As the golden anomaly rose from the floor, her golden eyes flickered with intense vexation.
She then turned to Marcus, aiming a hand at him. "Faster!" She shouted, her eyes narrowing as six orbs of golden ether formed over her in an arc.
Marcus looked up at the orbs with an aggravated frown. Watching as the crackled and radiated pure, concentrated ether. He noted them as dangerous, but he couldn't break his charge.
He couldn't let this golden anomaly lock him down like the serpent and its fire.
He couldn't let her attack scare him like Susan and her relentless bashing.
He had to face this anomaly and overwhelm her with everything he had.
With the flick of her wrist, the six orbs of energy rushed toward Marcus one after the other. Marcus quickly relied on his instincts, dodging the first bolt of ether with a twist to the right.
The first orb grazed past him, missing by a mere inch. It crashed on the floor behind him, blasting shards of tile everywhere.
Feeling the heat of the second orb, Marcus dropped to the ground racing forward on all fours. The orb flew over his head, frying the air as it passed overhead.
He had successfully dodged the first two, but the remaining four were relentless and found their mark.
The third orb hit Marcus in his shoulder, swiftly followed by the fourth hitting him in the leg.
The impact was brutal, ripping and burning his flesh with the heat of a thousand suns. Marcus screamed in agony from the sensation of feeling his flesh being cooked from the inside out.
His blitzing charge slowed as he felt the pain radiating through his body.
Slowing from the pain left Marcus open for the fifth orb to smack him in the chest. The collision was intense, knocking the wind out of his lungs as it melted his flesh. As the golden orb dissipated into embers of ether, the sixth orb cane for the final blow smashing against his back.
Marcus hit the ground like a car crash into a brick wall. The impact sent shockwaves through the surrounding area, collapsing entire shelves as the floor broke into dozens of shards.
The silence that followed was deafening.
The anomaly floated with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Slow, slow, slow." She said coldly, gritting her teeth as golden spit flew from her mouth. "You're weak, your form is sloppy, and you haven't once teleported." Her face wrinkled with frustration and irritation. "Who are you, so confident yet so weak!"
Soft chuckles came from Marcus. "You're… weaker." He said confidently. Slowly pushing himself out of the crater he was in.
Blood streaked from his mouth and eyes, he continued to laugh as he rose from the floor to his knees. Marcus could feel his core swirling rapidly, racing with an uneven rhythm.
Sliver energy began forming around him like an aura, his eyes gained a sliver brim around the iris. His hair flickered between silver and its natural black color.
"You want faster?" Marcus asked as he rose to his feet. A smile danced on his lips as he continued to laugh. "Prepare yourself, because you're about to get it."
The anomaly widened its golden eyes for a brief second.
They flicked with emotion.
Was it fear?
Confusion?
No, it was something quite indescribable, a mix of such a vast amount of emotions, that the anomaly herself couldn't place it.
Marcus swiftly blitzed the anomaly once more, both his hands extended into long silver blades.
The anomaly braced herself as she extended both her hands into long golden blades.
You'd be forgiven if you expected a clash between blades, but that's not what happened.
Upon reaching the anomaly, Marcus thrust his hands forward. The blades they were made to be, receded in place of his hands, which were charged with ether. The anomaly's eyes widened at the sudden change, but there was nothing she could do.
Marcus quickly fired off the bolts of ether, they smashed against the anomaly's small frame with so much force that she flew to the opposite side of the building, crashing into the frozen foods section.
Marcus wasted no time in blitzing after her, landing before her with a hard touchdown. Marcus spotted the anomaly crawling out of a broken freezer. Marcus moved in to attack her, but she gritted her teeth and blinked away.
Marcus' instincts told him she'd be reappearing on his right. So he quickly charged a massive bolt of ether and aimed it toward his right. Sure enough, she reappeared exactly where he thought.
"Faster!" He shouted mockingly as he fired off the bolt of ether.
The anomaly barely had time to react, swiftly dodging to the left as the place she was just in got engulfed in Marcus' silver ether. Breathing a sigh of relief, she quickly looked back to where Marcus once stood.
Only to see him gone.
"I-impossible!" She shouted in disbelief, before feeling a cold hand squeezing the back of her head. The anomaly locked up, her small frame not moving a single inch.
"Impossible?" Marcus whispered with a laugh, "Oh you're too kind." He then laughed as he yanked the anomaly in a backward arc, throwing her towards the floor with all his might.
As the anomaly crashed into the floor, Marcus flew after her feet first, refusing to wait for the dust to settle. His feet smashed against the anomaly's chest, causing her to cough up golden saliva as her form spewed a metallic liquid similar to when Luna was cut.
Marcus laughed as he looked down at the anomaly. "Faster, faster, faster!" He repeated mockingly as he stomped down on the anomaly's chest harder.
