Andie pushed herself off the ground, putting every ounce of her willpower into standing up. Her Will to Live had stopped leaking, but in her current form there was no difference between physical strength and emotional strength. The more she didn’t want to do something, the harder it was to do. The more she was determined to do something, the easier it was to do. Unfortunately, right now, Andie really just wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground and feel miserable.
That really wasn’t an option Andie was willing to pursue. She’d never given up on anything or anyone before in her entire life, and she wasn’t planning to start now.
The sound of crunching concrete heralded the return of the monster. Dammit, where the hell was Andie’s backup?
The creature’s sickly black eye peered through the hole Andie had involuntarily made in the wall just a little while ago. The abomination spoke with an eldritch voice, as though it was trying to speak while gargling after its throat had been scrubbed with sandpaper. “nOOoo. NoOo wo-mAn.” Useless drivel, as always. Stupid things rarely ever spoke, and when they did it never made any -
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Was that a car?
Crap, that was a car. It had a car. The stupid monster was going to throw a goddamn car! …On the bright side, this was one of the top five ways Andie wanted to go. She’d really been rooting for heroic sacrifice or old age, though.
Andie clenched her eyes shut and braced herself. Instead of suffering a flying metal death, though, she heard footsteps - and then a voice. “Stand your ground, my Loyalty!” The sound of crashing, screeching metal led Andie to reluctantly peel her right eye open and sneak a peek. In front of her was a glowing forcefield dyed a blazing red, and a 17 year old boy. He had messy black hair, an unzipped jacket, and jeans. His gentle eyes looked like they could kill with a glance, and a sleek crimson shield was strapped to his arm. His body was naturally lean, sharp, and familiar - like her father’s pocket knife. On his face he wore the world’s only calming smirk, and on his hands a pair of fingerless gloves that only he thought looked cool. It was Dyllan. “…I feel like such a dork every time I say that.”
“Yeah, well, if you find a way to use your Virtue’s power without it, lemme know.” Andie couldn’t help but grin. “More importantly, you’re late.”
“Tut-tut. A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to!” Dyllan’s smirk grew even wider as the monster scuttled off toward the street. “Now c’mon, we need to salvage what we can from the shattered pieces of our plan, before the local Nightmare comes back with another car.”