" 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶. "

- 𝘌𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 #4 -

❛ ━━･❪ ✧ ❫ ･━━ ❜

"Hey, Eva, should I get these meatballs?" Cherry called, opening the refrigerator door.

"What? Get whatever you want!" Eva shouted, annoyance evident in her tone. She was busy disassembling a wooden table put out for display and started by levitating the decorative jars on the table and throwing them to the side. Then she rolled up her sleeves and started to take it apart.

"Steph, c'mon, I need your portal powers!"

Vicky and Steph were strolling casually through the aisles, peering into the shelves to see what was left to salvage.

"I want that one, uwu." Vicky pointed to a strawberry flavored ice-cream bar.

"I'll have one too," mused Steph as she opened a portal behind two ice-cream bars. They reappeared in mid air and dropped into the two's hands.

Meanwhile, Cherry was holding an armful full of frozen vegetable cakes and meat patties, eatables that were kept in freezers. They would have to heat it up during their journey, but better than risking eating expired and probably toxic food.

The four worked efficiently to gather food and supplies. Eva dumped the last of her wooden planks and metal bars ( originally IKEA shelves ) into the huge pile of materials ( and food that Cherry picked out ) set in the middle of the mall. With great effort, Steph opened a gaping portal beneath the pile. The portal swallowed it whole, transporting it all back to their base.

Steph wiped the sweat off her brow after closing the portal. "Alright," she groaned tiredly, "That's all of the supplies we need for now, let's go home--"

A crash echoed thunderously behind them.

"UwU, what was that?" Vicky squeaked. She turned around...

... and saw a huge spear of ice hurtling towards her face.

"Vicky!" shouted Steph. There was seemingly no stopping the ice from impaling her.

The ice pierced through the air like a speedboat ripping through water, generating a whooshing sound as it flew towards Vicky with stiff twirls in mid-air.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Everyone held their breath, eyes widened as Vicky dropped to a crouch at the last millisecond and rolled over. The spear missed her and continued whooshing through the air. It pierced through the wallpaper and concrete, digging into the core of the IKEA logo on the wall. The wallpaper around the spear started to freeze..

"Vicky! Are you okay?" Cherry exclaimed, running over to help her friend up. Vicky took a deep breath, the cold air rushing into her lungs. "I'm... fine."

Eva snapped her head in the direction from which the ice had come from, hands clenched. That was a close call.

The mall was eerily silent and empty. The freezing column of ice still stood embedded in the wall, frost radiating off of it, sending shivers down their spines.

"Who did that?" snapped Steph after a few moments of silence. "Show yourself!"

"Idiot," Eva hissed, "You think whoever's there will show themselves so easily?" Eva took a wary step forward, scanning their surroundings but there was no one in sight.

The air was as tense as it was chilly. The four held their breath and prepared themselves...

The spear of ice on the wall was starting to melt.

The bead of water skated from the soaked fragment of the wallpaper to the tip of the ice rod, curved over the edge, and dripped down onto the ground.

Drip...

Drip...

Drip...

The rounded sound resonated throughout the mall continuously...

But nothing happened.

"Alright, that's it," Eva said impatiently, "Lets just ignore it-"

That was when a shard of ice dropped from the ceiling and hit her on the head.

"What, it's raining ice now?" Eva yelled sarcastically, looking up.

"That's called hail, Eva, it's a natural occurrence-" said Steph exasperatedly...

...before her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

"Shit!"

But it was too late. The ground split open beneath Eva's feet, and she stumbled. An enormous cluster of ice spikes erupted from the rift and encased Eva in a block of ice.

There was barely any time for them to react before the ground started rumbling and the ceiling started shaking. The chandler displays in the next room shook violently, before dropping onto the floor, shattering into a million pieces. More ice shards sharp like the claws of a red-tailed hawk rained from the sky, falling on to everyone brutally.

"Ice powers?!" shouted Cherry, covering her head with her elbow as she used the other hand to summon a branch from the ceiling, allowing her to not be trapped.

"Careful!"