The anomaly screamed in pain as she grabbed Marcus' ankle. Her expression was one of horror and genuine fear. "How!" She said between her shouts, "How can this happen?!?"
Marcus laughed as he slid the anomaly across the floor with his foot, sending her crashing into the wall of freezers. Glass and frozen food went flying, making room for the anomaly to settle in.
Golden fluids leaked from the anomaly as It lay buried in the freezers. Its head was dropped low as its limbs dangled freely.
Marcus laughed as he slowly walked towards the anomaly. "But you need faster, right?!" He shouted with a grin, spreading his arms wide.
"She lied." The anomaly said softly. "Her holiness lied about your abilities so that I would misprize you."
Her tone was of disbelief and reverence. The anomaly then looked up to the slowly approaching Marcus with a grin.
"This wasn't just a test for you boy." She said with wild eyes. "It was a test of my faith, of my loyalty, my strength!" The anomaly's grin widened as golden tears streamed down her cheeks. "I am going to rip you limb from limb, grind you into a dust finer than that of atoms, your death will bring me true glory!"
A golden aura began to radiate around the anomaly as she pushed herself out of the freezer. The power she emanated felt like the pressure of the moon had fallen upon him.
Marcus chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Now you're talking!"
"That's enough Grand Disciple." A calm voice called from behind Marcus. Turning around Marcus was greeted with two more Luna lookalikes, but instead of silver or gold, they were of a brown or copper color. "Her holiness has seen enough."
Marcus raised an eyebrow at the sight of the copper anomalies. "Are you here to fight me too?" He asked with a smirk.
"No." One of the anomalies said as she shook her head. "We have only come to collect the Grand Disciple, though if you wish to fight we will not interfere."
"Though your death would be swift." The second anomaly chimed in, "The Grand Disciple has destroyed entire fleets on her lonesome."
"Fleets?" Marcus asked curiously, "What, like boats, like military ships or something?"
"You ask questions we are not to answer." She replied.
Marcus frowned. "Okay then, care to explain why you all look like Luna?" He asked.
"We are molded and formed from the same origin, we do not look like 'Luna' as you call her, she looks like the collective."
Marcus didn't know what to think, so not only were there golden Luna, but copper ones as well. Marcus's mind raced with questions, but these anomalies didn't look to be in the mood to answer them.
"You two return, I wish to speak with Marcus before I join you." The golden anomaly said with a sigh.
Marcus looked down to see the golden anomaly had quietly made her way to Marcus' side. She stood with her arms crossed, her dress ripped, and her skin covered in golden liquid.
"As you command." The anomalies said in unison, before returning to the rift.
Marcus watched as they disappeared, flying into the rift.
"Your skills are impressive Marcus, I can see why the holy one has an interest in you." The golden anomaly commented while looking out into the ruin and chaos they had sown within the store. "But your skills could be refined."
Marcus chuckled as he studied the golden anomaly. "You sure changed your tone." He joked.
"It's what's required of me, so I obey." She replied.
Marcus bent down to pick up the anomaly in a similar fashion to how he'd picked up Luna.
The anomaly looked confused at first but found herself relaxing shortly after.
"What are you?" Marcus asked curiously.
"A question best suited for the Arc-Disciple you stole from me." The anomaly answered, "Now if you will, I must return."
Marcus sighed as he placed the anomaly down. "I'm sorry by the way." He said with a conflicted frown, "I hope I didn't hurt you."
"Ha!" The anomaly said with a laugh as she stopped before the rift. "The pain you caused was by luck, and was healed the moment I crashed into that freezer."
Her expression then softened. "Keep your head on a swivel Marcus, and remember…"
She then looked back at Marcus with a smirk. "…move fast, react faster."
Marcus then watched as the anomaly jumped into the rift, disappearing along with it.
"Well alright…"
Marcus was utterly confused and dumbfounded by the entire situation. As he stood in the wreckage of what was once a pristine store, he was left with more questions than answers.
Suddenly Marcus was brought back to reality by the sounds of approaching footsteps. "Sir!" The woman from earlier shouted from near the entrance. "We just say the ether levels drop to nominal levels, are you alright?!"
"Yeah!" Marcus shouted back, "Did you guys see what happened?!"
"No, sir!" We were all outside, "we only moved in once the ether levels dropped." The woman got close enough that she could stop shouting, "We couldn't see anything."
Marcus frowned. "How convenient." He said with a shake of his head. "What are you guys going to do about this place?" Marcus asked as he grabbed his clothes from the woman.
The woman looked around the ruined store with a pale face. "Uhm, it might be cheaper to just… finish demolishing the place."
Marcus chuckled as he slipped on his pink flip-flops. "Do I need to file a report of what happened?" He asked. "Or can I just… hope away without the paperwork?"
"Well, you should at least send a report to Dr. Fletcher, she was the one who sent you in place of Officer Kingsdale, right?"
Marcus sighed. "Yeah…"