaaaaargh!” Winifred yelled writhing in pain on the ground. She attempted to stand, but was unable to summon the strength. “This isn’t possible,” She groaned “how- *cough how could she have caused me this much damage in only three hits?! It’s inconceiva—” It was now, that Winifred noticed Foxglove standing over her. “—ble” She finished.
Foxglove slowly lifted her scepter positioned it over Winifred’s face. The inside of the bell began to glow a faint blue, slowly growing brighter.
“No.” Winifred whispered. “NO! Please! Don’t… Don’t kill me!”
Suddenly, Foxglove’s expression changed. It became filled with rage. “WHAT?!” She screamed.
“Please,” Winifred screamed, terror filling her voice “I know I’ve done some terrible things, but please, let me live! I don’t want to die!”
“Demon!” Foxglove yelled, exploding with anger; the inside of her scpter slowly growing brighter, “How many innocent people died at your hands, begging just like you are now?!”
“PLEASE FOXGLOVE!” Winifred screamed, tears in her eyes “I BEG OF YOU!”
Foxgloves expression grew even more enraged. The scepter had finished charging, but instead of firing, the blue glow faded away, the inside of the scepter becoming dark. “Leave.” She said calmly, her expression settling back down.
“W-what?” Winifred groaned.
“Leave,” Foxglove repeated, moving the scepter away from Winifred’s face “Leave this place and start a new life someplace else.” Foxglove bent down and positioned her hands over Winifred’s breasts. A brief, blue glow emitted from them. “There.” Foxglove said, “I gave you some of my energy; you have the strength to escape now.
Winifred stared at Foxglove, bewildered.
“Don’t ever hurt anyone ever again.” Foxglove said, turning her back to the bewildered Winifred. “Not even you deserve to die, and killing you would make me no better than you are.” Foxglove approached the wrecked Human Hunter 8000. Gracefully, she bent down a reached under it. A brief hum and a blue glow emitted from beneath. “I fixed Norman’s legs,” She said, standing back up “and now I’m going to help my friends.” She began to walk towards the stairwell “Don’t ever let me see your face, ever again.”
“F… Foxglove”
“So basically, in order to be able to leave this room without dieing, Monty
has to beat him.” Chip finished.
Tammy stared at him, then at the fight. Monty was being smacked around and bitten, every which way. “Wow.” She said, sitting down. “This is all so sudden. I…” She looked up at Chip, tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry!” She sobbed, squeezing Chip so tightly, his face became red. “I never would have hurt you on my own free will, never!”
“*Oooh!” Chip groaned in pain.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Tammy said, quickly releasing Chip. “I forgot about the wounds.”
“Really,” He assured her. “It’s okay.”
“But what about Monty?” She asked, her eyes turning back onto the fight. “Isn’t there some way we can help him?”
“I wish there was.” Gadget answered sadly. “But as long as that barrier’s up, all we can do is cheer him on.”
“Aargh!” Monty yelled as he landed on the floor with a thud. “Me body…” He looked up, only to notice that all seven Dariens had formed a complete circle around him.
“You’ve fought well,” The Darien directly in front of him said coolly “but I don’t see any reason to drag out this fight an longer.” The other Dariens began to grin devilishly. “Do you remember the attack I mentioned earlier? The one where myself and six others would surround an opponent and all strike at once?”
Monty remembered. He began to frantically try and stand up, but the hundreds of blows he’d received from the multiplicative fox had greatly weakened him.
Darien watched Monty attempt to stand. “It’s a shame really.” He continued “To have to destroy someone so strong… But then it’s not really, I suppose. After all, if you were stronger, you wouldn’t be having trouble standing up, would you?”
Monty continued to struggle, his friends pressing themselves up against the barrier, watching nervously.
“I’ve nothing else to say.” Darien finished, as he and the others began to crouch, preparing to strike. “You’ve given me an unforgettable fight.” With that, every single Darien lunged at once. “Now, you will die!”