All of a sudden, ice spikes shot up from the ground. One rose directly below Vicky but Steph pushed her out of the way just in the nick of time. But that was not enough to save herself - the tip of her shoe touched the spike. In an instant, ice spread from the spike to her legs, and covered the rest of her body in icy frost, creating a human-shaped ice sculpture.

The whole room was enclasped into a freezing madness, ice and water everywhere. Vicky landed onto the ground roughly, scraping her palms and knees. She could barely think straight through the chaos, but she knew that she had to save their friends first. How long could one go encased in ice, without oxygen?

"Cherry!" She shouted as she scrambled to her feet. "Get them out of the ice!"

Cherry whipped out her cherry gun and shot at Steph with accurate aim. It hit the weak spots of the ice and it shattered into pieces. Steph blinked, before jumping to action. Wormholes appeared all around the mall, sucking in ice shards and preventing more ice spikes from appearing.

Steph gritted her teeth. It was excruciatingly difficult to open so many portals at once, especially since it was after she had already teleported so many materials. In fact, she was exhausted, even though she didn't show it. If there is someone who's going to attack me, there's no way I'm going to be able to handle that, I can barely even stand up right now..."Who's doing this?" She shouted in frustration.

Vicky dashed for Eva, activating her super speed. She reared her fist backwards, aiming forward for a powerful punch. But the ice was way stronger than anything she had ever hit. The punch was only strong enough to cause cracks on the surface of the ice. Trying again, she went backwards and ran towards Eva, narrowly dodging ice spikes on the way.

Right at that moment, Eva had already seen the cracks that formed on the ice encasing her and willed them to separate, then caused them to fly in all directions around her.

"Cursed refrigerator." she mumbled.

"Guys... just saying... I literally can't teleport anymore, so we're stuck." said Steph exasperatedly. She was trying her best to form a portal, but the most she could get was a small portal less than a foot in diameter. Sweat was forming on her head even when she was talking.

Suddenly, a budding ice spike shot out from the ground right in front of Vicky, causing her to change course but a big chunk of ice flew right at her as soon as she did. She crouched down to dodge it but the ground immediately began to freeze over, the ice charging towards her. Vicky willed herself to levitate up in the nick of time. But because that was one of the first times she did that, she lost control and crashed onto the ground, fortunately away from the ice. Desperately collecting her bearings, she caught a glimpse of a figure, sneaking among the shadows of the store.

"There!" Vicky yelled, pointing at the silhouette.

Ice stopped hurling at them and they heard a soft chuckle behind a cabinet.

A person stepped out from the shadows. He was tall, with a lean, athletic build. In one hand, he held an ice spear, indicating he was indeed the mysterious attacker.

Like a scene from a magical fantasy world, (contrary to their current post-apocalyptic situation), the figure unveiled his icy demeanor of dark blue robes, modern asymmetrical silhouettes and architectural shapes presenting a nod to the contemporary vernacular of the attire. A show of dazzling crystals, gold, as well as elaborate beading were of sparkling gold adorning the midnight blue like stars speckled across the vast night sky. His collar strutted high and tall, while the cloak flowed down to his ankles. It was surely extravagant, but at the same time elegant and imposing, even intimidating.

A matching wizard's hat rested on his head, casting a shadow over the stranger's face. It wasn't until he tilted their head back a little to survey his opponents, did Eva and the rest catch a glimpse of pale skin and sharp, icy blue eyes, pulverizing daggers that stung like the arctic wind as it bored into their eyes. The room was quiet, and everyone was staring at the unwelcomed guest for any sign of movement.

The person slowly, and slightly raised his ice spear at the four. A powerful gust of wind ruffled their clothes and in less than a millisecond, cracks of ice were rising and forming a dome around them, trapping them in an inescapable frozen fury. Cherry's branch broke and she fell to the ground painfully. He had done it so effortlessly, like his powers came naturally to him. Perhaps that was the most unsettling of all.

"Where are the food and supplies you collected?" He asked.

Steph did not read the room and decided to portray a cocky demeanor. "Gone." Steph said, a smirk on her face.

The stranger gritted his teeth.

"Eh. I'll just take your remaining supplies. And don't even try to get out. I expect our little dome will melt in a day or two." The stranger said, turning to leave.

