Lunging her body forward, the old teenage girl pushed herself off the ground as she dashed in the air straight at the vulnerable lich girl that just jumped back.

For the cloud that slammed like a hammer, the lich girl managed to barely dodge the incoming attack. Her hair started to stick up, she rapidly walked away from the cloud as it started to emit more electricity coming from it, the cloud’s thunder starting to rumble through the building and floor.

(Mia’s thoughts) A single hit from that lightning will surely kill me. And her electric hammer isn't much better off either.

Pointing her arms, the lich girl automatically fired the two rifles towards Elizabeth, whose hands and feet clung to the side of the wall.

Scaling the wall with both of her feet and her left hand, she wielded the electric hammer she had in her right hand. Pushing off the metal wall, the force of the thrust of both her feet was enough to bust open a hole in the old rusted metal.

(Mia’s thoughts) Oh goodness. She’s reaching fast!

(Elizabeth) Now come here!

She pulled back her right hand. Ignoring the dangerous sparks that fell on her black dress, she then thrust forward. She started to swing her hammer with a light so bright, the lich girl had no choice but to stop firing to cover her eyes.

(Mia’s thoughts) I never once used any of these weapons, but today I must.

In her hands that were replaced, it seemed to resort almost like a rubber shield with a metal sword. On her left hand, the rubber shield managed to not falter under her current strength, but as for the sword on her right hand, it caused her body to take a step forward.

Ignoring the status in weight, the girl easily blocked the incoming attack from Elizabeth’s hammer strike, the electric metal hitting right at the rubber shield that insulated the electricity.

(Elizabeth) Damn it!

(Mia) This drag has gone long enough.

(Elizabeth) Damn you! I’ll double the pain you inflicted on Johnny!

With the hammer not even pushing through the rubber weak shield, the only thing that Elizabeth could try to conjure up was to try to push against the shield itself. By forcing all her strength onto the hammer that she had, she used her body weight and muscles to push her electric hammer onto the lich’s girl's heart.

With her left hand’s palm pointed downward onto the ground, Elizabeth kept her eyes glaring at the girl.

(Elizabeth) No. One. Hurts. Johnny. No one!

(Mia) Love is a horrible concept, no? Love is what drives others to their deaths, revenge, sorrow—

(Elizabeth) Shut up!

Biting her lower lip, blood started to drip onto the metal floor that was beneath her, her feet inching forward until the lich girl started to wrinkle her pale face.

Moving ever closer toward the girl, Elizabeth then let out a high-pitched shriek from the innards of her throat, her vocals clashing against one another for a supreme octave. With her eyes fully immersed in the color red, Elizabeth gritted her teeth.

(Elizabeth) No matter what, I’ll make sure you—

A gunshot was heard.

The lich girl already extended her right foot toward the off-guard Elizabeth, the heels and toes of her bare feet not being able to reach her abdomen.

But there was a slight problem.

Her foot wasn’t there, as there weren't any heels or toes or bare feet to think of.

Replacement of her right foot, a cold metal object replaced that body part, the metal emitting a trail of small smoke that traversed up through the air.

Still holding the hammer onto the rubber shield, Elizabeth looked down toward where her abdomen was. Widening her eyes, Elizabeth had her mouth agape as her lower abdomen started to swell up from immense pain.

(Elizabeth) N-no…

Blood trickling the metal floor evermore, Elizabeth let go of the shield that she tried to push forward as well as her hammer.

As if someone was twisting a double-edged knife back and forth inside her abdomen, she clenched her stomach with her hands. Letting out a soft gasp, her knees hit the cold ground beneath her.

The lich girl pulled back her right hand.

(Mia) Over so soon? Ah well. I suppose … you shall sleep.

A loud bullet rang across the entirety of the first floor.

______________________________________________________________________________

Bits of brain and goo that were replaced by black tar soon started to scattered on the floor beneath the lich. Getting rid of her rubber shield and sword, she managed to make her hands return to normal.

Turning her head slowly to the sound of the gunshot, she noticed a red-haired man pointing a high-caliber sniper rifle at her. With her only eye still seeing the man, the lich girl made a cold frown upon her face, her lips reaching down toward her chin.

