May 10, 2020

  The man recites the words: “Idle Transfiguration.” Mara’s body begins to morph and change. The hole is then repaired with brand new flesh, her shoulder blade still revealed due to her destroyed shirt. Upon seeing Mara’s revival, her father’s eyes light up with hope and he begins to tear up. His hands tremble and he gets back on his knees next to Mara.

  “Mara! Your wound is healed! Oh, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Mara’s dad looks up at the man. The man has a smile on his face, and a tear flows down Mara’s dad’s cheek.

  “Thank you so very much… you saved my last glimmer of happiness in this world. How could I ever repay you for this?”

  Waldo stands there, tightly clenching his fist. He’s now at the mercy of his mortal enemy, as well as having received so much personal humiliation in such a short amount of time. His mood for today is now completely irreparable, and the urge to kill something is skyrocketing by the second. But he forces himself to wait, watching what will happen to Mara’s dad. Actually, he already knows what is going to happen. There was no need to predict such actions with a man like him around.

  “Hm… let’s see… I have an idea of repayment. If you so strongly insist on repayment, that is.”

  “What will it be sir? I’ll do anything.”

  The man’s smile suddenly twists into something sinister. Mara’s dad’s eyes widen a bit, not expecting such an expression. The man then places his hand on the father’s shoulder once again. It’s much colder and hostile than before.

  “Realize your potential, and become the first cog in my bustling experiment. Do as you please, and spare nothing… Cursed: Manipulation.”

  The father’s eyes instantly lose the light they once regained. They stumble backwards and clutch their head, screaming uncontrollably as their body seems to undergo some kind of change.

  “Ugh… ah ACK! Urk… uugh… HAAAAAAA!”

  Waldo watches the man turn around and smile back at him. Waldo smiles as well, but it’s an angry and proud smile.

  “You crazy bastard… what kind of plots are you developing, Osoroi!”

  Mara’s eyes flutter and twitch. The once cold sensation that flooded her body is slowly exiting her body. It’s being replaced with a warm feeling, as if she were being embraced in her mother’s arms once again. Suddenly, a very unpleasant, uncomfortable, and disturbing shout bursts into her ear drums. Mara shoots back up, finding herself sitting up on the ground. She frantically turns her head around to find the source of the screaming. To her right, she sees an unidentified tall man standing in front of her father, smiling sinisterly. To her left, Waldo is standing there and watching the entire thing go down. The man sees that Mara has awakened and shifts his smile towards her. A sudden burst of chills run down her spine, causing her to freeze in place.

  “Rise and shine, my dear. You just nearly missed the grand opening. But you’re in time for the return of your old man. Or well… I suppose he is no longer your old man at this point. Sorry.”

  Mara looks at her mutated father, seeing him frantically move around and desperately grip his head in pain and agony. Her eyes widen in confusion, wondering what happened while she was down for the count. Her head begins to spiral once again.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  (Did he get affected by that man? No, I let him go away again. I was so weak and that made him go away again. Why can’t I protect my dad? Am I such a weak person I can’t protect anyone a second time?)

  Mara gets back up and watches her father move around even more. The screaming gets even louder. He falls down on the ground and begins to also clutch his chest.

  “AAAAAH! Ugh… urk… URG! Haa! Mara! Stay away from me!”

  “Papa! No!”

  Mara’s legs suddenly move on their move and she finds herself running towards her father. Her father sees his daughter running at him and his eyes widen. His face suddenly begins to morph into a monstrous form and he roars. Mara is punched in the face yet again with greater force and is sent back to the ground. She screams from the pain and slowly gets up. She sees the tall man still smiling at her. That smile pierces into her insecurities, and her mind begins to churn and twist. One thing suddenly crosses her mind.

  “I’ll kill you, Osoroi!”

  Mara’s body quickly fills up with an intense heat. A burning anger that starts to boil up within. She’s aware that the tall man is responsible for what is happening to her father. She’s mortified that she’s reliving the exact same scene once again. She’s furious about the fact that there is nothing she can do to reverse the damage that has already been inflicted. Her eyes begin to water up, and a tear falls down from her eye. But in a matter of mere moments, *that tear evaporates into vapor.*

  Without a second’s hesitation, Mara moves her body towards Osoroi and appears in front of him. With a swift kick, she catches Osoroi by surprise with her sudden spike in speed and lands a clean strike on his face. Waldo’s eye suddenly glows brightly with surprise. Something that he hasn’t been able to do before with their battle was just accomplished by a human child! He quickly forgets about his humiliation and instead focuses on what is happening right in front of him. Osoroi takes a step back, his head still turned from the force of the kick. He looks back at Mara with a deathly glare, not happy that he was just successfully attacked by a random child.

  “This was unexpected. The child seems to have caught their second wind. This must be why Waldo had chosen you as their tool. Do you really believe you can help him? You’re nothing but dead weight!”

  He lunges forward and quickly attempts to catch Mara with his hand. Mara isn’t able to dodge on time, but Waldo intervenes and knocks Osoroi’s hand away.

  “Why don’t you take a dance with me instead, you damn bastard?!”

  “Never in a million years will I dance with you, War Spirit!”

  The two of them suddenly fight their way to another location. Their speed and power is on a whole other league from what Mara has witnessed. Seeing Waldo move and fight like this was breathtaking for her. However, she cannot stand around and be astonished. She turns back around and faces her father. No… that’s no longer her father.

  “I’m so sorry, dad. You’re going to have to say hi to mom for me.”

  The mutant roars and charges towards Mara. For some reason, even though the mutant is moving at higher speeds than before, Mara can keep track of him better than she was able to before. As the mutant is running towards Mara, he opens his mouth wide and spews out a concentrated blast of acid. Mara stretches her arm and hand outward, and heavily increases the thermal energy in front of her. The acid melts away midair before it is able to touch her. Once the acid melts away, Mara appears in front of the mutant and lands a powerful punch to its gut. The mutant coughs and staggers several times. Although Mara is not aware of her situation, her body has exceeded a body temperature of 41 degrees Celsius and a BPM of 188. If she is not careful with her powerful risk, she will suffer a side effect like never before.

  Mara quickly follows up the kick with a sweep from below. She manages to knock one of the mutant’s feet off of the ground, causing them to fall on the ground backside. She then lifts up her leg as high as she can and stomps on the mutant square on the breast. The mutant shouts in pain and struggles to get back up. But then, they catch their second wind, grab ahold of Mara’s leg, and throw her high into the air. However, Mara’s expression is unfazed by this action. Using her technique, her hands glow to control the air, allowing her to unlock a form of floatation and catch herself mid air. She lands back on the ground safely and stares at the mutant.

  The mutant takes a step back, deciding what to do next. However, it quickly abandons rational thinking and starts to charge up like a bull. He then runs full speed towards Mara. Of course, Mara dodges the one tracked attack, causing the mutant to crash head first into several trees. Several logs fall on top of the mutant, causing him to be stuck on the ground. As the mutant attempts to get the logs off of his body, he sees Mara staring down at him with her hand gradually glowing intensely.

  “I’m sorry dad. I couldn’t save you then or now. I’m weak, and that’s why you’re like this. But, I hope you can continue to watch over me as I make you and mom proud. I can’t stand having you like this. I’ll put you out of your misery, and let you see mom again.”

  Mara grows a small smile on her face. The log begins to smoke up and the area starts to increase in heat.

  “Tell mom I said hi, ok?”

  And so, the wood turns into a raging inferno. The flesh quickly melts down, burning away. A weight seems to fall off of Mara’s shoulders. She looks at the burning mutant to see a smile plastered on its face.