"Why don't you just kill us now?" Eva scoffed, "Besides, I don't even need to try." Through the ice, Eva levitated a chair and threw it at his head.

A split second before the wood hit the back of his head, the stranger disappeared and appeared in front of them, outside the dome, his anger barely hidden behind his cold facade. "Are you asking me to kill you? Because I can perfectly do just that." His gaze fell coldly on her, nearly whispering the last sentence.

Eva stayed hesitant about her reply.

His powers allow him to easily turn spaces into freezing hell. We're in an enclosed space right now, which means he must be at his prime. He can use the walls and ceilings as vessels to enhance his power. The best course of action right now would be to leave, immediately.

"It seems like you're taking an awfully long time to generate a response, miss." he replied with a smirk. Suddenly, the ground started to quake. Eva looked down to see water lapping at her shoes, rising higher and higher by the minute. In frustration, she hammered at the ice dome, but it didn't break. If this continued, they would drown.

"This meeting's been fun, but it's time to get rid of you all. Can't have you getting in my way of survival, can I?" The stranger said quietly as he carelessly eyed the four. ( Eva was reminded of Glay. She mentally rolled her eyes at that thought. ) He took a step back and calmly watched as imminent death crept up on the four.

The water was already up to their knees now. "Steph!" called Eva, "you could really do some help now!" But as she turned around, Steph was visibly drained and struggled even to open the smallest wormhole, her eyes were scrunched up in frustration but no amount of concentration helped.

Shit, we should've gone out of this situation earlier... Eva conjured up a gun and shot at the thin ice layer. But that proved to be useless as a cluster of ice grew from the dome's inside and absorbed the bullet.

The water hugged their waist, soaking their lower halves. Eva took a deep breath, trying to fight the rising panic. She turned to face the stranger.

"Who are you?" shouted Eva to the mysterious person, fists clenched.

"Glacier." He replied after a second, "May I have the honor of knowing your name?" His tone remained flat, but it was clearly mocking them. Eva scowled, eyes lighting up an electric cyan blue. "Cherry," whispered Eva out the corner of her mouth, "Shoot at the ice."

Cherry hesitated, before realizing the water was up to their chest, and drew out her cherry gun. She shot at different points of the dome quickly- one, two, three times, shots that would've shattered it normally, but that wasn't the case for this dome.

"Can't you tell it's not going to work out?" Glacier said, frowning.

"Your parents didn't work out and you still happened!!" Cherry responded, aiming for higher and different spots. Shards of ice diverged from the dome to intercept the cherries. The fallen cherries floated miserably in the water, but it didn't stop Cherry from chaotically firing haphazardly in every direction possible, obviously enjoying as she did so.

Eva let Cherry distract Glacier as she concentrated on the windows of the mall. She closed her eyes and felt the pull of her powers tear rips in the glass, cracks spreading. One by one, she heard the breaking of window panes.

By the time Glacier realized something was up, it was too late.

Distracted by the funky cherry girl, Glacier couldn't stop the glass fast enough. His eyes widened. Pieces of the window shot toward the dome, piercing it in a thousand different places.

The five watched as thin lines spread across the dome's surface. The ice dome broke into fragments. Water, free from its constraints, rushed out impatiently and crashed into the walls of the room.

Chunks of jagged ice cascaded downwards as the dome collapsed. The five stared in horror, too late to act. Until, snap.

Suddenly, a wave of energy pulsed through the store. An aura of blue surrounded the ice shards, holding all of it in mid-air. Eva stood with her hands outstretched. Just in the nick of time, she had stopped their descent with her telekinetic powers.

The room held their breath as Eva seemed to struggle- then with a swift wave of her hand, the ice was redirected at Glacier. They shot through the air towards him, Glacier barely avoiding the attack with a quick leap to the side. The ice crashed onto the floor, shaking the ground beneath their feet.

Flurries of ice flew up in the air and cleared, as a silhouette limped towards them. Glacier.

"So you think you can beat the four of us? Please." mocked Eva, not bothering to suppress a smirk. "Give up while you can."

Glacier seemed to hesitate. He straightened, took off his hat, and placed it on a hat rack nearby. Turning to face the four again, he steadied his stance.

