3rd Person's POV:
Upon arriving at Sauvage, Exodus opened his phone to see the photo of the girl he's supposed to meet up with, a photo sent by Deuteronomy. After looking at his phone, he looked at the crowd and then found her. He took a deep breath then smiled on his way towards her.
On the other hand, Diana saw him walking towards her. She lit up, smiled, and waved.
"Exo, right?" She asked.
"Diana, right?" Exodus asked back. She smiled then nodded.
Diana offered her hand to Exodus, indicating a shake of hand. Instead of handshake, Exodus took it and gave it a gentle kiss in which she responded by being all cherry red.
In a dark place, Deuteronomy was seen standing in front of a table. A crystal ball above a soft cloth was in opposite of her, showing what Exodus and Diana were doing at the time.
"Remember, be nice." Deuteronomy said and her voice vibrated, reaching Exodus's ears.
Exodus heard her words, but he already had a plan of his own the moment he agreed to do this with her.
"You're pretty in person." He said with a straight face, like he's judging her.
"Thank you. You too! You have the face of a model!" Diana responded.
"I know." Exodus replied which made Diana smile awkward.
"You're good but you're really not my type." Exodus said which shook both Diana and Deuteronomy. "I'd smash you though." He added.
"Sorry?" Diana reacted.
"What are you doing bitch? I said be nice!" Deuteronomy exclaimed, but Exodus ignored her calls.
"Apology accepted." Exodus said.
"What?" Diana asked again, feeling uncomfortable.
"Oh, I thought you were saying sorry because you were not pretty enough for me." Exodus answered.
Diana laughed it off awkwardly, hoping she could still save the date. And so far so good. Exodus was trying to be nice although there are some red flags Diana noticed, like his high ego, but then again, she has the thought that she might be able to change him as 'he' said he was crazy in love over her in chats.
After five minutes, Exodus asked a really weird question.
"Are you on illegal drugs?"
"What?" Diana asked confused.
"You look like someone who do drugs…" Exodus mumbled, but still made her hear.
"No? I'm honestly offended and shocked by how much different you are on the phone and in person," Diana stated. "Be honest with me, do you really think we could work?"
Somehow, that question gave Exodus the biggest ick. He noticed that 5 minutes is over so he decided he could now explode.
"Fine you poor constructed bitch. The gods probably got tired when they were designing what you would look like so they just combined a frog's face and a monkey's ass, giving you big boobs to at least distract you from the reality that you'd stay on those dating apps forever. This is why your father never came back with the milk. I'll be fucking honest with you to the point that you'd choose to just kill yourself. I don't think we could work. I also lied. But not about what I just said. About my entire identity. That's right. You just got catfished mother fucker. A female friend of mine used my photos to make you feel the love and attention your family failed to give you. I swear to god, this is why I don't see blond women. You're stupid as fuck. You think the world isn't full of danger? Yes, she lied about the profile too. I am a Misfit, heck do you even know my real name? All you know is Exo, but that ain't me. It's missing a few letters. So, if it's not clear if I do have a thing for you, no, and I will never have. If you're also wondering whether you should stay on this date and endure me mocking you, or leave the date abruptly, feeling rejected and disappointed, I don't really care. Choose whatever hurts you the most. You've been played and I've been pleaded to go and see you. Oh what's that? Tears? Sure, go cry so you know how your mother felt when she saw how you turned out." Exodus continuously disrespected her while Deuteronomy tries to get him to stop.
'I pleaded you to go and show yourself to her to at least give her a peaceful death, knowing she was loved. But how dare you hurt a girl like that?!' Deuteronomy thought.
"That's enough, Exodus!" Deuteronomy voiced, finally snapping. "I'll see her now, you can leave."
"…. And now my time is up. I'm finally leaving so I could get some fresh air cuz it's been smelling like a bitch forgot to speak here. Listen, you're lucky enough to go on a date with me! That I even showed up! If you're not up for a one night stand, then you're just removing your one and only purpose in life. Hope I see you again in hell, cunt." Exodus said standing up but before he could go, Diana finally let words escape from her mouth.
"You're wrong!" She exclaimed, making Exodus stop and look at her confused. "I'm a teacher too. And that's my purpose in life. To teach and shape young Misfit to be able to fight for themselves. To evolve and use their ability in good. I did cry and felt betrayed. But I won't let you tell me what I live for." Diana stood up as she speak. She then gave Exodus a massive slap on the face that caught everyone's attention. Exodus was surprised and hurt to the bone. She then tried walking away but before she could, Exodus held her wrists tight.
