(An Unexpected Turn of Events)

Once the three of them had gotten downtown, they all met near a restaurant. They found a table and some chairs nearby and sat down. They were all slightly out of breath.

“S-so what do we do now?” Ava asked just a little bit out of breath.

“I guess we wait.” Sarah replied.

“When do you think something is gonna happen?” Sage asked.

“I dunno, guess we just have to wait.” Sarah replied, her eyes scanning her surroundings.

There was silence for a few moments until Ava asked, “Don’t we kind of stand out in our costumes here?”

The three girls each looked at each other. They looked away, each of them slightly embarrassed. As they all looked around, they saw a few passing people here and there giving them weird looks. Other than that, most people didn’t seem to notice or care. They even saw a kid with his mom look at them in wonder.

They sat there for another fifteen minutes in silence, occasionally making small talk. Starting to become bored, the three girls started to wonder if anything was going to happen. They sat there some more until they heard a low rumble not far behind them. They all turned around, and, much to their surprise, they saw two figures rapidly approaching them. They were both running and one of them was holding an orb-shaped object that was just a little bit smaller than a soccer ball. It was glowing blue and purple. It looked to be pulsating with energy. As the two figures got closer, they could see that one was a man and one was a woman. The man looked to be about 27, and the woman 26. The man was wearing mostly black, with a dark red leather belt and cape. The cape was all torn up, along with the cuffs of his shirt and pants. He also had dark, shoulder-length hair, olive skin and dark green eyes. He had a scared but also mischievous look on his face. The woman, however, was wearing a top made out of white, shiny sequins. In the middle, was a giant teal green star. She also had teal green leggings, belt, and white heel-boots. She also had shoulder-length, wavy platinum blonde hair. She had creamy white skin, icy blue eyes and a teal green star tattooed around her left eye. She had no fear in her eyes. Instead, she had a mischievous smirk, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. The two of them stopped a few feet away from the three girls. The three girls stayed still as statues. The man and woman hadn’t noticed them yet.

“Do you think they’re gonna be able catch up to us?” The man asked the woman, slightly out of breath. He had an english accent. The woman turned her head. At first, it looked like she was looking at the man. But, the three girls soon realized that she was actually looking straight at them. When they’d noticed this, a sinking feeling started to settle in their stomachs. They quickly turned around. She smiled, and looked at the man.

“What?” He asked.

“Looks like we have company.” She replied. She too, had an english accent.

As he was about to question her, she looked back at the three girls. They stared back, each of them becoming more and more nervous. The man turned around. He saw the three girls.

He smiled.

“Oh...I see...” he said, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

“C’mon.” The woman replied,” let’s go give our ‘guests’ a little welcome.”

They started walking over. The girls started to become more and more anxious. They could hear the “click clack” of the two figures’ shoes coming closer and closer.

“Shoot! Guys, what do we do!?” Ava asked in a freaked out whisper.

“J-just stay calm and—“ But Sage never got to finish what she was going to say, because just as she was about to finish, she heard someone a few feet behind her say,

“Well well well...what do we have here?”

It was the woman.

The three girls exchanged scared glances with each other. They looked up at her and the man. They were speechless. They had no idea what to do. Finally, one of them gathered enough courage to speak.

“U-um can we help you?” Ava asked timidly. None of them had a good feeling about this.

The man and woman smiled at each other. It wasn’t a nice smile, it was more of a mischievous smirk. The woman spoke,

“So, this is what he has sent after us. A few kids in costumes!? Really, I thought we’d have better competition.”

The girls exchanged confused and anxious glances.

“Wh-What do you mean?” Sage asked, already regretting her decision to speak.

“So, they want to play dumb with us, do they?” The man mockingly asked. The smirk turning into a mischievous smile.

“Ah, so the man speaks!” Sarah sarcastically thought to herself. She faintly smiled. The woman noticed her faint smile.

“So, we are playing dumb are we?” The woman asked, taking a step closer. She looked the three girls dead in the eyes.

They all took a sharp breath in. They stared back.

“Still not talking? Mmm, okay, that’s fine. Guess we just have to do this the hard way.” She looked at the man. “Shadow, do you want to do the honors?” He smiled.

“Gladly.” He replied. He started walking towards the three girls. The girls’ breaths quickened.

“Think, THINK! What to do...what to do...” Ava frantically thought to herself.

“Shoot! What do we do!?” Sage thought, frantically looking around.

“No, no, no, NO! I can’t let them...I can’t let them hurt my friends! What do I do!? What do I do!?” Sarah thought, a weird feeling starting to come over her. As the man got closer and closer, the three girls found a weird feeling starting to come over them. It was an electrifying feeling. Pulsing through every nerve and vein in their bodies. It was like all of the adrenaline in their bodies was starting to be released to every inch of their body. Their heads felt foggy. This wasn’t like all the times that they were fighting the urge to pass out. This time, it was almost like pure energy was being poured into them and they were trying to keep themselves from doing something stupid. They found themselves starting to clench their fists. The man got closer. The feeling got stronger. They could feel it in their soul. Sage clenched her teeth. Ava closed her eyes tight. Sarah squeezed her fists tighter. The man was only a few steps away. They could feel their hearts beating fast. The man was here. He looked down at the girls, who were still sitting down. They said nothing and looked up at him. The man smiled. Then, they all did something they hadn’t dared to do—they all stood up and looked him dead in the eyes. He took a step closer, and found himself stumbling back. For one of Ava’s ice spikes had come flying straight at him. He brought his hand up to his cheek, felt a small cut and ran his finger along it. He pulled his hand back. His finger tip was now stained with blood. He turned to face the girls. Smiling, he said,

“That’s more like it. Alright, show me what you’ve got.”

And so, the battle began.