"Oh?" A pistol appeared in Eva's hand. "Go on and try."

"Don't underestimate anyone. It'll be the death of you." Glacier said in a hushed voice, his complexion cold as ever. Then he was gone, the last they saw of him an ice blue eye glowing bright.

"Where-"

Suddenly, Eva felt a chilly blast of wind behind her, the tell-tale sign of Glacier's powers. There was a sound like a sword being pulled from its sheath, and only split seconds to move.

Eva ducked, an icy sword passing above her head in a ferocious swing. Still crouched, Eva whirled around and shot at her attacker.

Clang! The bullet ricocheted off the hilt of the Glacier's sword, missing its mark. Glacier glared at her, taking a step back and raising his sword.

Then Steph was onto him, aiming a punch at his back. Glacier turned just in time, blocking her fist with the flat of his sword.

The two struggled. There was a click as Eva's gun reloaded, and without missing a beat, she aimed and shot. The bullet hurtled towards Steph as Glacier vanished once again. Luckily, the girl summoned a black hole just in time to swallow the bullet into oblivion. "Eva!" shouted Steph, annoyed.

Eva had no time to reply as Glacier lunged at her from the side. She stumbled backwards, into one of Steph's portals, and reappeared a safe distance away.

Now on the other side of the room, Eva surveyed their situation. Cherry had taken Eva's place and was shooting at Glacier with her cherry gun. However, her attempts to shoot Glacier proved futile as the boy reacted quickly to every attack, disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. A snap of his fingers, and the bullet froze in place, or went astray as a wave of water engulfed it.

His teleportation powers are quite the pain... Eva gritted her teeth. Then again, they had Steph.

Glacier had changed his weapon from a sword to a lethal polearm. He swung it at Steph, only to find that the end disappeared into a wormhole. A sharp pain from his right arm caused him to jerk his head to the side. The end of his polearm extended from a wormhole, the blade bloody after leaving a large gash on his arm.

"You're not the only one with portals, ice guy." Steph sneered, taking a step back. Perhaps Glacier couldn't tell, but beneath her confident facade lay an exhausted girl. Eva knew that Steph didn't have much energy left, having opened so many wormholes before to transport the materials.

Glacier had taken a step back, wary. Steph stared at him defiantly, hiding her exhaustion with a perfectly poised stance. She took a deep breath, and held her hands out.

Steph conjured all the energy left in her, hoping to suck Glacier into a blackhole, ending his reign once and for all.

A black hole appeared behind Glacier, but it wasn't menacing at all, for all it did was pull at Glacier's coattails, making the ends unattractively frayed. Tired, Steph bent over, clutching her knees as she panted. The black hole fizzled out of existence in a matter of seconds.

Glacier kept his smirk to himself. He closed his eyes, and the ground began to rumble. Steph looked up with a subtle gasp, the premonition of imminent disaster falling upon her.

Ice erupted from the ground, piercing through the floor tiles and up towards the ceiling. One after another, spikes and columns rose once again, looming over the five, their height making them seem insignificant. The entire store shook, similar and perhaps even more threatening than an earthquake. Objects and humans alike fell to the ground, the only one with steady footing being the ice's conjurer.

Like everything else in the vicinity of Glacier's powers, Steph had fallen, struggling to get up. With unfeeling eyes, Glacier stared at the girl and pointed at her.

"Steph!" shouted Eva, levitating into the air and trying to summon something out of panic-

An icy stake rushed up from the ground, impaling Steph straight through her torso. With all the chaos going on in the room, it was hard to distinct her pained gasp from all the other crashes and bangs, but her state was clear for all to see- her limp body dangling helplessly five foot above the ground, the tip of an ice spike through her stomach, crimson red blood staining the nearby walls and floors as it slid down the conical ice spike.

Glacier's unwavering cold gaze stared at the bloodied body as the sunlight reflected from the ice onto his face, showing his glacial complexion. It was obvious he wasn't done, as immediately, ice spikes began to take the spaces uninvaded, reaching new heights, blocking their view of Steph.

"Steph!"

