Violet, with her precious ears, heard five distinct heartbeats. Standing in the hospital staircase, she sniffed the air, catching the pungent stench of rot that saturated the building. Beneath the decay lingered the sweat of three men, though their scent was nearly drowned out by the hospital's sewage-like reek.
"There's three people clustered together on the fourth floor," Violet murmured to herself.
She listened again, tuning into the faint echoes of Vex's footsteps. Each movement Vex made churned the air currents around her, sending gusts spiraling upward. The winds intensified, cracking the concrete floor beneath Violet's feet.
"What's happening down there?"she wondered, gripping the rusted stair rail.
Without hesitation, she vaulted over the railing, plummeting down the staircase. Momentum surged as she descended. "Guess I'll just help her out," Violet declared with a resigned sigh, her voice swallowed by the hollow stairwell.
***
Vex danced a perilous dance, dodging explosions that erupted seemingly at random. A disembodied voice hissed commands in her mind: *Jump! Duck left! Duck right!* Her legs burned as if pierced by a thousand needles, and her heart hammered so violently she feared it might burst.
"You're quick, darling—but how do you predict my attacks?" purred the elegant woman across from her.
"Oh, I've got a sixth sense. Peek into the future and all that," Vex replied, flashing a mischievous grin.
"And you're the one who opened this Border, aren't you?" the woman pressed, tilting her head.
"Someone's done their homework," Vex shot back, narrowing her eyes.
The woman raised her palm, levitating effortlessly into the air. With a theatrical swing of her arm, she sent a shockwave ripping through the ground. Vex lunged sideways just as the floor where she'd stood erupted into jagged debris.
"God damn logical paradoxes," Vex spat, skidding backward. "Still can't crack your damn power."
"Aww, poor thing," the woman cooed, flicking her gaze toward a collapsed wall fragment. The rubble shuddered, then rocketed toward Vex like shrapnel.
Vex twisted and pivoted, weaving between chunks of concrete, steel pipes, and shattered medical equipment. She lunged for her discarded suitcase, yanked out a pistol, and fired twice. Both bullets deflected harmlessly off an unseen barrier.
"Color me impressed," Vex said, panting. "What's your name, gorgeous?"
"Widow, sweetheart. Just Widow," the woman answered, her smile sharp as a blade.
"Well, Widow" Vex drawled, plopping into a nearby rolling chair, "how 'bout you solve that little formula for me? Pretty please?" She batted her eyelashes mockingly, her voice squeezed like a child's.
"You're clever enough to figure it out yourself," Widow retorted, clapping her hands. Vex leaped out the chair. The chair imploded instantly, flattened into a metal pancake.
Vex's eyes ignited with faint purple light, tendrils of smoke curling from their corners. She stared up at Widow, now hovering near the ceiling, and saw a swirling orb of violet energy encircling her. Numbers flickered within it like glitching code.
Vex raised her arm to strike but froze mid-motion. Widow suddenly hissed, jerking her head upward as if hearing distant bad news.
"Fuck—that lumbering fool actually died," Widow muttered under her breath.
"Trouble in paradise?" Vex taunted, training her pistol on the woman.
"None of your concern," Widow snapped. The purple energy inside her writhed like a trapped storm. A gale-force wind erupted, hurling loose equipment and debris across the room.
Vex earpiece lights up with vaguer the static give and replaced with quite tone. Grabbing her phone she dial a number. Still dodging every attack that came her way. Earpiece ringing then finally a voice answered.
"Hey Vex" said a sweet and innocent voice.
"Oh hey Jes, just quick question," Vex said in a tone of a mother asking a child.
"Yeah shoot" Jes said happily
"Where the fuck are you?!" asked Vex blood boiling out of anger. Dodging a large desk that was flown her way, wood and sharp metal litter the ground. Each step is more dangerous than the last.
"Well we just finished searching the other location and we went to grab some candy" replied Jes
"Fucking candy bitch get your ass down here now," replied Vex reaching her limit
"Okay, Okay where 40 miles out. We will be there in 3 minutes or so," said Jes as the signal cuts out.
"Jes, Jes fucking shit," said Vex
"You've been on the phone for too long," said Widow, raising an arm.
*Survive*—the voice in Vex's mind roared. She obeyed, darting and rolling as the floor behind her exploded, shattered, or crumpled in her wake. Cornered against a wall, she glared up at Widow, who hovered predatorily above.
"Shit," Vex hissed.
Widow mimed a punch, whispering, "Let my fist swell fourfold."
A concussive blast of wind erupted. Vex blinked—and found herself across the room, staring at a gaping hole where she'd just stood. Several walls now with holes that's twice her size. Strong arms cradled her: Violet, holding her cradling her, a baby in her mothers arm.
"My knight in shining armor!" Vex crooned, clinging to Violet and peppering her cheek with kisses.
"Cheap tricks won't save you," Widow snarled, raising a finger.
Violet's hypersensitive skin prickled as air pressure shifted. She closed her eyes, visualizing the incoming attack's trajectory, and sidestepped smoothly.
"How'd you know where it'd hit?" Vex asked, awed.
"The air… it pushes before she strikes. Like a missile firing," Violet explained.
Vex's smirk returned. A realization came her way. A light bulb formed in her head."Got it—you're a lying paradox. Reality bends around your fibs."
"Bravo. Want a medal? No better yet a cookie?" Widow sneered, her sarcasm dripping venom.
"Which flavor of paradox are you?" Vex pressed.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Widow hissed, thrusting both hands skyward. The floor quaked violently, pipes wrenching free from the walls. They snaked through the air like metallic serpents, hissing as they lunged.
Violet hoisted Vex over her shoulder and sprinted, dodging the onslaught. The pipes cratered the floor beneath them, sending both women plummeting to the seventh floor. They landed in a crouch, debris raining around them. Widow descended like a vengeful specter, her twisted smile widening.
"This is fun," Vex said, her grin feral as the pipes coiled for another strike.