(Mia) You cretin. Don’t you know when to give up?

(Jack) Unfortunately for you, I’m not giving up. Besides…

Jack’s hands trembled under the weight of the gun, his fingers twitching endlessly. Standing up tall, he barely noticed the metal bullet that came out of his left leg, the wound gray and pale as if a cloud was stitching it up.

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Having his finger on the trigger, Jack analyzed the lich from head to toe, noticing a few facial similarities that the girl had.

(Jack) I might be lazy, but like hell I’ll sit out. Even on my days off, if Luke or any one of my friends needs a helping hand, I’ll be there for them.

The lich girl then replaced her right hand with a heavy caliber sniper rifle, the gun causing her to take a step forward because of the weight.

Having her left hand on the center of the gun, she pointed it straight at Jack who happened to also point his same sniper rifle at her too. Making a standoff between one another, both Jack and the lich girl had their fingers on their respective triggers, waiting for the right time as their breathing froze like ice.

(Jack’s thoughts) If she wants to use her power, then I’ll use mine too.

Having his eyes open, he squinted right toward the innards of her soul, his ears perking up as he focused all of his attention on her.

Hearing a distant voice inside of her, he hunched his head forward slowly.

(Mia’s thoughts) I must reach the second floor. I shall just kick my feet off the ground for my escape.

(Jack) Yeah, there’s no need to, princess…

A loud bullet rang across the building yet again, followed by smoke emitting from the long singular metal barrel.

Piercing the air, the bullet had its trajectory toward the left side of the lich girl’s chest, her eyes widening at the surprise attack. Unable to dodge it completely, the only thing her body could do was merely move her body to the right.

Which caused the bullet to strike her on the right side of her chest, the hot lead stinging and boiling the tar from inside her system.

(Mia) Curse you!

Tar dripping down from her chest, the lich girl coughed out a bit of the black goop from the corners of her mouth.

Gritting her teeth, she sharpened her glare towards Jack, who happened to let out a sly smirk from the corner of his lips. Letting out an angry hum from the inside of her throat, her right hand which was replaced by a sniper rifle soon pointed it straight toward Jack again.

(Jack’s thoughts) Oh shit!

In a blink of an eye, she fired the bullet as the recoil pushed her back a couple of feet.

Fortunately for him, he still used his blessing as he squinted at the girl’s brain, having a higher reaction time than usual. Dodging the sniper rifle round completely, he started to run toward the cat-human that was lying down on the rusted and dirty floor.

As she had her left hand facing flat down, with her right hand still wielding the electric hammer.

Even when she was shot, she continued to still have that palm facing the ground…

While running toward the old teenage girl, Jack began to reload as he put another bullet into the chamber of his sniper, feeling the mechanism of the gun making a loud clunk.

(Jack’s thoughts) I want to kill her off now before she eventually does shoot me.

Aiming down the sight on the scope, he crouched down in less than a second as he saw the lich girl’s head in the crosshairs of his gun.

Seeing that the girl was preparing to shoot another shot from the automatic sniper rifle, Jack clenched his teeth together.

(Mia’s thoughts) Now may come haste upon the scythe that—

The barrage of bullets can be heard across the building.

As the hot lead traveled across the building, it made its way toward the lich girl that stood in its way, the bullets all rippling and bursting the air.

At long last, the bullets finally landed on their destination, the target being the back of the lich girl, whose back was exposed to none other than a tall, blonde-haired man.

Who wielded a suppressor machine gun.

(Johnny) Don’t you dare take another shot of that gun…

Having both of his hands wielding the machine gun, his body still felt the tremors of the recoil that shook his body and soul.

Huffing up and down his chest, Johnny let out a small glare as he noticed the lich’s girl's head slowly turn its way toward him. Her frown upon her face worsened even more, it led to her tilting her head down, her eyes peering at the metal floor.

(Mia) You all want to kill me I suppose. I am a threat and danger to you all, so it creates an understanding.

(Johnny) Not just that, but you’re not like the other liches. You and that Pedro lich were the only ones to not have killed civilians.

