Chapter Four – Problem Solving and Dark Secrets

In another part of the city, Aura was in hot pursuit of another villain. “You won’t catch me,” the villain said, “You won’t even see me coming!” They burst into a cosmetics store. Aura stared at the girl before her. She wore a purple cape and a matching outfit. The evil doer then showed off her power, disappearing from sight. Aura closed her eyes, taking a monk-like disposition. Quickly, she moved out of the way, right as the other female slammed down where she just was. “Nice try, Mirage!” the hero called out. To her surprise, the mysterious one slammed into her, yelling, “That’s Miss Mirage to you!” Miss Mirage appeared briefly before Aura, both glaring daggers at the other. As Miss Mirage disappeared once more, the battle began.

Aura started running down the aisles, trying to stay ahead of wherever Miss Mirage was hiding. As she ran, she heard various items fall to the floor behind her, signaling her chaser. Running along the hair product aisle, she stopped to catch her breath. Big mistake. Suddenly, she was knocked to her knees by a blow to her back. Whipping around, she was just quick enough to send a blast of air in the villain’s direction. Her shot hit its target, knocking her foe to the floor. Sadly, the hero’s victory was short lived. Miss Mirage faded once more, and the game began again.

Aura, being the strategist she was, started trying to think of a solution. The way to beat her is to get her in sight. But how to do that? This could last forever! “Ready to give up yet? You know you can’t win.” the chameleon-like girl called out. “You’re a coward. You’re too scared to come out and fight me!” Aura taunted back. “I’m smart, not a coward. You can’t trick me into coming out. I could care less about fighting fair.” Miss Mirage retorted. Aura sighed as her bait was brushed away. Looks like she was going to have to try something else.

Again, they faced off a few more times, no progression whatsoever. Both were starting to tire out, though. Aura knew she had to end this quickly. She reached a dead end. The area was full of mirrors. Staring into one, she saw her battered reflection… and Mirage’s! “I think it’s time we evened the fight!” She blasted air where she just saw the villainous female. Her shot hit home, sending her flying. Finally, this fight is going somewhere!

Using her newly gained advantage, Aura was able to successfully weaken her opponent. Finally, Miss Mirage raised her hands in defeat. “Go ahead. Kill me.” she said, closing her eyes and bracing for “the end”. Instead, she felt metal touch the skin around her wrists. “Get up. You’re coming with me.” Aura responded. Then, pausing, she added, “And I don’t care how bad you are. No one deserves to die.”

Destruction. It was EVERYWHERE. In the center of the madness, there stood a figure- Umbra woke up, gasping for air. Looking over, she saw her trusted comrade taking watch. “Rebel, I’ve told you before! I will ALWAYS take watch!” she said, slightly angry. “You needed your sleep.” Rebel responded, shrugging her shoulders. “You know that’s not true. Now go on, get some rest.” Umbra stated, preparing to take the rest of the watch. Rebel quickly fell asleep, tired after her vigil. A sigh escaped the awake girl’s lips. “It’s a good thing my powers allow me to stay constantly awake.” she whispered to the silent air, shaking her head to clear the unwanted images from her mind. “I don’t know if I could stand having to see that moment every night…”