Project S.T.A.T.I.C. Part 5: The Asylum

“Initialize the Eternity protocol now, Emily,” Anna commanded from the steel chair she’d had installed in her office, “For God’s sake, girl, keep your hands steady! If this is to work then you have to get the needles in the right spot! I’d do it myself, but it requires two people, or did you forget this since we spoke about it five minutes ago?!”

“N-no, ma’am,” Emily stammered, trying to steady herself as best she could, “I haven’t forgotten. H-how long do you think we have before one of them shows up?”

“Not long enough,” Anna replied, leaning back, “My calculations have all been thrown out with the arrival of a sellsword. We’ve done well to have gotten as long as we have. Now, slide the needle in like you’ve been shown thousands of times.”

Emily took a deep breath and nodded. She made sure that her hands were steady and stable before she went back to work trying to fasten the injections into the right veins. She’d managed to get the right side of Murray’s body finished and was working on the left. There were hoses that were connected to the needles and feeding into the walls behind the chair. There were several bookcases along the wall, but behind them was a mainframe and computer system that fed into the infrastructure of the asylum. It was all part of Murray’s grand scheme. A scheme that hinged on the successful cooperation of her new help.

The office wasn’t too large, but was big enough to house a desk, Murray’s projects, the Throne of Eternity, as she’d taken to calling it, several bookshelves, and various other odds and ends. It was a circular room with wooden floors and an old, decrepit painting that was faded and scratched out. The painting had been of the original founder of the hospital. It was worn, weathered, and consistently creeped out any member of her staff that came to the floor, but she liked it  for that reason and many more. Of course, she’d worked with Ingrid to create a series of useful tricks and traps to use in the event of an emergency; which she had no doubt she was going to have to utilize today.

Her eyes remained focused on the elevator doors while Emily worked. The sounds of fighting could still be faintly heard from down below. Gunfire, crashing, and screaming could be heard if one listened closely enough. She’d heard an explosion and felt the shockwaves only a few short moments ago. Her guess was that her patients had decided and new arrivals had decided to divide and conquer, or at least attempt to. Between the group of them, at least one of them would have had the forethought to chase after her. The only question was which one had the idea and how many were coming. Her guess was that it was the magi and the idealogues; Jake, Beth, Pamela, and the Goth Goddess herself.

“Excellent work,” Anna praised once Emily set the final needle in place, “You can follow instructions after all. Now, place the helmet on, fasten the restraints, and throw the switch.”

“Yes, ma’am, right away,” Emily said, hurrying to grab the last pieces for her mentor adn employer.

The helmet wasn’t far away. It was resting on the desk nearby, and it took her only a fraction of a second to grab it and place it on Doctor Murray’s head. She worked with a renewed purpose as she tried to fasten the bands on the helmet and the restraints on Murray’s wrists and ankles. They might not have been necessary, but it was truly better safe than sorry. It was likely that the doctor had a high pain threshold, but neither of them wanted to leave anything to chance. They’d only tested the procedure on a handful of subjects, and their reactions had been incredibly varied.

“Doctor, do you want me to administer a sedative or a pain killer?” Emily asked after she’d fastened the last restraint and moved to the console hidden in her desk.

“No, absolutely not,” Anna answered, “We can’t afford for me to be delayed in my thoughts or reactions for what’s coming next. Flip the switch and begin the merger. Oh, and Emily, override the failsafes and safety measures. I want this done as quickly as possible and I need access to all systems throughout the procedure.”

“Yes, ma’am, on your command,” Emily nodded, steeling herself as she flipped a series of switches and typed in the commands.

Anna grit her teeth and closed her eyes in preparation for what was to come. She knew it was going to be painful, but she wasn’t sure what to expect. The fluids began pumping through the hoses and into her system. Some of her blood was drawn out, and a viscous fluid of her own making began flowing in. The next thing she felt was an agonizing wave of electricity coursing through her veins. It shot through her legs, her arms, and up her spine before spreading through her head. Her eyes burned as she saw sparks behind her eyes. The upload was underway, and she could feel herself starting to slip away.

