Chapter 13

Elena was blind.

The darkness came suddenly, swallowing the world in an instant. One moment, the air crackled with tension, the next, she was adrift in pure, disorienting nothingness.

Her breath hitched. What happened?

Her mind, still racing from the betrayal, struggled to grasp the situation. Everything was wrong. Her plan—meticulously crafted, dangerously precise—had shattered into a million pieces.

The shackles on her wrists remained cold and unyielding, and her body, still recovering from injuries she had sustained a month ago, throbbed with dull, persistent pain. She couldn't fight her way out of this. Not like before. Not with brute strength.

She needed to think. But her thoughts looped endlessly, swallowed by the same vast, oppressive blackness that now enveloped her.

Then—chaos.

Screams. Shouts. The sound of bodies colliding.

Villains, unable to see, panicked. The moment they bumped into one another, paranoia set in. Every accidental touch became an attack, every brush of fabric against skin an enemy's strike.

A brawl erupted.

Fists flew wildly. Someone grunted in pain. Another cried out as they crashed into a table, sending glasses and bottles shattering onto the marble floor.

Then—light.

A villain with a bioluminescent mutation—a bald man whose head emitted a glowing aura—lit up the room, his face twisted in fear as he tried to get a sense of the battlefield.

For one brief moment, shadows danced across the walls, revealing flashes of movement—villains stumbling, fists swinging blindly, bodies scrambling for any form of advantage.

Then— dull sound. 

The glowing villain fell, a hole in his chest. His light flickered, dimmed, and vanished.

The darkness devoured them again.

A collective gasp rippled through the room.

That changed everything.

The villains now knew that any attempt to produce light would get them killed.

And the fear doubled.

"It's the girl! She's doing this!" Kellan's voice rang out in the dark, his usual arrogance shaken.

"Eliminate the shadows! We need light!" Lira shouted. "She's blocking all sources—the windows, doors, everything! Find the weak spots and break them!"

But how?

They were blind. They couldn't even tell which direction they were facing, let alone find Mira's shadows.

And Mira knew it.

She was having the time of her life.

She and Ryn could see perfectly.

Mira's supernatural control over shadows allowed her to see through them, bending darkness like a second skin. And Ryn, with his innate heat vision, could make out the shapes of bodies moving, glowing like embers in the abyss.

Together, they stood amid the anarchy, their eyes flickering with amusement as villains stumbled, threw wild punches, and accidentally beat the hell out of each other.

Mira giggled. "Look at them, Ryn. Look how pathetic they are."

Ryn chuckled, watching as two villains—both supposedly on the same side—tackled each other to the ground, rolling like a pair of drunken idiots.

He smirked. "This is better than I expected."

Mira leaned toward him, resting her chin on his shoulder, her breath warm against his neck. "Aren't you glad I'm here?"

"Always," he murmured.

Elena, still bound, turned toward the sound of their voices. She tried to speak, but—

Shadows wrapped around her mouth.

Her one good eye widened as she realized what had happened.

Mira had silenced her.

It was quick. Subtle. Ryn hadn't even noticed.

She did this on purpose.

Elena's pulse quickened. This wasn't just Mira controlling the battlefield—this was personal.

Mira didn't want her speaking.

Didn't want her interrupting.

Didn't want her getting any closer to Ryn.

And that realization made Elena's blood run cold.

She wanted to struggle. To break free.

But…

No.

She stopped.

Mira was in control.

The villains were trapped in their own fear.

If Elena struggled too hard, she might become a target.

So, instead, she let herself fall to the floor.

She lay still.

She waited.

And she hoped.

Then—the explosions began.

BOOM!

Windows shattered.

BOOM!

Doors blew apart.

The suffocating darkness peeled away in violent bursts of pink and red.

Bright flashes illuminated the battlefield as floating, cartoonish ponies materialized, their tiny hooves kicking at the air, their soft pink fur almost laughably harmless.

And then—

They exploded.

Villains screamed, diving away as entire sections of the floor caved in.

The thick, inky shadows that Mira had placed over the doors and windows dissolved, eaten away by the chain of controlled detonations.

A lone figure stood among the carnage.

His massive red-and-gold cape billowed as he twirled his fingers, conjuring yet another pink pony in his palm.

A smile stretched across his face.

"Now, now," Catapony purred, his voice dripping with amusement. "This party was getting a little too depressing. Let's brighten the mood, shall we?"

As the last of the shadows receded, the scene was revealed.

Three figures stood in the center of the chaos, their restraints melting into liquid metal at their feet.

Elena, her body battered, but standing tall, her superhero form activated.

Mira, no longer small, no longer clinging to Ryn's back. She had shifted into her true form—tall, elegant, her body wrapped in the sleek, dark armor that made her appear almost otherworldly.

And in the middle—

Ryn.

A blazing inferno surrounded him, licking up his arms, illuminating his sharp, confident grin.

His superhero form unleashed.

His molten eyes locked onto Catapony.

Fireboy had entered the fight.

And this time, there would be no mercy.

By their feet, the remains of their dissolved shackles sizzled.

The villains stared.

None of them moved.

Even Kellan and Lira looked momentarily stunned.

Dax and Soren… silent.

And Mira?

Mira's lips curled into a slow, delighted smile.

She turned her head slightly, just enough to catch Ryn's gaze.

"Let's kill them all," she whispered.

And Ryn?

He didn't disagree.