"Exodus, stop it I said. Let her go." Deuteronomy said as she was on her way but Exodus wasn't paying her any mind.
"You think you can just slap me and leave the place breathing?" Exodus said pissed.
"You're hurting me! Let go!" Diana said as she tries to free herself. She held his hands, trying to let it come undone when she noticed a mark. A symbol, perhaps. A scroll was carved on his wrist palm facing, with the letter E in it. She was surprised.
Exodus ignored her comments and just held harder. Then, Exodus's words hit Diana like a stone.
**"Heck do you even know my real name? All you know is Exo, but that ain't me. It's missing a few letters."**
Diana's blood ran cold, knowing who she's facing right now. Her long blond hair grew longer and pierced through Exodus's right shoulder, making him let go of her. People in Sauvage started leaving as they didn't want to get involved while workers try to stop them.
"You bitch…" Exodus said, holding his wounded shoulder. "So that's your ability, huh."
The place became distorted, making Diana trip and fall. And in the blink of an eye, Exodus's wounds were nowhere to be found.
"Fuck, I knew it!" Diana screamed. "You're Pentateuch's Exodus. The greatest Illusionist!"
The people who failed to leave Sauvage heard her voice, they then started panicking and leaving.
"Oh, look," Exodus said, pointing casually at Diana's right shoulder. Intrigued, she followed his gesture, only to be met with a horrifying sight. "Switch"
In that split second, her own hair turned against her, piercing through her shoulder with a sickening crunch. A scream tore from her throat, the agony ripping through her like fire. It felt as though her own ability had betrayed her, becoming a weapon wielded by another's hand. Despite the burning pain that threatened to consume her, Diana refused to yield. She cried out, but her cries were not of desperation—she did not beg for Exodus to stop. She is not begging a monster.
"AAAArghhhHHh!" she gasped, the sound torn from her lips in ragged bursts as she struggled to catch her breath. Each pant was a battle.
As the pain subsided, Diana's surroundings began to shift and distort, warping into a landscape of swirling pastel colors. The once-solid ground beneath her feet gave way to an abyss, a void of swirling hues that threatened to swallow her whole. The kaleidoscope of colors danced before her eyes, each movement sending a sharp pang of agony through her skull. It was a torment unlike any she had ever known, a relentless assault on her senses that left her reeling.
As Exodus and Diana faced off within the realm of illusions conjured by Exodus's powers, the air crackled with tension. Diana's hair, twisted into sharp, deadly tendrils, swayed around her as she focused on her opponent. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her body bruised and battered from the persistent attacks of Exodus's powers.
With a flick of his hand, Exodus sent illusory beasts charging towards Diana. She reacted swiftly, her hair lashing out like serpents, slicing through the air to intercept the oncoming threats. Yet, with each creature she dispatched, two more seemed to take its place, the overwhelming onslaught pushing her to her limits.
Diana gritted her teeth, determination burning in her eyes as she focused on breaking through the veil of the beasts. With a primal roar, she unleashed the full extent of her powers, her hair swirling around her in a cyclone of razor-sharp strands. The illusions wavered and faltered under the force of her onslaught, making the beasts fall.
Sensing an opportunity, Diana lunged forward, her hair whistling through the air like a deadly storm.
"Hairthorn!" She exclaimed on the top of her lungs.
Exodus saw it coming. He countered with a wave of his hand, summoning a blinding flash of light that momentarily confused and blinded Diana. In that split second, he seized the advantage, unleashing a torrent of trickeries and false images before she could regain her vision.
As Diana slowly regained her sight back, the world around her clarified into a grand hall filled with countless mirrors. She was confused on what suddenly happened. The air was thick with an eerie silence, broken only by the distant echo of her own footsteps. She could see her reflection everywhere, but each mirror seemed to distort her image, amplifying her insecurities and fears.
Diana gathered the little strength she has and took a tentative step forward, and the mirrors began to shimmer. Ghostly figures from her past materialized, their eyes filled with contempt and disappointment. She saw the faces of the boys who had rejected her, each one delivering the same scathing lines that had haunted her for years.
"You're a Misfit, Diana. Scary and all for a lady. Who would ever want someone like you?"
"Why do you even try? You'll never be good enough."
To counter this, she shift her eyes to somewhere else, only to be met by the spectral forms of her family, their expressions cold and judgmental.
"You've always been a disappointment. Why can't you just be Normal?"
"We can't understand why you're so different. You embarrass us."