Seconds turned to minutes at an agonizingly slow pace. They ticked by and Anna could feel her consciousness start to dip into what she could only compare to a bath of acid. Her head was pounding in a way she’d never felt before. It was truly something like she’d never imagined. The pain was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. However, she could already feel the process working. The burning sensation surged through her until it felt like she had literal fire coursing through her instead of blood. She felt as though she might combust at any second.

Meanwhile, just below the office, Jake, Beth, Rebecca, and Pam had entered the elevator and were preparing for their final confrontation with Anna Murray. The space was cramped and the air felt thin. Pam leaned against Beth and attempted to regulate her breathing and rein in her emotions. Beth stood beside her with her arm around her waist to keep her girlfriend steady. She still had one of her forty-fives in her hand and had it resting at her side. Rebecca stood beside them with her eyes narrowed and ready for whatever was behind those doors when they opened, and Jake stood at the front ready to run the second the doors opened.

The little screen above the button panel flashed the number two and the elevator chimed. The doors parted to reveal the rounded office where Murray had chosen to make her final stand. What they found was something none of them were expecting. Across the room, beneath the shelves, was Murray sitting in a chair with various cables and tubes hooked up to her. The wires and hoses ran from her arms, legs, and neck to the walls and bookcases. She had on a helmet of some sort. It was rounded and looked like a strange mask made out of copper. The mouth was slightly open and there were two round slits for her eyes that looked like they were glowing blue. Sparks shot from her body and the mask, but she barely seemed to jerk or react to what they could only assume was some sort of strange electroshock.

“Doctor, they’re here!” a young blonde woman shouted from off to the side, “We need to-”

“No!” Murray’s voice seemed to call out from the speakers in the ceiling, “Don’t you dare stop the procedure, girl! I will not let you deny the next step in evolution, in progress! Either stand aside or die, girl.”

“Doctor?” Emily asked, “What would you have me do?”

“There’s a good girl,” Murray chuckled, “Increase the output and release the safety mechanisms so that I can deal with our guests.”

Beth cursed under her breath as she marched forward and let  go of Pam. She spotted the girl standing behind a desk typing away on a console and raised her pistol at her. “Not another move,” Beth warned, thumbing the hammer, “Whatever this is, shut it down, now. I won’t tell you a second time.”

The girl froze for a second as she stared down the barrel of Beth’s pistol. Her hands trembled for a fraction of a second as she seemed to be weighing Beth’s demand. A nametag on her scrubs read Emily. She shook her head as Pam and the rest of the group walked in and fanned out. “You can’t stop progress,” Emily said, ducking and finishing her final keystrokes.

“No!” Beth shouted, squeezing the trigger and firing a round that missed Emily’s head by barely a fraction of a second, “Shit, somebody stop her!”

“Shoot the console!” Jake shouted as Pam stepped forward and raised her glowing hands.

A pair of ethereal, fiery chains sprang forth from the ground and wrapped around Emily’s wrists, but she had already finished typing in the final commands. Beth took aim at the computer and destroyed it with two successive shots. However, even as the hardware was shattered and turned to shrapnel, whatever was happening to Anna showed no signs of stopping. “You’re too late,” Emily laughed, watching her mentor, “What’s done cannot be undone. She’s-”

Beth silenced her with a single gunshot to the head. “Idiot,” she growled, glaring at Murray, “Whatever this is, should be able to be stopped with a bullet or a blow to the head, right?”

“Should being the optimum word,” Rebecca remarked, watching their surroundings carefully, “Whatever we do, I suggest we do it fast. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Once again, Beth found herself agreeing with Rebecca. She shifted her aim over at Murray who was still sitting in her chair. As she gave the trigger another squeeze, a large translucent bubble rose up and around Anna. It burst from the floor and caught the bullet before it could close the distance. Beth cursed again and tried to find an opening. She couldn’t afford to waste the bullets firing wildly and blindly. She’d already wasted several on the nurse, the computer, and Murray’s shield.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to lower your guns, Ms. Thompson,” Murray’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker, “This is your one warning, everyone. Lower your weapons, get on your knees, and surrender. Otherwise you’ll be facing severe punishment for disobeying doctor’s orders.”