Floating in the air and unable to land on the barbed ground, Eva was forced to weave and snake her way through the upsurging ice, trying to get to Steph. Many times she tried to summon a weapon to slice the ice in half, however it didn't work. The metal simply bounced off the surface of the frozen water, ricocheting towards Eva. The ice seemed impenetrable. It was clear Glacier was putting his all into this attack.

Then Eva saw a glimpse of red and black and green within the mess of white and frost- it was Cherry, a twisted branch that closely resembled a vine wrapped around her waist which stemmed from a rising cherry tree. Tentacles of wood and plant joined the fray, batting away ice spikes with a sturdiness comparable to Glacier's ice. Cherry caught Eva's glimpse and smiled with determination, her hands forming a thumbs up.

The roots of the newly grown cherry tree sneaked beneath the uprooted tiles, through the soil and stone beneath IKEA, and pierced through the ice spikes from below, where it was most vulnerable. Through the translucent ice, Eva saw the roots grow and diverge, then scarlet cherries blooming within the icy enclosing.

A second later, the ice spike burst into a million little fragments.

Despite their still losing situation, Eva grinned. "Keep doing that, Cherry!" She shouted.

"On it!" responded the girl, popping a cherry in her mouth.

Suddenly, Eva noticed something on the other side of the room. Steph's body wasn't on the spike, which was covered with blood, slowly trickling down. Then she saw the movement of a shadow. Steph? But Steph had been killed... hadn't she? Eva's eyes widened, perhaps her last act hadn't been futile-

Suddenly, she noticed her. Steph was standing in the corner of the room blocked by sunlight, her face darkened by the dim lights and her eyes wide. Her dress was bloodied at the stomach and in tatters, fresh blood slowly seeping and dripping into the ground. In her hand she clutched the two daggers Eva had thrown to her at the last second, the ones she had used to slice her way out of the ice. A terrifying, strong aura radiated from her. Alive, undefeated-

With a staggering but strong move, Steph took a swing at Glacier, the latter's eyes widening, stumbling backwards. Everyone was staring at them now- How in the world was Steph alive? Steph was unbothered- her left hand was already lunging at him, aiming to take a lethal jab at his waist. Then as the dagger brushed past him, Glacier disappeared, as swiftly as the wind.

"Screw you!" Frustrated, Steph landed in a roll, getting to her feet. Glacier was only able to teleport a few meters away, his powers slowly draining along with his energy. Steph's blade dove for Glacier's throat-

The dagger clashed with a rod of ice that Glacier held with two hands. Again? Steph growled, pressing as hard as she could, ignoring the flaring pain in her chest and the continuous dripping of blood there. She was not willing to let this newfound advantage go to waste.

"Glacier!"

Although the voice was loud, it was also unnaturally soothing, so much that Glacier felt inclined to look at the person calling. He fought against his own will, but in a split second he couldn't help but look back- it was Vicky. She posed no threat, a distance away, no weapon in her hand. Yet his gaze lingered and he couldn't stop staring. As she wore a sweet, almost genuine smile, an aura of charm seemed to surround her. Her undone, hazel brown hair framed her face perfectly so as to not cover her magnificent mix of cerulean blue and sky blue eyes, just like how the horizons of the sea meet the sky at the morning peak of day-

Steph kicked him in the stomach.

Glacier fell on his back. Heaving, he felt constricting vines wrap around his torso, pinning him to the ground. Cherry- He thought fleetingly, before a dagger was pressed against his throat.

"Thanks so much, I almost died from that wound." Steph said through gritted teeth, leaning over the defeated boy. "You're- welcome-" Glacier wheezed, sarcasm still escaping his lips despite his current situation.

"Steph." Vicky walked up next to Steph, who was still threatening Glacier with the dagger, putting a hand to her shoulder. "There you go," said the girl after a few seconds. What was that? Glacier realized with a start how much Steph's face seemed to relax. Steph, in fact, wasn't invincible to the attack and had been fighting him with a wound leaking blood. However, Vicky had just healed Steph. With Vicky in their team, minor, or even major injuries weren't a fatal problem. Glacier felt his own words hit him full force- Never underestimate your enemies.

It'll be the death of you.

Glacier watched with a pounding heart as Eva and Cherry walked up. A gun was pointed at him.

