"It's no one, Ma!" Brandon said. My ear twitched, picking up the rising desperate feeling in his voice.
"There's someone under there," I heard her respond. The floorboards creaked, getting louder with every step she took.
I heard the sound of air whooshing past. The blankets ruffled. I heard a thud and saw a bright blue flash.
"Fionna!" Brandon yelled. I heard banging, which must mean he leaped out of his chair and it flew back into the wall. "What was that?!" he demanded. I heard him grunt, and Fionna breathing heavily.
I threw the covers off and saw Brandon and Fionna wrestling on the floor. Brandon was barely avoiding the Lucario's black paws. Fionna had a look of desperate urgency on her face.
"Fionna!" I barked. "Let him go this instant!" I leaped off the bed, landing with grace that surprised myself on the floor. My hands flew up. As they hit the ground again--with a lot of force-- I jumped up. As if I had done this countless times, I leaped from the floor to the bed to the top of the dresser.
All in an instant.
In that time, dark energy had exploded up from the floor. The wood cracked, giving way to the blackness. I saw a woman with blonde-red hair laying on the floor, a rip on the stomach of her sweater. That must be Brandon's mother.
Alice is petrified standing by the chair- sideways on the ground like I predicted. Her eyes are wide, her muscles tense.
When the darkness clears, I see Brandon panting by the wall, holding Fionna up. "Sorry," Fionna apologized. "She was... going to find out about July..."
"That escalated quickly," was all I could say.
"Now let's get her to her room," Alice said, transforming into her human self. Her purple tail whipped around behind her, getting shorter by the second until it disappeared completely.
"All right, let's go," Brandon said. He laid Fionna down on the floor, smiling slightly.
I felt a twinge of... jealousy?!
As he stepped forward, he grimaced, his hand holding his abdomen. "Guess you're stronger than I thought," he said to me, sinking down into the corner.
"Sorry!" I apologized, running to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said. "Just get my mom to her room before she wakes up."
I nodded, jogging to his mother. I wrapped my arms around her torso and started lifting her up. Alice grabbed the woman's legs with one hand--one hand?! Again, I'm glad she's not my enemy! Together, we carried her to a nice room. It had an ebony King-size bed with white covers, beige walls, and a white ceiling with texture.
We set her down on the bed as she started to stir. I looked at Alice, who nodded. We both bolted out of the room.
As we entered Brandon's room, I felt a wave of nausea hit me. I fell to the side, clutching the door frame. "Oh my God," I gasped. I clutched my stomach, my ears flat back and my tail tucked between my legs.
"July!" Brandon yelled. He ran towards me as my vision blurred, my line of sight narrowing to a small line as I squeezed my eyes shut in pain.
"Stupid formula," he growled, catching me as I fell.