“Screw that,” Beth scoffed, “I didn’t come all this lay down in front of psycho like you!”

“Very well then,” Murray chuckled, sparks crackling and bursting from her helmet, “Allow me to teach you all what the next step in true evolution looks like. You’ve seen the brawn, but let’s have a look at the brain!”

Jake and Rebecca moved to try to flank Murray’s seat. Their approaches mirrored one another despite them having differing ideas on how to handle the psychotic doctor. Jake let Ashley’s power out as he pivoted from his flank to charge forward. He leapt towards the bubble with his staff out and angled down. Rebecca had let her lupine magic out and rushed towards the shield with large claws at the ready. As their feet pounded across the floor, two seemingly decorative statues suddenly burst to reveal twin orbs that were glowing. Both Jake and Rebecca were stopped as bolts of electricity shot out of them and slammed into their chests to send them flying backwards.

“Dammit,” Pam grunted, dropping to one knee and pressing her hands to the floor, “Can we catch at least one break today?”

Pam sent her magic flowing through the floors. It found its way to her friends and wrapped them in a purple glow. With the unseen force of her spirit, Pam pulled them away from Murray’s shielded chair. Their bodies moved just in time. The orbs that had been hidden in the statues started acting as conductors. They surged with fresh charges and began shooting arcing bolts of lightning from them. The bolts connected with the barrier and it turned a strange shade of blue. The electricity seemed to radiate and roll around the shield.

“Now, now, don’t be shy,” Murray’s voice cackled over the speakers, “This is only at thirty-five percent capacity too!”

Back below Murray’s office, Chaos had been struggling with a losing battle against Kait, Sadie, and Addy. Their battle had been unimpeded by the Dolls thanks to the combined efforts of Jason and Sally, but it was still a difficult fight for the trio. If it hadn’t been for the reflexes and training between the three of them, Chaos would have torn them to shreds by now. However, the combination of their conditioning and the sudden return of her faculties meant that her senses were back online. Her pain receptors were firing on all cylinders, and while that tolerance was higher than most, she was feeling the effects of the continued blows. 

There had been a number of punches and cuts that had successfully connected. Addy had even managed to jam two grenades into the open wounds, but she hadn’t been able to pull the pins in any of them. A sudden pain shot through her skull and caused the monstrosity of a woman to freeze in her tracks. The pain was different from the usual agony from the inhibitors being activated. At first it felt similar, but then there was something else that was new and different. It was like a sudden migraine that hit its peak only to quickly start to fade out into darkness. 

In the past, she’d felt herself getting pulled under the influence of the doctor and the rest of their team. It was akin to the feeling of being strangled or smothered. This was different; this felt more like she’d been tossed into a well and was being dragged under. She could feel herself slipping away, but more than that it was like she could feel herself getting erased. This wasn’t just feeling like she was dying, she was dying. It was impossible to explain, but she could feel her consciousness being picked apart and shattered for the last time. She let out a grotesque scream of frustration, agony, hate, and sorrow in a final show of defiance before she disappeared and her body went slack for a split second.

Before any of them could react and capitalize, Chaos was standing up straight and running again. However, she didn’t run towards any of them. Instead, she raced back towards the observatory where Jake and the others had given chase to Murray. The titan raced past the Dolls without touching any of them. It was a stark contrast to the wild and violent blend that they’d been dealing with since Sally had destroyed the controller. Nearly none of them noticed it except for Kait. However, she never got the chance to say anything about it. The Dolls that had been continually pouring seemed to sync up in a new way. 

Chaos shattered the glass as she leapt through the air and smashed the frame around the observatory. “Kait, Addy, fall back!” Sadie shouted as the waves of Dolls seemed to become more organized by the second, “It looks like this party isn’t dead yet. Let’s go, girls! The sooner we deal with these things, the sooner we can rejoin the others and finish the fight with that lumbering Havoc knock-off!”