"It's the end."

As if I'm dying here.

Unbeknownst to the four, Glacier had another trick up his sleeve. With a gentle exhale, the ice spikes around them melted into water.

Gallons of icy cold water crashed onto them, the force knocking them away from each other. Eva felt a current carry her far away, slamming her into one of IKEA's walls. She opened her mouth to gasp for air, but only freezing water rushed in, stealing her breath.

The frigid water enveloped her, gnawing away at her exposed flesh and plunging her beneath the surface. It felt like being encased in ice once more. Eva screamed- but no sound came out.

In the darkness underwater, she struggled, her arms feeling weak yet rigid. She clawed her way to the surface when another wave of water above tossed her as she looked down to see Glacier heading straight for her. She manifested a sheet of plastic to float on the water's surface, and pulled herself onto it just as Glacier summoned a big chunk of ice to ram her vessel, sending her careening back into the water.

Struggling to breathe, she started to lose consciousness.

No, this can't be how it ends.

She needed to get out of this water, knowing that water was Glacier's territory. If she didn't quickly, this might be where it all ended.

Could I levitate water?

The fleeting thought passed through her mind momentarily, and she had no time to look back on how slim of a chance it was.

With a grunt, she transferred the rest of her energy into her powers. Something stirred inside her, and she felt the familiar pull.

The water around her blasted apart, launching her upwards. Only a brief escape from the icy water was needed, for Eva quickly levitated herself mid-air. Then she felt a unbearable pain in her lungs-

With a huge gasp, she coughed out the water out of her lungs, Eva took a well-needed gulp of air. She felt warmth return to her body, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Her friends.

"Shit!" Eva whirled around, checking for her friends. However, something else caught her eye.

When the ice melted, a large piece of ceiling had fallen, pulling along fluorescent light tubes and wiring.

A broken wire now dangled a few inches from the water. Small sparks of electricity flew from the open end. It was slowly falling down, with the sparks flickering everywhere. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it was.

Electricity spreads like wildfire in water.

Shit.

The wire and the electricity came in contact with the water-

Electricity spreads like wildfire in water-

Crackles of electricity climbed over the water like cursed roots at a ghastly speed, and curtained over the water like a glowing angled spiderweb. The pattern of the blue lightning shifted and shifted while the water blinked an eerie gray.

Underwater, bubbles formed, shrinking and reducing into fizzing pops as they rose to the surface. They were toxic, anyone who inhaled them would immediately faint and drown deeper in water.

Eva's first thought jumped to Vicky. Her friends were still in the water, and the more she dawdled the more they got electrified. Vicky could heal those wounds of theirs, however if Vicky perished...

Eva dove closer to the water's surface, scanning the flooded area desperately. The lights were shutting off one by one, flickering as the water stole their electricity. It only made the whole task harder.

Faint light still streamed in from the windows that Eva had broken previously, water lapping at the windowsills. Immediately Eva wondered why the water wasn't leaking from those areas. Upon closer inspection, she discovered a thin layer of ice over the window, sealing off the window. She gritted her teeth, knowing this had to be Glacier's doing.

Speaking of Glacier, where was he? Eva's fists clenched as anger flooded her body- then they loosened. She could care less about Glacier right now. He could be drowning, or safe somewhere else if he had the energy to teleport away. However the undeniable fact was that the longer her friends stayed in the water, the more their death was certain and irreversible.

Outside, the sky was slowly turning dark. Time was running out. There was no time to hesitate.

Eva summoned a gun, which had already become an easy act for her to perform. She shot at the windows once more, breaking the layers of ice. Immediately, water began to drain, albeit slow.

She turned back to the water, glimpsing a flailing hand. "Vicky!" shouted Eva, rushing over and almost, almost forgetting that she couldn't touch her yet-

She stopped in the nick of time. Eva's stomach lurched when she saw Vicky's body twitching in an uncontrollable way, her head bobbing up and down in the electrified water, bubbles spewing around her head as she tried to breathe but couldn't.

"Hold on," she breathed, summoning a pair of rubber gloves and hastily putting them on. She grabbed Vicky's hand, careful not to come in contact with the water. Hauling her upwards, Eva took a deep breath and levitated her.

