FAN-FIC PART 2 ~~KALLISTA PENDRAGON~~

*epic sigh*

my back is caining right now. its 10:00pm and i really should get to bed soon. *epic sigh x2*

First off. I AM SORRY.

My brother could not make the deadline and draw an image of you, Kallista. He had to make it to an important conference (a.k.a party) and so was totally unprepared when he came home at 9:00pm and i told him to draw you. So, on behalf of my brother, your drawing completion deadline has been moved. 

Most likely, and when i say this i mean a HUGE possibility, that it will be on FRIDAY. *epic sigh* god, my back hurts.

So maybe 7:00pm, maybe 8. But that's on my watch, of course...

NOW, just because i don't have an image of you, doesn't mean i'm not going to give you a part in the story. :D in fact, Kallista, here's your consolation prize:

STORY:

(i literally just completed this part. I havn't even finished the draft of the next part, so i would expect part 3 on saturday. poss. nxt wednesday. Just a precaution :D) 

Kallista Pendragon ducked under the swinging scythe of a cleaver, and then splayed her hands to send the scythe spinning away. Not even pausing to notice his obvious lack of weapons, the grey-suited soldier charged, a fist drawn back. She grabbed the punch and used the cleaver’s own momentum to throw him over her body and onto the ground. Her old judo master would have been proud.

Kallista had studied a vast amount of magic, practicing well to master them. One such example of this was her elemental powers. She had chosen to delve deeper into the earth part of them, finding strength in the land. Closing her eyes now and gripping the arm of the cleaver before her, she drew the rock from the ground and covered him until he was nothing but a statue. The effect would end in a few hours, leaving the stunned cleaver alive and well. Satisfied, she turned around, and a fist collided with her face and the darkness came.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the one called Necros battling her assailant. He pulled out an eccentric looking gun and fired at the cleaver, point blank. As the cleaver fell, Necros bent down and shut his eyes, muttering some unknown prayer. Then he stood and grabbed Kallista’s hand, dragging her to her feet. “Come on!” he shouted, as her hearing returned. “We have to go!”

They ran out of the alley way, only to be confronted by more cleavers. “Skyril,” muttered Mary. “This would be a really good time to…”

“I’m on it!” said Skyril, hand outstretched. Simultaneously, every cleaver fell stumbling, trying to rip off their helmets. One of the cleavers managed to and Kallista saw that beneath their eyelids was an abnormal white light. They clawed at their eyes as she ran to catch up with the group. She sprinted just behind them, feeling her lungs burn. She saw herself falling behind as they raced through the Japanese streets. I’m not built for this, she found herself thinking. I’m a sixteen year old, for God’s sake!

But she wouldn’t let herself be seen as a novice in her friend’s eyes. Kallista pushed herself, and soon they emerged out onto a road, just in time to see a skeleton and a barber hopping into a van.

“Oh,” said Skulduggery. “Hello…”

“Hello!” replied Mary brightly, and punched him in the jaw.

Necros slipped on a silver bangle, touching three symbols on it. More parts flowed out from the first, extending outwards and enclosing his whole arm in armour. On his hand he now wore a silver gauntlet, shining in the afternoon light. Kallista watched him slash through Skulduggery’s jacket, scraping across his ribs. The skeleton grunted, and Ghastly frowned. “Hey,” he said. “I made that suit…”

The skeleton detective’s gun flashed out, and he rested the barrel on Kallista’s forehead. Everyone froze.

Her heart pounded, and distantly, beyond its loud throbbing, she heard Skulduggery talk.

“And now the tables have turned. I’ve had a really bad day, so there’s no reason why I won’t pull this trigger. Now, if you would all kindly slip on these shackles I have waiting for you, I will put the gun away.”

“You wouldn’t,” said Skyril.

“Try me.” He thumbed the hammer.

No-one moved. Dragona opened his mouth to speak and Skulduggery pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked. Kallista stared at the empty barrel and blinked. Skulduggery pulled the trigger once more, just to make sure, then shrugged. “Damn,” he said, sliding it back in its holster.

Ghastly shook his head. “You wasted all of your bullets trying to shoot Dusk, and even then you missed him.”

“Ah well,” said the detective. “Back to basics.” Fire leapt into his hand.

“You do know we outnumber you six to one?” questioned Kallista, her heart rate finally returning to normal.

“Yeah. But we’ve got reinforcements.”

“Where are they?”

Silence. “They’re coming.”

“Can they get here in thirty seconds? Because that’s when we’re going to be riding off in that wonderful van of yours.” said Skyril.

He paused. “Ah, no.”

“Good,” she said, and blinded Ghastly. Skulduggery threw his fire ball at Kallista, and she dodged to the side. She stood, shadows curling around her gloved hands. The gloves themselves were a design stolen from the Necromancer Temple, when Kallista used to go there. Then she realised how much time she was wasting waiting for the end of the world, and she quit, taking the knowledge she had learnt and the black gloves with her. Plus, she hated those clerics. It was always Death Bringer this and end of the world that.