Upstairs, the room containing Murray’s throne of eternity was changing. Panels had opened up along the walls to reveal mechanical arms with injectors, spinning blades, or hands that were acting as a strange extension of Murray’s will. None of them were quite sure what was happening, but Jake was willing to wager that she had somehow managed to connect to the system controlling these things. It didn’t seem like the type of thing that Murray would have had any interest in, but rather something that somebody like Ingrid might focus on. However, that was currently the least of his concerns.

After Pam had pulled him and Rebecca out of harm's way and saved them from getting scorched by stray bolts from the conductors, all four of them had been pushed onto the defensive. The robotic arms swiped, stabbed, or tried to grab at them. So far, they’d either managed to dodge or break the arms, or their instruments, before they could connect. Yet every time they managed to break one, another would somehow rise from the ashes. It wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle, but it was slowing them down and preventing them from making progress towards stopping Murray.

“For fuck’s sake,” Beth groaned, shooting one of the arms and ducking under another spinning sawblade, “Can one of you just tear that fucking barreir down so I can shoot her?!”

“I could if I had a moment to concentrate!” Rebecca snapped, stepping out of reach of one of the injectors.

“There can only be so many of these things!” Pam pointed out, raising a hand to block one of the arms by guiding Rage, “We just have to keep breaking them and-”

Pam was interrupted as the floor beneath them shook without warning. A massive and familiar fist broke through the floor boards. Gray skin and inhuman muscles came next as the hulking form of Chaos broke through the floor and climbed out. Their nightmare was far from over despite their hopes that their allies would have either held her at bay or finished her off for good. However, there was something different about her eyes. They seemed to be glowing in a similar shade of blue like the mask that Murray was wearing. Chaos pulled herself into a standing position and looked between the four of them in a strangely calculating way that was far different from the looks they’d seen from her prior.

“This is absolutely incredible,” Murray’s delighted voice echoed over the loudspeaker, “Let’s see what these muscles can do with proper direction and tactics. Come on now, my little labrats, let’s have some fun before we get you into your proper places!”

Jake noticed that Chaos’ mouth was moving as Murray spoke, but no sounds came out. It was like she was acting as a sort of puppet for Murray, but that couldn’t have been right, could it? “Look out, dumbass!” Beth shouted, breaking Jake out of his thoughts as Chaos suddenly raced towards him, “Get it together, Raven!”

Jake blinked and Chaos was in front of him. He couldn’t recall her being this fast downstairs, but then again he swore that something was off. He quickly brought his staff up to try to block her fist, but it broke through the metal with ease and crashed into his chest. Jake was sent flying across the room and nearly crashed into the opposing wall. However, he was caught by the unseen force from Rebecca. A cloud of purple smoke wrapped around him and pulled him back to the ground. He felt relieved for a brief second before he felt something prick him from behind. 

“Shit,” he said, reaching behind him to grab hold of and rip the arm out of the wall.

It was already too late, though. He could feel the meds working their way through his system. A dizzying, lightheaded feeling started to overtake him. He held a hand out and grabbed one of the nearby bookshelves to steady himself. He still had one shot of adrenaline in his utility belt, but he had to get to it before Chaos caught him a second time. His hands fumbled and searched for the injector that was in his belt pocket. Thankfully, a series of gunshots from Beth rang out and caught Chaos in the back. However, he felt his blood run cold when the titan didn’t flinch or change direction; she kept charging at him.

Jake found the injector in his pocket, but by the time he grabbed it Chaos was practically on top of him. He rolled out of the way of a sweeping punch that tore through part of the bookcase behind him. His head spun as he finished his roll, but his heart sank when he heard his injector clatter and roll along the floor. His chance at countering the toxins coursing through his system was now out of reach, and he had no choice but to deal with the monster in front of him. Jake could tell his balance was off as he tried to scramble to his feet. A swift, powerful, and debilitating kick to his back sent him flying across the room again and a wave of pain shooting through him.