Her heart dropped as her powers wavered for a second, fuelled by her draining energy. Luckily, Vicky didn't fall. Eva gripped Vicky's bicep tighter, not trusting her powers to be enough.

Steph, Cherry.

It had already been at least 30 seconds since this level of IKEA had flooded. Regular humans would've died much sooner, either by the shock or by the water. Eva hoped with all her heart that they could hold it a bit longer. She just needed a hand, or a leg, or anything she could grab on to.

Vicky was now out of the water, but barely conscious. Her weight was starting to weigh Eva down, so she looked around for a place to set her down, but saw none. All the tables and shelves were floating in the water, drenched. Suddenly she remembered the atrium in the middle of IKEA. From there, they could access the second floor of IKEA.

Eva flew up along with Vicky to the second floor and set her down, the fading sunlight from the windows hitting her in the face. She sucked in a breath as she was now able to notice the lightning-patterned swells that had appeared all over her body, red and fresh.

"Vicky." Eva slapped her cheek gently. "Vicky, wake up, fuck-" Eva put her hand on her forehead, covering her eyes, and let out a long breath. Shit- She gripped Vicky's shoulders more tightly, shaking her. "Wake up. WAKE UP!!" It was no use. Vicky's head lolled to the side, still unconscious.

I'll have to wait until she's awake on her own. When she's awake we can heal Cherry and Steph... Oh god, Cherry and Steph- I need to save them! Crap, what the hell was I doing a moment ago? Way to waste time, oh my god... Her heart sank.

Eva dashed back towards the atrium. I really need to work on my multitasking. She jumped downwards, hovering above the water as she flew through the store. Shit, I should've saved them first! I should've saved them all at the same time!

Mentally berating herself for messing up her priorities, Eva searched for her friends.

They seemed to be in quite a deep part of the waters, and they were probably still sinking. There was no choice, Eva had to try something different. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on the water, searching for every little clue.

A few bubbles to the left, a few meters down, a bit more to the right, more down, even further-

Pairing together physical clues and her levitation powers, Eva mentally searched and scanned through the waters. It was like fishing but with your mind.

Down, down, a few feet left- I can feel it now, a choking body, I'm not sure who it is.

With her eyes still closed, she put her hands in front of her as she pictured lifting up the body. Up, up! Move up. It was not easy to move things in water, and she had to move water away from the body at the same time to make it easier to move.

Just a few more feet and you're there! Up!

A huge splash erupted from the gray waters as the body was lifted out. It was Steph, her face stone cold and pale, her star-like hair lifelessly dangling from her body, a small puddle of blood forming on her body from the wound. It was not completely healed, but at least it wasn't gushing blood anymore. The same swells covered her body.

While levitating Steph, Eva began to search for Cherry among the waters. However, there was no movement anywhere she looked. She turned a corner, following IKEA's planned route for shoppers, cold sweat on the back of her neck as she yet again, found nothing. She entered the showrooms, decorated bedrooms and living rooms would originally be found here, but now the furniture either drifted miserably on top of the water or sank beneath the waves, never to be seen again.

Then something caught her eye- out of all the teddy bears and night lamps, a lone cherry was floating in the water.

Suddenly Eva could imagine Cherry, suffocating and drowning, and in a last, desperate attempt, shot a cherry from her cherry gun, knowing it would float to the top where it could be seen-

In the windowless room there was no way to make sure, but did Eva see a dark shadow beneath the cherry?

Eva couldn't help but break a relieved smile. "I knew I could count on you." The waters stirred as Eva levitated a sopping wet Cherry out, eyes rolled back. You can't die. You can't die now that I've found you, Eva prayed in her mind.

And then miraculously, she saw Cherry's chest begin to rise and fall. Yes! She levitated Cherry closer.

"Got you," said Eva.

❛ ━━･❪ ✧ ❫ ･━━ ❜

a/n

after. so. long. 

i'm so sorry

uhh fyi this is like almost 6000 words?? 

now this isn't over yet, we've still got a ton more, this fight isn't close to being done yet so we're leaving you guys on a cliffhanger 

look forward to verse five heheh