Her heart pounded as she tried to shut out their voices, but the phantoms only grew louder, their accusations and mockery echoing through the hall.
"No one will ever love you, Diana."
"You're just a burden to everyone around you."
"Look at yourself—no wonder they all left."
"No! Stop it! Stop saying that!" Diana cried, clutching her head as if trying to physically block out the voices.
"Leave me alone! I'm not a disappointment! I'm not! Being a Misfit is not something to be disappointed about!" She kept shouting. "You don't know anything about me! You're just illusions! Lies!" She shouted again, trying to wake herself up and to not let them manipulate her.
Desperate to escape, Diana ran towards one of the mirrors in an attempt to break it. But as she approached, it shattered into countless shards, each fragment showing a distorted, grotesque version of herself. These reflections reached out, their twisted hands clawing at her, trying to pull her into their broken world.
"No! This isn't real! None of this is real!" she screamed, trying to push away the twisted reflections. In a surge of defiance, her hair lengthened and sharpened, whipping around her like lethal tendrils. She struck at the reflections, shattering the mirrored shards into tiny pieces.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" she shouted. She kept fighting, her hair slicing through the mirrors and the twisted reflections, refusing to be pulled into their nightmare.
Just as she managed to pull away, a multitude of figures surrounded her. They were, again, all the people from her past that she didn't want to see anymore, each one taunting her with a cruel smile.
"Every path you take leads back to your own fears!" Exodus teased, his voice sounded like a million people talking at once.
"Exodus, you coward! Face me yourself!" she shouted again as she defends herself, targeting those copies near her. She's slowly getting tired from all the bruises and wounds and power loss.
Every turn Diana made led her back to her own reflection, each mirror showing a different scene from her past regrets. Her sense of direction vanished, and she felt the walls closing in on her. The mirrors twisted and shifted, turning the place into an impossible maze.
"Where are you? Show yourself!" Diana yelled, spinning in place as she tried to find an escape.
"Whatever you do, as long as you're inside my realm, it's no use!" The million voices of Exodus responded.
In the distance, Diana saw a bright, inviting light—a potential escape. She ran towards it with all her might, her heart filled with desperate hope. But as she reached the exit, the floor beneath her feet transformed into fragile glass. She took one more step, and the glass shattered, sending her plummeting into an endless void.
"No! No, no, no!" she screamed as she fell, her voice echoing in the void. Her hair tried to reach something from above to avoid falling but it seems that there was nothing for her hair to grab.
She landed back from the previous battlefield, the one with swirling pastels, unharmed but mentally shattered. Exodus stood before her, his expression calm and smug.
"That was fun~ May your next life be less... disappointing." He said with a smile playing on his lips that irritated Diana. He toyed with her.
With a flick of his fingers, Exodus unleashed a final surge of magic, ensnaring Diana in a web of shimmering energy.
"Ethereal Enigma." Exodus said smiling.
Then, a sudden disturbance rippled through the fabric of the illusionary realm. Amidst the swirling mists, a figure materialized, her presence commanding attention despite the chaos that surrounded her. It was Deuteronomy.
"That's enough, Exodus!" She shouted. Her expression grave yet determined as she stepped forward to intervene. Exodus was mad for Deuteronomy interrupting but not surprised. He did allow Deuteronomy to come inside his illusions anytime she wants as long as Exodus was in it due to Genesis's commands.
"Deuteronomy," Exodus greeted. "What brings you here?"
Deuteronomy met Exodus's gaze with unwavering resolve. "To stop this," she declared, her voice carrying a weight of authority that brooked no argument. "I am the one in charge of this job. Don't get carried away."
Diana, though weakened from her battle with Exodus, regarded Deuteronomy with a mixture of madness and relief.
"Are you the girl friend he mentioned that tricked me into coming here?" she questioned, her voice tinged with exhaustion. "What does the Pentateuch want from me?"
Exodus's illusion world vanished, making Diana see that they are not at Sauvage anymore. They were in an alley, and it didn't stop raining yet. The three of them got wet due to this reason but that was the least of their problem.
"Is this what you want?" Exodus asked Deuteronomy.
"Yes. You're free to go now." She replied.
"I will go. But just so you know, she mocked me."
"I saw and heard everything, Exodus. You can go now." Deuteronomy said again.
While they were chatting, Diana took her phone with all the little strength she has left. She clicked on her messages then proceeded to tick the latest person she texted on the list. It was Yako.
'Help me, please. It's the Penta' she sent.