“No!” Rebecca shrieked as she tried once more to grab the man she loved before he crashed into the wall, “Elizabeth, Pamela, distract this woman!”

“What the fuck?!” Beth shouted, reloading and firing a series of fresh rounds at Chaos, “How’s about you give us a hand?!”

“Leave her for now!” Pam shouted in exasperation, knowing that her friend and former mentor was going to choose Jake over them, “Focus on bringing down and stopping Chaos!”

“Some fucking team we are,” Beth grumbled, charging towards Chaos who was running after Jake, “Fine, Pam, see if you can slow her down!”

Beth grabbed the shotgun that had been slung across her back and fired it once she got close to Chaos. She pumped it after the slug caught Chaos in teh back. Again, the woman seemed almost unphased beyond stumbling from the powerful impact. Beth fired another round that caught Chaos in the opposite shoulder, and watched as a pair of red skeletal hands rose out of the ground and wrapped around Chaos’ ankles. She looked over at Pam who was still struggling between the dampening field and the cocktail she’d been given only a short while ago. She knew it was taking everything Pam had to stay upright and keep fighting, but they couldn’t give up when they were this close.

Beth wasn’t fond of the idea of getting closer to Chaos, but she knew the shotgun was going to be most effective at a shorter distance. As she got closer, she could see something sticking out of Chaos’ back. There was something sticking out of her back. She wasn’t sure, but she almost swore it was a grenade. Somehow, the slugs had managed to miss it. All it would take would be one successful shot and she could bring down the monster once and for all. 

Chaos ripped her legs free and shattered the skeletons after only a second. She spun around and her hand shot out to try to grab hold of Beth, but all she managed was to grab hold of her shotgun. Beth felt herself getting pulled towards Chaos, so she let go of the weapon and threw herself into a back handspring. She reached into her coat and drew her pistol back out as she flew through the air. She landed in a crouch and tried to avoid taking a kick to the face from the lumbering giant. She stumbled back and tried to steady herself as she tried to take aim at the grenades that had been sticking out of Chaos’ shoulder.

Only a short distance away, Pam had planted her feet firmly on the ground in an attempt to root herself. She would have preferred to be able to move, fight, and summon, but Jake’s adrenaline shot could only do so much to combat the staggering effects of the sedatives that Murray had concocted for her patients. Every spell she cast and sentence she shouted hurt. She fought through the pain and relied on her counterparts to give her the boost she needed to keep going. However, between shielding Jake and Rebecca, conjuring skeletons, and even relying on her chains, she was feeling more exhausted and drained by the minute.

Pam ran a shaky hand across her lip and below her nose. She’d felt another trickle of blood falling from her nostril. By this point, she was having to rely on some of her older, more basic and innate magic. Blood magic was simple, albeit costly in the long-term, but she knew she could make do with the droplets that were on her hand. She raised two fingers and spun them in a small circle to pull the drops and reshape them into small spikes not much larger than the bullets in Beth’s gun. Concentrating and holding them in place took more effort than she had originally thought, though. Pam’s knees were already shaking, but now her vision was beginning to blur as well. She’d have to get closer if she had any chance of hitting the freakishly fast woman.

Beth was stepping back and trying not to trip over her feet while Chaos threw punch after punch aimed at crushing her. She’d snapped the shotgun she’d brought with her in half, and now was trying to corner her prey. Ordinarily, Beth would have turned to run and put some distance between them, but she and Pam were the only ones in the fight at the moment. By the look of things, Pam was clearly still struggling to keep herself afloat too. Beth cursed as she fired a few rounds from her pistol in hopes of catching the grenade, but shot after shot missed the mark. She was running out of room too. It wouldn’t be long before she was cornered and pinned down.

“Is this truly the best that you can muster?” Murray asked from the loudspeaker, “I must say, I’m disappointed! I had hoped that you four would at least prove a moderate challenge and test of my newfound abilities. How are we supposed to measure success if there is no challenge and growth, hmm? What a pity, but there’s no sense in dragging this out!”

“Shut up!” Pam shouted, hating the grating sound of Anna’s voice and sending her twin blood spikes at Chaos.

