Chapter 28: Using a mask that’s not quarantine related

Why does Nemesis hate us so much?

All six of us turned towards her, the goddess holding a katana up.

"You again?" I asked. "When do you quit?"

"Never!" Nemesis snarled. She dashed towards me, slashing at an immense pace with her katana. I was lucky to get out of the encounter alive, retreating quickly with a rip in my jeans.

Kai blasted a stream of fire at the goddess. "Go back to the dang hole you came from!"

Geneva, Alexander, and Kai ran at the goddess with their weapons, but Nemesis moved quickly, blocking their strikes and countering. Arthur blasted her with light and electricity from range, but like I said, she was quick. Amethyst ran off to check on Oman as I joined Arthur in blinding the goddess.

Nemesis shot a ray of darkness at Kai, sending him into a tree. "Give up heroes! You can't kill me!"

She then blitzed Alexander, thrusting her katana onto his shields before kicking him on his side, knocking him into the lake. She turned her attention towards Geneva and I, disarming Geneva with a single strike before also knocking her into the lake.

"Don't touch her!" Arthur yelled, his eyes becoming stormy. Above us, the clouds rumbled as a large bolt of lightning struck the goddess.

We had finally been able to damage Nemesis, but even then, she recovered quickly. Meanwhile, Arthur was drained and clutched his side in pain.

Before Nemesis could finish him off, Kai rammed into her, fire engulfing his body. She dropped her katana as she laid sprawled on the floor like a dead, old granny.

"Hold up," I said, sheathing my knives. "It couldn't have been that easy."

"Correct!" Nemesis popped off the floor. However, she looked like somebody else… Marianne.

She started dancing around, jumping from side to side. It should have been so easy to blast her with a fire spell, but I just couldn't.

Kai looked at me with concern. "What's wrong?"

"She looks like… my sister," I stuttered.

Arthur blasted at her with an arc of lightning, the shot hitting her in the chest. Nemesis was hit back into a tree, wincing in pain, but I suspected that it was just an act.

Nemesis reached her hand out to me. "Sister! Please help me! He attacked me!"

"You can't trick me, Nemesis!" I said, seeing past her scheme. "Now go away!"

Nemesis changed back to her original form, no longer looking like Marianne. "Make me!"

Kai blasted large fireballs at Nemesis, who easily dodged them and hit the trees behind her.

Nemesis laughed. "You missed, hero!"

"You sure about that?" Kai asked, grinning. Behind Nemesis, the trees fell over, trapping her down.

"Good job, Kai," Arthur said, a smile tugging at his mouth. "Now, let's check on Oman."

As the three of us walked towards the lake, I heard a quick movement sound behind us. "Watch out!"

We quickly rolled to the side, Nemesis slashing the ground where we were. "I'm done playing around, heroes! Now die!"

She sped at Kai, the two locked in a swordfight. I shot fire spells at her while Arthur shot blasts of light. I could tell he was weak though, as his shots were woefully aimed and easily blocked.

"Arthur, rest," I said. "I don't want you to drain your energy."

Arthur waved away my concern. "I'll be fine, Rose. Thank you though."

Meanwhile, Nemesis finally disarmed Kai and blasted him with darkness into a nearby tree. She then disarmed me and knocked Arthur to the side. We were screwed.

Nemesis cackled. "Any last words, heroes?"

Kai and Arthur exchanged a quick glance before Kai turned towards Nemesis. "Um..."

"What are your final words?!" Nemesis snapped.

"Mmmmmmmmmm.. Watch your left!" Kai exclaimed.

Before I even knew what was happening, Nemesis turned to the left as Arthur came to her right, the Mask of Power on his face. He was surrounded by a blood red aura. Lightning coursed through his veins and his eyes were a mixture of red and blue. His skin also became golden-colored.

Arthur punched Nemesis with his fist, knocking her all the way back into a bush. Before she could get up, Arthur shot a large, stream of lightning at the goddess. Suddenly, it looked like we were winning.

"It worked!" Arthur yelled, his voice an octave lower. Kai jumped up in celebration as Nemesis crumpled to the ground.

Arthur blasted her far away from the airport with his wind powers, her body being carried away like a plastic bag in the wind.

"Nice work, you two!" I complimented, giving Kai a high-five. "Alright, Arthur, take off the mask and let's head off. We have a lot of traveling to do."

He stood still, unmoving. Kai walked toward him, waving his hand in front of his face. "Hey buddy, why don't you just hand us the mask?"

"No!" Arthur said, punching Kai away. "I wanna keep the mask on! I've never felt this much power in my life!"

He blasted an arc of lightning at me. I barely dodged, practically feeling the power of the attack. He began floating up, like he had when he got claimed.

Arthur laughed. "This feels so refreshing!"

He raised his hands up, a lightning bolt striking down next to me. I was lucky not to get hit.

"Arthur, stop!" I commanded. "You're not thinking straight!"

"Yes I am!" Arthur bellowed. He struck down a tree. "Now go away!"

Kai rose up off the ground. "Arthur, come on! Remember your friends! Remember Geneva! Remember all those funny jokes I told you!"

Arthur hesitated, pulling back his hand. "Geneva…"

"Yeah! Remember all those fun times you had with Geneva!" I said, continuing on the idea. He seemed to be getting weaker, bit by bit. "Remember your family!"

Arthur suddenly perked up, his aura becoming a deadly shade of red. I really shouldn't have brought up his family. He blasted a stream of lightning at me, knocking down the trees as I ran away.

"Buddy, this isn't you," Kai said. "The Arthur I know wouldn't attack his friends nor go for power! Come on! You're Arthur LionsWorth, one of the world's biggest tech moguls, one of the strongest demigods I've ever met, and a good person!"

Arthur grunted. His hands slowly reached for the mask, gradually pulling it off his face. Before long, he threw the mask off, his red aura diminishing and his eyes returning to normal.

He collapsed on his knees, paralyzed at what happened. "I'm sorry, guys. I don't know what got into me."

I gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Arthur. It was the mask talking, not you."

"Thanks, Rose," Arthur said, Kai helping him up. "Let's check back with everyone."

We walked over to the glittering river, where Amethyst tended to Alexander and Geneva's wounds and Oman dried himself with a towel, cursing under his breath.

Arthur sat down with Geneva as Kai talked with Alexander. I turned to Amethyst. "How's everything? Is everybody okay?"

"Mostly," she said. "We have all the masks, Geneva and Alexander have minor wounds, and Oman seems fine."

"Good," I looked at her, reading her expression. "What's wrong?"

"When Nemesis blasted the plane into the river, the compass broke. You guys will have no way to find the mask."

I froze, chills going up my spine. "Broke? What does that mean? Are we not going to be able to find the mask without it?"

"It doesn't mean that necessarily," Amethyst said. "You guys could probably still find it, it just would be a lot harder."

I sighed. "We'll have to deal with that later. For now, let's see if Oman has something to fly you guys back."

Oman walked over to us, his dark skin wet and crinkled. "Don't worry, Catastrophic Kenny's coming soon to pick us up."

"Nice," I said. I walked over to Kai and Arthur, who were discussing something. "Hey. You guys ready to leave?"

Arthur nodded. "Yep, and we have some supplies for the trip."

"Good," I said. "Where are we going first?"

Arthur brought out the map. "According to this, we'll find the first Iris pocket in Sellersburg, Indiana."

"And where will that send us?" I asked.

"To Washington. From there, let's hope we can find something about the mask."

Kai grinned. "Who's ready to go on a journey?"