The Other Side

Sasha held onto Alex longer than she needed to. She was worried about their first confrontation with the Preservers. She knew how powerful they were and couldn't calm her anxiety about splitting up, but she knew taking on ten of the Preservers together was a death wish.

"Master and Mistress, they are here. Ten of them, just as Mistress Sasha predicted." Al's voice rang through Sasha's ears. She wasn't sure how she felt about the computer yet but was glad to have something with her during the fight.

"It's time." Alex pulls away from Sasha and gives her a determined look. Sasha puts on a brave face but knows he will soon leave her alone for the first time in years. She had been alone on the Preservers' base but didn't realize how lonely she had been.

"Just promise me that you won't die." 

"I won't. It's my night to do the dishes." Alex jumped backward off the roof and out of Sasha's sight. She usually reacted sarcastically to an action like that but was too nervous this time. She looked in the direction the Preservers were entering from and then where her ambush was set up. She took a long, deep breath before running off to her destination.

Sasha took up a position above the clone vial Alex would activate soon. The hope was the group would split in two. She wasn't sure what she dreaded more, fighting the leader or forcing Alex to. Just as the anxiety was overwhelming her again, Alex's voice came over the headset.

"Sasha, the leader seems to want the other nine in support. She's heading East. The rest are yours. The more we kill before they regroup, the more we disrupt their plan."

"Don't blindly listen to what the Preservers say out loud. They aren't naive to the fact we are listening. Just because someone isn't in charge of a squad doesn't mean they aren't deadly dangerous."

"I'm sorry, you're right. Let's focus on our tasks."

"I'll never get tired of you saying that."

Sasha smiled at their playful banter and felt calm about Alex facing their leader. He took down Commander Richards with minimal effort, so maybe she was worrying too much. As her mind settled, she watched four Preservers enter the staged area.

Four? She thought. I guess Alex will have to deal with six. She waited for Alex to make his move. The plan was for him to cause a distraction. She figured she would know it when she saw it. Just then, a large building to the East came crashing down. The four assailants turned to see what happened.

The Preservers continued to stare in that direction while arguing about their next move. They couldn't decide if going back was correct or trying to get the other team members to meet them at this spot. Sasha hesitated for a few minutes; she knew she had wasted the moment Alex provided for her, but now she didn't know what to do.

The group started to walk back towards the East. Sasha knew she could get one more chance if she caught them in the narrow passageway ahead. Sasha quietly jumped from her position and hid behind the clone. She drained its blood and quickly went over the rooftops to reach her ambush location.

When the Preservers reached the narrow street, Sasha dropped in behind them. She raised her hand and recited the spell. The words didn't make sense in any intelligible language, but even so, her tattoos started to glow with symbols matching the spell. The magical energy beam shot forward, catching three of her targets off guard. The fourth must have sensed her magic and dodged the attack by climbing the wall.

"Damn vixen, first you ignore my advances, and now you attack me from behind?"

Sasha knew that voice. It was Jorg, a catman who had asked her out on many dates. Sasha always politely declined, wishing to spend her free time by herself. But if he was here...

"Xaronia is your leader?" The realization struck Sasha hard. Xaronia was one of her best friends and the inspiration behind Sasha's claw glove. The two would train together constantly, but Xaronia always had the upper hand. Sasha's magic could never land because of the device Xaronia used to hinder magic. She wanted to warn Alex but noticed she was too late. The magic dampening field was active.

"Poor girl, your little boy toy likes his teleportation magic, doesn't he? Too bad he can't use it on my sister. Don't worry; she'll have more fun with him than you ever did." The provocative tone in his voice disgusted Sasha, but she wouldn't let him get to her.

 "You are no match for me, Jorg. You got lucky dodging the first, but you can't avoid my scythe forever."

"I know you are out of blood. Your hair and tattoos have faded. You cannot trick me, sweetheart." Sasha shivered at the way he talked to her. She couldn't kill him before, but she always wanted to; now was her chance. Jorg was being overconfident and taking his time coming back to ground level. Sasha retrieved one of Alex's clones and fused the vial with magic. Before Jorg could react, Sasha was recharged. 

"Don't underestimate me; I have something to fight for now. You will not stand in my way."

"The Preservers are the authority; standing up to us will only result in death."

"And yet, only your members have died so far. I have faith in Alex. He is determined to save everyone from the tyranny and genocide the Preservers have spread across the multiverse."

Jorg only scoffed, and the time for the talk was finished. He charged at Sasha with blinding speed, jumping from wall to wall in the tight space. Sasha was prepared with a new technique. She couldn't let Alex be the only one constantly evolving. She lifted her hand and cast a different spell. Jorg was ready for her beam attack and jumped side to side, preventing her from aiming.

"You can't hit me!" a confident Jorg shouted before letting out a loud cry of pain. Blood-red spears extended from Sasha's hand in all directions. Jorg's escape routes were cut off before the spears impaled him. One at a time, the spikes skewered him until they pierced him over fifty times. Sasha knew it was overkill, but she wanted to test the limits of her ability. She absorbed his blood through the spears and continued to make more until her magic was depleted. 

Sasha observed the dreadful scene in front of her. A web of hundreds of spikes made of blood filled the street, a dehydrated blob of flesh and bone suspended within it. She couldn't help but smile at the deadly beauty of the technique. She thought it defined her perfectly, much better than an all-out frontal attack. 

"Mistress Sasha, I cannot get through to Master Healer, but I have eager news."

"What is it, Al?"

"The tenth Preserver is unaccounted for."

"Tenth preserver?"

"Yes, Mistress, you killed four, and only five were cornered by Master Healer. At some point after the groups split up, the final Preserver escaped my detection."

"Are they moving toward Miranda or Shawn?"

"I do not believe so, Mistress Sasha."

Then it hit her; she should have realized it sooner. She took off toward Alex to help him before it was too late.