Nox's Awakening

Nox and Hitsu stared at the inhuman monster before them, both their faces filled with absolute fear. Juno lay on the ground as she desperately tried to cover her pained ears with her paws. Joy's wailing was the only sound besides the giant shadow's labored breathing. The creature's movements were unnatural as if the monster wasn't meant to make them.

"N-N-Nox!" Hitsu stuttered.

It took all of Nox's power just to reply. "H-H-Hitsu?" was all she could say.

"Go!" Hitsu shouted in a panicked tone.

That single word snapped Nox out of her fear-filled trance and her head whipped in Hitsu's direction.

"What?" She shouted.

"We made a promise!" Hitsu screamed.

Nox froze. He was right, she agreed to run away. Hitsu leaped over Juno and landed by Nox's side. The hero shoved Nox away from the creature as he yelled.

"Run! Go!"

Nox's body began to move on its own as her legs carried her away from the dangerous situation.

"What am I doing?" Nox asked herself. "Why? Why am I running away? I know I promised... But I thought I changed."

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺!"

Nox's own words echoed in her mind as she ran as fast as she could.

"I wanted to change... So why? Why is nothing different? Why is everything the same? Why...Why...Why am I still so weak?"

As Nox neared the forest she found the will to turn her head and look back. Her neck felt as though it was glued in place and her body refused to cooperate, but Nox forced her gaze back to Hitsu. The scene behind her did nothing to calm her fears. The giant shadow towered over Hitsu, a sinister grin seemed to decorate its hideous face. Juno had managed to stand once again but she was obviously disoriented and in pain. The only hope was Hitsu, his arms shined a bright pink against the sea of black, a sea that threatened to swallow him whole.

"No...This is wrong...Who am I...How can I...What am I?

...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No...No..."

That single word replayed itself over and over in Nox's head. Every step she took she must have heard it an unimaginable amount of times. Ten times each step? One Hundred times? One Thousand? One MIllion? It was only then Nox realized the words weren't in her head. The symphony of "No's" was flooding out of her mouth like a broken dam. As darkness continued to creep into Nox's brain familiar words interpreted her.

"𝘚𝘵𝘳���𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦."

"What?" Nox asked herself, "Why? Why now?

"𝘈𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺."

"These words...This voice..."

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰."

"They're his...They're Hitsu's..."

Was Nox's foot took one last step all of her thoughts were erased and replaced with one single question.

"After all he's done for me... How can I run away?"

It took everything Nox had, it took all of her strength, it took all of her mental will, but Nox stopped running. In one swift movement, Nox turned in her heel and pushed off with her foot. With a roll, Nox took cover behind a large rock. Heavy breaths forced their way out of Nox's mouth as her heart beat like a drum. After a moment, Nox managed to calm herself down enough to breathe normally. With a deep breath for bravery, Nox peaked around the side of the rock.

The giant shadow launched its clawed fist towards Hitsu. With his arms surrounded with neon energy, Hitsu placed his thumbs together before pulling them apart. As his hands parted neon-filled the air creating a rectangle between Hitsu and the monster. The giant fist collided with Hitsu's shield forcing it against Hitsu. The shield absorbed some of the impact but Hitsu was sent flying regardless. Hitsu rolled across the ground as he was sent back by the giant's attack.

Juno let out an angry meow that evolved into a roar as she grew to her larger size. Without hesitation, Juno charged at the monster hoping to get revenge for the damage it caused her ears. As Juno approached the giant shadow placed its palm forward and began to summon balls of darkness from somewhere deep inside of itself. The darkness shot like bullets from the shadow's hand. Juno ducked and dodged the darkness as she ran full speed ahead. Once she was close enough Juno leaped at the giant and swung her paw at its chest. In one swift movement, the giant shadow used its free hand to grab Juno's paw, it held her dangling in the air.

"Hey!" Hitsu shouted angrily, "Put her down!"

Hitsu legs shined pink and he pushed off sending himself flying towards the shadow. The giant didn't have time to fire more darkness as Hitsu cleared the distance between them in just seconds. Much like Juno Hitsu leaped directly at the giant's chest as the neon spread to his arms. Hitsu arms collided with the shadow's chest and in an instant, Hitsu began to spin. As Hitsu flipped in the air is arms and legs collided with blow after blow cutting into the creature.

The giant shadow howled in pain. It swung its arm out before bringing it back towards its body furiously. The giant's fingers released Juno and the feline was sent sailing towards Hitsu. The hero noticed and with a gasp of surprise stopped his attack. Hitsu had no time to react and was defenseless as his own pet slammed against him. The two crashed against the giant's body before bouncing away from it, both landing on the ground with thuds. Joy still lay on the ground off to the side, her crying the background music to the battle.

"This is bad," Nox said to herself, "Hitsu is strong, but this is like fighting thirty shadows at once. He needs help... and I need an opening."

Hitsu had pulled himself to his feet. He looked to his left to see Juno struggling to stand. The giant shadow let out a terrifying noise renunciant of a laugh that shook Hitsu to his core. The giant pulled back its arm as the noise crept into Hitsu's ears. Gritting his teeth, Hitsu pushed his neon to the front of his body. The giant had no trace of hesitation as it launched its fist forward like a rocket straight at the hero.

Hitsu threw out his hands as if he were demanding the giant stop. As the fist connected with Hitsu's hands a wall of neon light appeared before him. The wall withstood the shadow's attack but did little to stop it. The shadow's fist pushed against Hitsu's wall full force and began to push him back across the rocky ground. Hitsu grunted in pain as he was pushed further and further back, his legs threatening to give out against the fist weight. Hitsu eventually stopped when the giant's arm was completely outstretched, but the force of the attack continued regardless. Hitsu's arms shook under the force of the shadow as he desperately pushed back against the monster.

Nox's eyes widen in surprise at the scene before her. "This is it!" Nox said, "This is the opening I need."

Nox stopped and looked down. In a puddle below Nox could see her own reflection. She saw nothing but herself, the same old her with nothing new. A girl in her pajamas way out of her league stared back at her. Nox found herself fixated on one part of the girl in the puddle in particular, that fact her reflection was smiling. Nox knew exactly why that smile rested upon her face, because this was the moment she was waiting for... The moment she stopped being weak.

"Alright," Nox said as she stepped out from her hiding place, "this is it..."

"...Time to be a hero."

...

End of Episode 16