Strand Incarnation Mode

--Shike's Perspective--

We were sent back to the battlefield, and Ali and Providence were still going. They were fighting, trading blows that would've killed anybody standing near them... those two are really powerful.

What annoyed me the most about that fight wasn't the fact that it was still going... it was that I knew the outcome. Ali would be spent until all of her stamina is gone, and Providence would win, not because Ali was inferior, it was because Providence couldn't be killed by anybody but Sky.

I didn't mean this in my head to be mean to Sky, but unless he completely changed as a person, there was no way he could take out Providence. She was too powerful... wasn't she?

Even if she was too powerful, Ali was still going. She was giving it her all, causing Providence to scream out of surprise for her lost limbs. Ali was shredding Providence as she wanted her more than dead. I couldn't believe that she was still going... and I couldn't believe that Ali was near godlike now.

Which caused me to think... did Ali know the outcome?

Ali warned us about several things and restored our sentience with her strands, did she know she was going to die here too?

Ali, and all of her gravity-bending powers, was fighting somebody thought to be invincible, and she's not backing down. The courage behind every hit, knowing that her life would come to an end before Providence would die... how did she do it?

"Shike, Belle, Alexia, over here," Eo called out to us.

I regretfully stopped watching Ali and ran over to the three, waiting to hear Eo's plan.

"Look, your abilities have another level... but I'm not sure what they're going to do to you. So I will ask you. Do you want to ascend to this next level to help Ali? I recommend at least one of you remains out of this level so if worst comes to worst, you can help the other two." Eo explained.

I sat in silence, thinking about what I should do.

How can I help Ali? I wanted to make her sacrifice mean something...

"Tell me, what can Belle and Alexia do?" I asked Eo.

"Belle, you have the ability to freeze strands solid and indestructible. Now, I was thinking that if Alexia used her ability, which is to create an impenetrable dome, you could trap Ali and Providence... Providence wouldn't be able to escape, and Sky could finish his test and get here to deal the final blow. Shike, I'm sorry, but would you mind guarding us?" Eo asked me.

I stood up with a saber in hand.

"You do whatever it takes to make Providence lose," I told Eo.

"Listen up you two, this ability may destroy you, not literally, but you will feel the after-effects. Strand Incarnation Mode, or SIM, is a mode of strand usage people who aren't Deities can initiate for a surge in power... for the ultimate price. You will probably be fatigued for a long while and might not even be able to use your muscles properly, but Providence will definitively die and you will save this world." Eo stated.

A sacrifice like that...

"I'll do it. Miss Ali raised us... she took all of us in, and now she's here, defending us with her life... even Mister Lucas is gone... this is the least I can do." Belle muttered, looking at Eo with teary eyes.

"I won't let Miss Ali's sacrifice go to waste. I want to sacrifice myself too. Do it." Alexia added to Belle's statement, and they both looked at Eo, waiting for her to do something.

"I can't initiate it... it's a lock in your brains that you must get rid of." Eo explained.

"Strand Incarnation Mode..." Belle said out loud, standing up and holding her arms out while facing Ali.

Alexia stood up next to her and locked her hands, pulling against them with flexed muscles in her forearm.

Suddenly, a large dome made of golden strands settled on the field right behind Ali and Providence, and the strands turned an ice-cold blue color, which caused tiny sparkles to fall off of the strands from the sun.

"What the hell is this?!" Providence yelled out, turning over to Eo.

"It's your resting place," I told Providence.

She tried to break her contact with Ali, but when she hit the dome, she was electrocuted with strands and was sent flying back. Eo wasn't kidding... she couldn't escape.

"Alexia, connect the dome underground. Providence is trying to dig under." Eo told her. Alexia, wincing in pain, nodded, and pulled tighter.

Right after she was done pulling, both Alexia and Belle fell backward, slamming into the ground.

"Are they okay?!" I asked Eo.

"Yes... they just need a minute..." Eo said, intensely gazing at Ali and Providence.

Their fight continued, but now, Providence was mad.

The lines on her face were gilded in what looked like black strands, meaning there was more power behind that God...

Providence swung at Ali and when Ali grabbed onto Providence's wrist to mangle her body, Ali's hand exploded into blood.

"I wouldn't touch me if I were you. I'm pissed." Providence said with a slight smile.

"That goes for the two of us, doesn't it?

Ali charged in again and Providence went to catch Ali's saber... but it never connected. Ali stopped midway, and from a change in reality behind Providence, the waves of gravity Ali manipulated cut into her back and threw her toward Ali without any balance.

Ali charged up a punch again, cocking her fist back, and slamming it with more power than I have seen yet.

Ali's arm broke and burst into blood as it connected with Providence's face, and the dome visibly shook as the ground was thrown up and scattered on the battlefield. Providence hit the dome with a ton of force, yet it still didn't break. She was electrocuted a lot and fell to the ground with a singed body that slowly regenerated.

"You really don't want to stop..." Providence said, spitting up blood.

No way! Is Ali going to win?!

"You will suffer," Ali said, raising her regenerated hand at Providence.