Jack tilted his head to the right as he put his hand underneath his chin, tapping it repeatedly with his pointer finger. Staring right into the little girl’s face, he noticed that the thickness of her hair was similar to somebody from the elite squad…

Pointing his gun down toward the ground, Jack let his ears do the talking as he closed his eyes to hear the thoughts that came out of Mia’s mind.

(Mia’s thoughts) Shall I tell them? I am related to one of them, but what good comes out of this meeting?

Jack loosened the grip of the gun that he wielded, the long barrel starting to tilt toward the metal-rusted ground. Widening his eyes as he soon noticed the length and cheekbones of the lich girl, Jack cleared his throat followed by putting his right hand motionless to gravity.

Which allowed the gun to be hanging by a thread.

(Jack) Are you related to ****

(Johnny) What? ***? Are you sure?

The lich girl focused her sight now on Jack, whose throat quivered followed by his fingers now barely hanging onto the gun.

As for the lich girl, she then lit up a bright smile on her face, tar dripping from the corners of her mouth as she slanted both of her eyes. Almost in a cute way, the lich girl managed to not only make Jack take a couple of steps back but also—

Made Jack drop his sniper rifle.

(Mia) I remember everything, even before my death. The others did too, but Pedro and I aren’t blessing users … We’re curse users.

(Jack) Curse users?

(Johnny) As in another power similar to blessings?

(Mia) Yes.

Johnny safely put down his gun on the ground. Standing back up, he then tilted his head slightly down as he still watched the lich girl’s movements steadily.

(Johnny) How does your answer relate to my past question?

(Mia) When a person dies from the undead, it can lead to two paths. The one with no power takes the zompire path of being chained until you’re killed, while the one with power will have freedom and prosperity.

Jack turned his attention toward the cat-human that twitched her fingers slowly on the ground, her left palm still clinging to the floor. Keeping his head on the cat-human's head, he squinted his eyes as he then took a step back from her…

(Johnny) Power? Do you mean blessings … and curses?

(Mia) Precisely. If the civilians were a blessing or curse user, they would become like us. If a zompire eats or ingests a curse or blessing, then that zompire will also become like us as well.

Johnny scratched his cheek. Letting out a sigh, Johnny cleared his throat in the process as he then put his right hand forward.

Nonchalantly looking at the hand that was being presented by the tall blonde-haired man, the lich girl trembled her fingers as she puckered up her mouth.

(Johnny) I have one last question. Is my father connected to all of this—

(Jack) Johnny! Get onto something high!

Both the lich girl and Johnny looking at Jack, noticed that he was already on a high wooden crate, his feet avoiding the floor. With the push of her heels, Elizabeth managed to jump higher than anyone in the room, as her feet dug into a wooden crate that was six feet high.

Reacting late, Johnny jumped onto the highest crate that he could find, grabbing the helm of the wooden, medium-sized box as he pulled himself up.

Meanwhile, Mia didn’t have any leverage to make herself up.

Elizabeth then raised her hand high, the little black mist that covered a medium-sized area now encapsulated the area in a two feet high black cloud. Followed by the cloud covering up a good chunk of the lich girl, her legs soon started to shiver from the chill of the dense clouds.

(Mia’s thoughts) That imbecile, is she going to—

(Elizabeth) Atmospheric Fulmination.

The clouds below on the floor of the building soon began to emit an epiphany of lightning and thunder across the two-foot black cloud.

The two men and one teenage girl all had their bodies away from the storm below them that sparkled and stunned the living or breathing that was below. Clutching the wooden boxes, their bodies were tucked nicely as they limited the amount of body weight on the boxes they sat on.

As for the lich girl that was below…

(Mia) I REJECT MY HUMANITY!!

By the millisecond that the lightning soon began to culminate the entire floor of the area she was trapped in, the lich girl thrust her hand into her own heart. Upon the beating heart that trembled her hand, she quickly pulled it out and she threw it high up in the air.

And by the time the heart escaped from the cloud, the cataclysm of lightning spasmed the metallic floor.

(Jack) She’s escaping!

(Johnny) How?!

(Jack) She threw her own heart out of her body!