She swept her arms and a wave of darkness slammed into Skulduggery and Ghastly, sending them flying down the road. They piled in to the van, driving off.

“Well,” noted Dragona. “That went well.”

“Yep,” said Necros. “In one day, we were double crossed, attacked, almost arrested and held at gunpoint. What a great day.”

“Wait-” Skyril looked around the van. “Where’s Bridget?”

All was quiet. Kallista spoke up. “You don’t think she’s…dead?”

“No,” breathed Mary. “We would know by now. She’s probably just…just…”

She didn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t. Everyone just sat there, heads bowed and eyes wide. None of them spoke, because, quite frankly, they couldn’t.

*****

The Japanese warehouse was old and unused. Crate upon crate were stacked haphazardly, filled with forgotten machinery and packing foam. They wandered past the boxes and finally found a good enough place to hold out. Kallista helped light a small fire, then jumped the crates, climbing until she found the highest point. She slipped on her Skull Candy headphones and scrolled down until she found Watercolour by Pendulum.  Instantly, the lyrics began to swim back and forth within her mind.

When I'm falling down
Will you pick me up again?
When I'm too far gone
Dead in the eyes of my friends

Will you take me out of here?
When I'm staring down the barrel
When I'm blinded by the lights
When I cannot see your face!

She gathered her kimono around her and let herself doze, listening to the song on repeat.

Kallista woke with a start. She had heard a noise, far off. She sat up, curious to see what had woken her.

She heard the noise again, off to her left. She read the air with her fingers. Damn, she thought, scanning the warehouse quickly. How the hell did they find us?

She spotted them, a small group of dark figures moving through a gap in the wall. They moved quietly and gracefully, using hand movements and signs copied from the military. The last person walked in, his hands to his head. Finbar Wrong, identified Kallista. Of course.

The intruders crept silently along, splitting up to find her friends. She needed a weapon. The only one she had were her necromancer gloves, but she had left them in the car.

“Damn,” she muttered quietly, then looked around for another way to the vehicle other than the door. She saw the skylight above her and got to work fiddling with the lock. She climbed onto the roof, unsteadily crouching there.

Kallista slipped and fell, sliding along the slanted roof. She struggled as she neared the edge, realising that she was going way to fast. There was no-way she could just slide off that roof without breaking her neck.

“Ah, to hell with it,” she cursed, pushing at the air. Her body flung off of the roof, arcing silently through the night sky. Then gravity took hold and the moolit ground rushed to meet her. She used the air to cushion her fall, then scrambled up and ran to the van. The doors were locked. She almost screamed in frustration, but kept her cool. Her hands touched the ground and the earth seemed to latch onto them, covering her fist completely in rock. She gave her arm a couple of try-out swings, and then smashed it into the window. The glass shattered and she focused on ‘shedding’ the rock so that it fell to the ground.

She could see her gloves sitting on the back seat, and she reached inside…

Her kimono’s long sleeves snagged on a piece of glass, still attached to the frame of the window. She tugged at it, and was hoping her friends were alright when she saw movement in the reflection. With milliseconds to act, she grabbed the gloves, flinging them out of the van and kicking out behind her randomly. She heard the kick connect and the attacker grunted and rolled as Kallista spun, flame in each hand. It was only then with this light that Kallista saw who it was.

“Valkyrie?” she asked, holding the flame closer.

“Kallista?” came the reply.

For a split second, they relaxed in the company of each other. Then there was a scream from the warehouse; the fight had begun.

“I need those gloves,” Kallista told Valkyrie. “Right now.”

“I’m sorry Kallista. I…” Valkyrie hesitated. “Why’d you have to go do it? You could have stayed as far away from them as possible. You didn’t need to get caught up in this. I…I tell you what. Because we’re friends, I’ll give you one chance. Walk away now, please.”

There was another scream. “I’m sorry, Valkyrie. But we both know I’m not going to do that.”

Valkyrie sighed. “I didn’t want to do this, Kallista. But you leave me no choice. I guess I’ll see you in jail.” She raised her hand and the air around Kallista’s head disappeared. She had mere seconds before she’d become unconscious.

Her gloves lay by Valkyrie’s feet. She devised a plan, just as the darkness started closing in. She hated that feeling. When she had to gasp for a breath that she knew wasn’t there. It reminded her faintly of a dying fish, unable to breath without water in its gills.

She took hold of the earth beneath the gloves with her elemental skills, manipulating it as best as she could. She yanked her now-numb arm back, spiking the ground and shooting the gloves at Kallista. She slipped one of them on, not feeling the cold of night anymore. Valkyrie just stood there and frowned as Kallista swiped with her hand, and the darkness rained upon her.

Instantly, Kallista’s breath returned, and she crouched there, breathing heavily. She glanced at Valkyrie’s crumpled form, feeling an ounce of guilt, and then got up and ran.

Her friends were in trouble, and she wasn’t about to let them down.