The spikes flew through the air and managed to find their mark. Pam had gotten close enough to see the explosives that had been jammed into her back. She still wasn’t sure what was happening, how Murray was controlling the behemoth, but she knew that’s what was happening. For once, she was thankful for the mad doctor’s hyperfocus. She hadn’t bothered to turn her attention away from Beth, and she clearly hadn’t done any type of self-check. Pam’s bloody projectiles pierced the outer casing of the grenades. The result was a chaotic fireball that sent everything into disarray.

The second that Pam’s blood spike pierced the casing, the pair of grenades exploded. A massive, fiery and gory explosion erupted from the Chaos. It took everything Pam had left to conjure a thin barrier around herself and Beth. It was enough to keep the shrapnel and fire from doing serious damage, but the concussive force sent both of them flying backwards. Pieces of shrapnel, bone, and gore crashed into them as they were thrown back into the far away bookcases. The second that her back hit the wall, Pam lost all concentration and the spell around them failed. She tried to push herself up, but she couldn’t do it. In the distance, Beth remained laying on her stomach unmoving. The only solace that Pam found was that she could sense her beloved’s lifeforce.

Meanwhile, Rebecca had abandoned the combined efforts to stop Anna Murray to focus on Jake. Again, she managed to catch him before he crashed into another wall, but he was quickly slipping into unconsciousness. She made it to his body and fell to her knees as he was lowered into her lap. His eyes were heavy and fluttering, but he was still alive. She didn’t see the fight that had been unfolding between Chaos, Beth, and Pam. It wasn’t until the sudden heat and boom of the explosion that she realized her mistake. She huddled over Jake as the shrapnel and embers roared towards them. Rebecca wasn’t able to save herself with a barrier or shield, so she took the brunt of the damage to save Jake.

Rebecca held Jake tightly in hopes of saving him from the incoming projectiles and fire. She looked up as the fires began to die down. There were pieces of shrapnel that were stuck within her arms, but she’d taken worse hits in the past, even before merging with Lilith’s power. She saw Pam struggling and Beth laying down. The remains of Chaos were scattered around a small, smoldering crater. The shield surrounding Murray remained standing, but Rebecca could see cracks forming in the glass. 

“Well, you four are just full of surprises,” Anna chuckled over the intercom, “It’s a shame to waste such a near perfect specimen, but I can always recreate my little pet project. I’m impressed in how spectacularly you all have failed. I must say, you all give proper meaning to the term going down swinging. Sadly, all things must come to an end. Rebecca, release Mr. Blackridge. As much as I would love to have him for my private collection, I’m afraid that your new overlords have requested him for themselves. Don’t fret, you and I are going to spend enough time together that you won’t have to think about your ex.”

“Overlords?” Rebecca whispered, looking down at Jake, “Is that what they’re calling themselves? And they’ve decided to lay claim to my beloved?”

Time seemed to slow down around her. Rebecca ran the back of her knuckles along Jake’s jawline and smiled ruefully down at him. He was sleeping. She’d almost forgotten how peaceful and serene he could be. She’d seen him furious, laughing, hysterical, and so much more, but it had been so long since she’d seen him look as peaceful as he did now. Once upon a time, she had his heart in her hands, but then she’d crushed it and torn it asunder in pursuit of selfish perversions and possession. It was something that she understood, something she was working to reconcile. However, she could not allow someone else to take him from her. She wouldn’t let someone else abuse and break him like she had, or whatever worse things those shrew sisters would do to him.

“Come along now, dear,” Murray chided, “Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. Look on the bright side, you’ll still have your little pet Pamela nearby. I intend to give you both equal time.”

Rebecca looked over to her friend. Her blood was already beginning to boil as she thought about the torture that Jake would endure if she let him go. Her anger only grew further as she thought about her apprentice, no, her friend. There were several people that despised her, and for good reason, but Pamela had welcomed her back without a second thought. She’d created a rift between her and Elizabeth, nearly stolen her away, and threatened to kill them both at the height of her demonic state. Despite all of that, Pamela hadn’t held any of that against her. The thought of having her friend taken, tortured, and being separated from the person she loved made her furious. 