Deuteronomy then step on her palm, making her let go of her phone. Her heels felt sharp as a steel trap that Diana had to grunt.
"What are you doing?" She said looking at her intense as the aura around them darkened.
After getting no response, she picked up the phone and saw the message sent. She can't unsent it anymore since it was already marked as seen.
"Geez, would you stop adding trouble? This will just prove Exodus's point." Deuteronomy said.
"What did she do?" Exodus asked then Deuteronomy showed him the phone. "Give me that. I'll fix it." Exodus said and she did.
"By the way, I'll infiltrate the Misfit University later. I need your assistance." Deuteronomy said looking straight at Exodus.
"What'll I do?" He asked as he investigates the device on his hand.
"I'll give you my crystal ball and tell me what you'll see." Deuteronomy instructed.
"Sure, but you know I can't transfer my voice in the sound vibration thingy if we exchanged places." Exodus replied as he gave the look back at her.
"That's why we'll wear earpiece…" She replied.
"Oh yea." Exodus said smiling then left.
'The date was trash and the rain got heavy. I need a ride. Also, that was Lenta, not Penta lol. I'm at Sauvage near a shop called Lenta.'
'Typo'
Those were the messages sent by Exodus to Yako.
"Yako, huh. It's one of my targets. Let's see." He said as he went through the phone while walking home.
Back at Deuteronomy and Diana, the tension palpable as Deuteronomy's expression shifted from pissed to sorrow. With a heavy heart, she turned to face Diana, her eyes filled with empathy and regret.
"What are you planning to do? Why are you infiltrating the University? Please, don't hurt the kids!" Diana voiced.
"Diana," she said, her voice gentle yet firm, "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to live anymore." She stepped forward, her movements slow and deliberate as she reached out a hand towards her fallen foe.
Diana watched Deuteronomy with a mixture of confusion and resignation. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper as she struggled to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
"It wasn't supposed to go like this. I told Exodus to be nice. I'm sorry." Deuteronomy answered.
Deuteronomy's hand came to rest on Diana's shoulder, her touch gentle yet resolute. "I wish there was another way," she whispered, her voice tinged with sorrow. "But sometimes, sacrifices must be made for the greater good."
With a heavy heart, Deuteronomy closed her eyes and summoned forth a soft glow of energy, suffusing the air with a gentle warmth.
"Radiant Luminous Manipulation." She said gently like she couldn't hurt a fly. "Purification." She added.
The light enveloped Diana, wrapping her in a cocoon of tranquility as she closed her eyes, her breathing slowing to a peaceful rhythm.
In that moment, Deuteronomy whispered a silent apology, her heart heavy with the weight of her actions. With a final, sorrowful glance at her, she released the energy, allowing it to envelop Diana completely.
And as the light faded, Diana's form lay still upon the ground, her expression peaceful as if she were merely asleep. Though her physical form was obviously crashed and bruised from Exodus's attacks.
With a heavy heart, Deuteronomy turned away, her gaze fixed on the distance as she vowed to remember Diana's memory and strive for a future where such killings would no longer be necessary. But she knows there was more to come. She might not live up until to the future she visions, but she hopes that one day, people in Sinead would.
After about three to four hours, Deuteronomy stood at the edge of Misfit University, her clothes and hair drenched from the rain. The night air was cold and she could feel the weight of her mission pressing down on her. She needed to infiltrate the university without raising an alarm. With a deep breath, she extended her hand, channeling her power. The faint light from a nearby streetlamp began to glow brighter as she manipulated its energy, using the warmth to dry herself.
"Much better." she muttered, feeling the warmth spread through her clothes and hair, quickly drying them. "Time to get to work."
She scanned the perimeter, noting the heavy security presence. Guards patrolled in pairs, their eyes sharp and movements coordinated. She knew she couldn't rely on chaos or brute force; she needed to be subtle and strategic.
Deuteronomy focused on the light sources around her. Though it was night, the campus was illuminated by streetlights and building lights. She could manipulate these to her advantage. She raised her hands slightly, feeling the pulses of light and energy at her fingertips.
"Alright, Deu. Let's dance." she whispered to herself.
The guards at Misfit University were no ordinary security. Each had powers of their own, honed for both defense and offense. Some could sense vibrations, detecting movement even in the dark. Others had enhanced vision, able to see through illusions and detect hidden threats. A few had the ability to create barriers, both physical and energy-based, making them formidable opponents. But she really doesn't know what kind of guard Misfit awaits her.
Deuteronomy knew this wouldn't be easy, but she relished the challenge.