02-24-2016, 05:44 PM
The azure beam lanced across the distance between them. Thoughts of Captain America vanished in a surge of adrenaline as Belle brought the shield around.
She was too slow. The laser found its mark, spreading its energy through her chest. Her heart lurched inside her breast, stung as if she were stabbed. She felt the wind in her hair as she fell. It felt like it took a long time, the world moving in slow motion around her as she toppled back onto the grass.
She tried to move. She couldn't.
She tried to breathe. She couldn't.
She reached inside herself, searching for the power that she knew was there, but it eluded her, slipping out of her grasp.
Come on, she thought as the colors of the world soured, fading to black. Move, you stupid bitch. Move. Move.
But her heart refused.
The stormy skies overhead rolled past. Around her she could hear the sounds of battle, increasingly muffled as time slowed to a crawl. The tight sensation in her chest relaxed, or perhaps she was merely losing her ability to feel it.
Funny. She had never dwelled on death - not even after entering the Graveyard - but she'd always thought that when it came, she'd meet her end with thoughts of her family. Now that she was here, all she could think about was herself. Would Lily ever know what had happened to her? Would Nalia? Yuki, no doubt, would simply conclude that she had run away.
And what about Mickey, Blues, and Link? That last one sucked. She'd just met the Hero of Time, and now, her time was up? She would've laughed if she could.
Her friends.
She stiffened. Through the ringing building in her ears, she heard it: that sound, the same sound that had heralded her end. Only this time she wouldn't be the target. This time, it would be one of them.
No.
Power surged through her, her senses coming alive with renewed awareness. The weight of the shield was heavy on her arm as she abruptly shot upward.
She wasn't even fully conscious of the movement. Already she could feel the strain threatening to overflow, ready to snap. All she knew was she had to get to them, had to protect them. It wasn't a question of ifs and maybes - it was an absolute.
With every last fiber of her will, she slammed the shield down between them. She felt the shield's power harmonizing with her own, singing through her as the energy swelled, a din of light that enfolded them.
The attacks were swallowed. Her friends were safe.
And then she died.
White flashed in her vision. Blessed, agonizing pain jolted through her chest - proof that she was still tethered to the world.
Proto lifted the paddles of the defib as she heaved. Her throat was thick, her lungs too small, scratchy, as if they were plugged with sand. Her shoulder stung as she rolled to the side, jerking and spasming.
She was alive. Sore, hurting in more places than she could count, but her heart continued to beat.
Belle gazed up at the trio, each pair of eyes anxious in their own way. Her chest was hurting again, but this time for an entirely different reason.
"It's-" she started to say, then doubled over in her fetal position with a bout of coughing. "It's-" she gulped, "It's ... a porno mag, Mickey ... !"
The mouse's expression froze, then broke into a smile. "Sure," he said, wiping an eye with an overlarge finger and masking a sniff. "Sure it is."
It was a while before she felt well enough to stand. Something about the world beaneath her felt different, more ... significant, somehow. Perhaps it was because she had thought that she would never feel it under her feet again.
The wind caressed her hair, bringing with it the sounds of the storm as it cleaved off another piece of the island.
How long did they really have? How long were the rest of them just postponing the inevitable? Maybe it didn't matter to them, she thought. Primes would be primes, after all.
But she wasn't a Prime. She would be something different.
Something better.
The wind picked up again, howling and screaming through the trees with mourning fury, a tempest in contrast with the clarity and stillness she felt inside. If she was going to die again, she wasn't going to let someone else make that decision for her. There was one more thing they had to do, a promise to fulfill.
Another batch of primes were nearby, sharpening their knives for the kill. The group of heroes turned to face them, backs straight as lightning split the sky.
She was too slow. The laser found its mark, spreading its energy through her chest. Her heart lurched inside her breast, stung as if she were stabbed. She felt the wind in her hair as she fell. It felt like it took a long time, the world moving in slow motion around her as she toppled back onto the grass.
She tried to move. She couldn't.
She tried to breathe. She couldn't.
She reached inside herself, searching for the power that she knew was there, but it eluded her, slipping out of her grasp.
Come on, she thought as the colors of the world soured, fading to black. Move, you stupid bitch. Move. Move.
But her heart refused.
The stormy skies overhead rolled past. Around her she could hear the sounds of battle, increasingly muffled as time slowed to a crawl. The tight sensation in her chest relaxed, or perhaps she was merely losing her ability to feel it.
Funny. She had never dwelled on death - not even after entering the Graveyard - but she'd always thought that when it came, she'd meet her end with thoughts of her family. Now that she was here, all she could think about was herself. Would Lily ever know what had happened to her? Would Nalia? Yuki, no doubt, would simply conclude that she had run away.
And what about Mickey, Blues, and Link? That last one sucked. She'd just met the Hero of Time, and now, her time was up? She would've laughed if she could.
Her friends.
She stiffened. Through the ringing building in her ears, she heard it: that sound, the same sound that had heralded her end. Only this time she wouldn't be the target. This time, it would be one of them.
No.
Power surged through her, her senses coming alive with renewed awareness. The weight of the shield was heavy on her arm as she abruptly shot upward.
She wasn't even fully conscious of the movement. Already she could feel the strain threatening to overflow, ready to snap. All she knew was she had to get to them, had to protect them. It wasn't a question of ifs and maybes - it was an absolute.
With every last fiber of her will, she slammed the shield down between them. She felt the shield's power harmonizing with her own, singing through her as the energy swelled, a din of light that enfolded them.
The attacks were swallowed. Her friends were safe.
And then she died.
~+~+~+~
White flashed in her vision. Blessed, agonizing pain jolted through her chest - proof that she was still tethered to the world.
Proto lifted the paddles of the defib as she heaved. Her throat was thick, her lungs too small, scratchy, as if they were plugged with sand. Her shoulder stung as she rolled to the side, jerking and spasming.
She was alive. Sore, hurting in more places than she could count, but her heart continued to beat.
Belle gazed up at the trio, each pair of eyes anxious in their own way. Her chest was hurting again, but this time for an entirely different reason.
"It's-" she started to say, then doubled over in her fetal position with a bout of coughing. "It's-" she gulped, "It's ... a porno mag, Mickey ... !"
The mouse's expression froze, then broke into a smile. "Sure," he said, wiping an eye with an overlarge finger and masking a sniff. "Sure it is."
It was a while before she felt well enough to stand. Something about the world beaneath her felt different, more ... significant, somehow. Perhaps it was because she had thought that she would never feel it under her feet again.
The wind caressed her hair, bringing with it the sounds of the storm as it cleaved off another piece of the island.
How long did they really have? How long were the rest of them just postponing the inevitable? Maybe it didn't matter to them, she thought. Primes would be primes, after all.
But she wasn't a Prime. She would be something different.
Something better.
The wind picked up again, howling and screaming through the trees with mourning fury, a tempest in contrast with the clarity and stillness she felt inside. If she was going to die again, she wasn't going to let someone else make that decision for her. There was one more thing they had to do, a promise to fulfill.
Another batch of primes were nearby, sharpening their knives for the kill. The group of heroes turned to face them, backs straight as lightning split the sky.
Uh oh. Those boys got me all tingly...
![[Image: ezgif-1-a370e630e1.gif]](https://s7.postimg.cc/elmiaogd7/ezgif-1-a370e630e1.gif)
I must calm it.
I must calm it.