ambush

I hadn't even made it ten feet forwards when I suddenly stopped, my senses ringing, alerting me.

yet they were too late, as the attack landed dead on, launching me to the left, my body tumbling violently through the air before slowing enough after blasting through a multitude of trees, to the point where I was able to right myself midair and dig my feet down into the earth below, stopping myself as two trenches exploded open in front of me, a scar along the ground, a trail to show how far I had travelled.

I was only really allowed a moment or two to orient myself before my attacker made themselves known to me.

"this isn't your world pillar of darkness."(woman) declared as she appeared before me, sword in hand, the blade a glowing white, the handle a dark wispy black.

"no shit sherlock!"(Granularr) I responded as I charged her, quickly sending a punch as a feint, her arms raising to block just as I dropped my arm and spun into a kick, the attack launching her backwards quite a distance as her landing rumbled the ground, the quakes reaching all the way back to me.

I thought that would be it.

but no, it wasn't.

"looks like you haven't lost any strength, show me the monster I've heard so much about!"(woman) exclaimed as she once more appeared before me, sword raised and swung downwards towards me.

it was too quick to dodge, so I made a choice, sacrifice my arm, not my life.

with that in mind I backstepped as I raised my left arm, coating it in shadow as the blade made contact, the sharp metal passing through with no resistance as the limb was sent flying, only for tendrils of black to shoot from it and reattach to the remaining stump that was my arm, the limb quickly dragged back into place from midair.

"who sent you?"(Jake) I asked hopeful for an answer as I ducked low and rushed forwards, slipping past her newest sword attack.

"the gods of this world don't take kindly to outsiders!"(woman) responded as she swung her sword at me once more, the blade narrowly missing me as I leaned backwards to dodge, the fabric of my hoodie tearing in a clean line from the wind of its passing alone.

"obviously."(Granularr) I sighed as I ducked another swing, uppercutting her in the stomach as I stood, here body soaring upwards only to disappear moments later on my right, sword mid swing, there wasn't enough time for me to dodge, so it entered into my side.

drip....

drip....

drip....

BOOM

after my eyes locked onto the slow dripping of blood, a rage entered me, an emotion so powerful that my body moved on its own in retaliation to the attack, my fist blazing towards the woman, reaching its target as my aura exploded and the shadows began lashing out against the now airborne woman.

the high extending dark tendrils tipped in blades lashing out violently against the free faller, who was somehow unable to teleport back to the ground.

fucking.

lightbulb.

I had just found a weakness!

I thought as she smashed face first into the ground in front of me, the trees around shaking as the ground loosened in a wave, just enough for them to lose balance and nearly collapse onto her, only stopped by their strong roots in the deeper parts of the ground, and even those were showing signs of strain.

"there he is, don't you dare dishonor me by pulling back, SHOW ME THE MONSTER!"(woman) bellowed as she forced herself from the ground and towards me, sword pointed at me as it was held close to her side, ready to thrust forwards, her own momentum added to it.

something I didn't allow to land as I released my aura on full, my body brimming with power as the forest all around me was consumed in a wave of aggressive darkness.

a wave so powerful that it consumed everything in its path, spitting out whatever remained completely carefree as it moved, turning a once lush hillside tree filled landscape, into a now barren wasteland ravaged by shadows, the woman standing just barely in front of me, her clothing ripped and torn, her skin bruised and bleeding, her body panting for air as if she had just run ten marathons back-to-back.

sirens of blaring alarm soon filled the air as helicopters began taking off and converging on our location alongside adults from the somewhat untouched academy in the distance.

"I asked for the monster, now every living thing that was once here, is dead, I apologize, I was too hasty in my need for combat."(woman) said with a bow before quickly collapsing to her knees.

clearly injured and exhausted, her sword now missing, seems she had used it in an attempt to survive.

"you realize all I did was just release my aura, right? I didn't eat any babies, quit it with this whole monster thing."(Granularr) I told her as I started walking the short distance over to her, soon stopping dead in my tracks as a bullet whizzed into the ground past my extended leg, the copter overhead hovering as a man with a rifle took aim, at me, the adults from the academy soon joining, surrounding me.

"take it easy, we're all friends here, everything is going to be alright."(teacher) from the academy said in his attempt at a soothing voice, wait, was he talking to me?

"what are you talking about?"(Jake) I asked the man calmly with confusion in my tone.

"no one is going to hurt you."(teacher) said again in his "soothing" voice.

he was totally talking to me!

I wasn't even able to reply before someone else unwelcomely joined in.

"stand down! now!"(man) with the rifle bellowed interruptedly in an aggressive ordering tone, shouting at me through a megaphone on the helicopter.

"alright! will everyone take their heads out of their asses?! all that happened here was a mutual fight between two powerful people, relax for fuck's sake!"(Granularr) I echoed loudly, my power imbuing my voice with volume.

and as if to make me even less credible, the woman I had been fighting with, fully collapsed, soon fading into particles, particles that drifted off with the afternoon breeze.

"ok, that was an accident."(Jake) I said as I put my hands up in an, "I'm innocent." gesture.