“I won’t let them have you,” she quietly pledged to everyone in the room.

Rebecca gently set Jake down on the ground and stood up. Her fists were clenched and glowing, her eyes were glowing, and her jaw was locked in a scornful frown. She glared at Murray sitting behind the cracked shield. “There’s a smart girl,” Murray praised, “Let’s get you rested so we can get you-”

“Enough!” Rebecca screamed, her voice reverberating and shaking the walls, “I have heard enough of your smug nonsense! I am no one’s property, and I will not allow you to lay a single cold hand on Pamela, Jake, or Beth!”

“Oh, ho, what’s this?” Murray asked with a surprised chuckle, “A final attempt at defiance from a fallen Goddess? Don’t make this harder on yourself. I promised to deliver Jake to Eva alive, but I can still make him suffer and live. Believe me, there are a myriad of ways to break someone without killing them. Then again, I believe you know that better than anyone, don’t you, Rebecca?”

“Is that a threat?” Rebecca asked, taking a step forward, the air around her beginning to circulate and swirl, “You have the audacity to threaten me?! Oh yes, I know about suffering, Anna. Allow me to give you a taste of what true pain, torment, and terror feel like!”

The weight of the dampening field pressed down on Rebecca’s slender figure, but she ignored it as her anger swelled to new heights. She was seeing red as she stared across the room at the woman threatening everything she had come to know. The air around her started to grow dark and the outline of a raven appeared around her. Two massive purple wings of pure energy burst from her back, and ethereal feathers started to fall down around her. Not for the first time, Rebecca’s body shifted into an animal form, but this wasn’t like when she drew on her lycanthrope. This was a figure that was born from her heart, from her love, her past, and drew upon the elements of air and shadow.

Rebecca couldn’t make out Murray’s facial expression behind the mask, but she couldn’t have been bothered to care. Her wings spread wide and with a single flap, she flew forward. The outline of a purple raven flying through the air like a dark phoenix crashed into Murray’s barrier. The barrier held for a moment, but the energy surrounding Rebecca spread out and engulfed the shield. Darkness and shadows drowned the surroundings inside of the bubble. The face of a furious Rebecca broke through the darkness as the cracks began to grow. After only a few seconds, the barrier shattered and Rebecca was free to get her hands on Anna Murray.

Rebecca was in front of Murray’s throne with her hand instantly clasping around her mask. She could feel the heat and electricity coursing through it, but she didn’t care. Rebecca ripped it from her face and cast it aside. It hit the ground with an audible thump and bounced. Murray’s face was somewhat blank except for her eyes. It was the feelings of shock and awe that rolled off of her that told Rebecca everything. She drank in the feelings of surprise that were rolling off of her, and she delighted in the feeling of mild terror that was welling behind the mad woman’s otherwise stoic face. 

Rebecca raised her other hand, it glowed and burned with violet flames in the shape of a spearhead. Rebecca let out a final hate filled growl of disgust as she plunged her hand deep into the chest of Anna Murray. Her fingers spread out as she broke through the layers of skin, muscle, and bone until she felt her still beating heart at her fingertips. Rebecca pushed deeper in and grabbed it with one massive hand. She let it beat for a few brief seconds before she gave it a firm squeeze. She could feel the squishy organ rupture in her grip as she withdrew her hand from Murray’s caved in chest with a scream. 

As Rebecca’s hand broke free, Murray’s body shook and convulsed in response. A massive electric shockwave ripped from her seat and spread across the room. It was enough to send Rebecca flying backwards. She landed on her feet with her ethereal wings still spread out and used them to catch herself. She looked around as the lights flickered from the power surged caused by Murray’s death. The woman was finally gone, their nightmare was finally over. All that was left was to clean up the mess downstairs, secure their allies, and they could finally leave this nightmare once and for all. She paused and looked around at her friends. She needed to get them back on their feet so they could finally put a bow on their shared adventure and get back home.