It’s the weekend and Suzanna has been lurking on the lakeside park where it was indicated, Lucy Lael the mother of Luscin Lael could be found without too many witnesses. The whole report was nonsense, she had done her own reconnaissance in the weeks prior, she never took casual walks in the park before. This is a baited trap for Suzanna. It’s sad to know that the underworld of Thuma crime is more loyal to their human boss than to her. One more thing to fix after she’s finished with the girl.

She waits and waits some more, finally just before noon, Lucy Lael comes strolling along the lakeside path. She doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. A couple who had been laying on a blanket for the last hour stand up when she passes. A man comes into view jogging towards her. Two more individuals’ step from behind some bushes behind her. As if by accident the five harmless park enjoyers converge on Lucy simultaneously. Everybody stops and there is a brief exchange of words. Suzanna doesn’t bother listening, she’s sure they have a well thought out script. The jogger puts a hand on her shoulder and escorts her across the park with his four companions following close behind.

Suzanna is pleased with her plan so far. Luscin and her mother will attempt to ambush her either in the park or at the drop off. Too bad for them, neither of those plans will work, because Suzanna is better than them. She may not measure up to her Master or even to her late sister, but she knows she can take these two. Of course, there’s a chance that Luscin brought help from Mammatus, if their reports are accurate, they only have one strong Defender, and he is busy elsewhere. The others are all academics and noncombatants. They can’t hope to stand up against someone who has lived five lifetimes.

It's time to begin the second act of this charade, Suzanna hides herself from sight and fast travels across the rooftops to her warehouse. Arriving in under a minute she slips in through a skylight, left open for this purpose.

Now unhidden from sight, standing in the center of the twenty-five-by-twenty-five-yard concrete slab, she waits in the sunbeam provided by the loan open window above.

It’s not long before she hears the street facing door open, and as instructed the five kidnappers escort Lucy into the dark warehouse.

The apparent leader, the jogger shoves Lucy forward, “Where’s our payment?”

Suzanna smiles at how fast this is progressing, “Did you really think I was going to bring money into your little trap, did you Luscin?”

Lucy smiles to herself, turns to the jogger and indicates with a sideways nod that he’s dismissed.

Facing Suzanna Lucy says in an uncharacteristic slow drawl, “Oh honey, did you really think I would let one of my students face a Devastator on her own?”

The woman that was Lucy blurs as the light reflected off her suddenly shifts as millions of tiny prisms and lens disappeared. The woman’s raven black hair now auburn, sapphire eyes subtly shift to a light blue. Her frame grows by an inch, and slender gentle limbs take on the muscle definition of a combat trained fighter. The khaki pants and blue top are replaced with black chinos and matching shirt. A short sword and staff are slung over her back, dual long knives are attached at her waist. There are bulges in strategic places suggesting more weapons are at her disposal.

Master Vania Adara the Dean of Sight and Sound of Mammatus Study takes her fighting stance, calmly drawing her short sword and holding it in a two-handed grip.

Suzanna looks at the arrogance on display and feels a rage deep inside. This human mortal thinks she is good enough, strong enough to win. Her face scrunches up as if she’s in pain, the truth be told, she is in pain, self-inflicted internal pain, and only complete victory can give her relief. Arms out in front with fingers reaching, she charges the woman taunting her, growling like the animal.

Master Adara calmly waits for the demented monster to approach. A step, a slice, and a turn. The monster is past her and missing an arm.

Suzanna didn’t even see the woman move, she should have been latched onto her head and biting her face. Instead, she’s missing an arm. This is funny, she thinks to herself. She knows exactly who she’s fighting and knows she can best her in several ways. “You are as fast as I heard. How many arms do you expect to cut today?” As she talked the stump above her elbow started to throb, each pulse extending it further, until it fully replaced her missing limb in a handful of seconds.

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“Sugar, I’ll cut off as many as you present. Now let’s get on with this.” Master Adara takes the fight to Suzanna this time. She launches a series of attacks, more to gage reactions and technique than to kill.

The Hedge Witch can’t feel potential energy as distinctly as some can, she must rely on her sense to tell her where to block. She opens her sight and aural senses to her maximum range. Using her hands she slaps the blade away, absorbing the transfer of energy of each hack or slash.

Vania has a job and with it comes rules, “Will you yield and face justice?” she shouts!

“There’s the Defender. With their rules, always opening with your weakest attacks to give the poor spirit in front of you a chance to redeem themselves.” Sneering she adds, “Vania Adara, Go kill yourself!” Suzanna doesn’t hold back; she blasts a spirit shredder directly into Master Adara.

The sensation of a thousand spiders crawling inside her body comes close to paralyzing Vania. Her training, thanks to Master Robels, saves her, with a sharp intake of breath she directs her spirit to purge the spiders with her exhale, as she breathes out the creepy sensation that was about to consume her spirit is purged.

“Thank you; witch, you seem to know me, what shall I call you in my report when I finish you?”

“I have many names, but the one I was born with is Suzanna. By all means use it as often as you like before I kill you.”

Vania levels in her most sarcastic tone, “Honey-cakes, you’re simply not good enough to kill me.”

Those words echo in Suzanna ears, ‘not good enough, not good enough, not good enough, not good enough, not good enough, not good enough’ with each repetition her blood boils hotter. She loses all control and gives in to her inner monster. Her body is wracked with a single spasm, she throws her limbs out as she levitates above the ground. Head back, her mouth opens wider than humanly possible, a breathless scream escapes as six black energy tentacles explode from her gaping maw.

The tentacles catch Master Adara off guard, she swipes uselessly with her sword, it slides off the expanding tentacles that obscenely project from the witch’s mouth and close the three yards that separated them. In unison they latch onto Master Adara, lift her up and slam her down on the concrete.

Each slam is absorbed by Vania, the shock of the impacts numbs her brain and makes it difficult to think. Something is forcing its way into her mouth; she chomps down uselessly. She tries again, but this time directs her spirit to do the biting. Whatever it was is gone, but the repeated impacts are still fuzzing her thought process. She exerts her will against time and leaves the floor as she attempts to fast travel away from her foe. She doubles, then triples, then quadruples the pull of gravity until she feels herself yanked away from the grasping tentacles. She throws her fall in reverse but not before crashing through the warehouse outer wall and the wall of another warehouse across the street.

Master Adara fast traveled back to the fight before a certain somebody else thought it was time to step in. Luckily, she finds the witch still floating, black tentacles waving around blindly seeking something to attack.

“Do you know why I’m the Master of Sight and Sound?”

The witch creepily responds without using her mouth, “Because that’s all you’re good at, and nobody wants that job?”

Donning an affect mask, emphasizing her darker characteristics, such as arrogance, condescension, and domination, while simultaneously increasing her size by fifty percent. She answers, “No, it’s because I’m the best.”

Master Adara drops a hundred thousand pounds of kinetic energy in a space one third of a square yard on top of the witch’s head. The force punches through her core, jamming her head and spine out from between her legs.

The black tentacles still projecting from the disembodied head spear towards her. Pass through the illusionary target. While the real Master Adara appears next to the floating corpse and head with arms open. A column of flame a yard across envelopes and burns the corpse and head until the black tentacles disappear and all that is left is ash.

Luscin, who had been hiding in the warehouse since before the witch returned, watched the entire fight, and was in awe.

“That was incredible! I thought she had you when she did the thing with the tentacles. I couldn’t tell if you escaped, or she spit you out.”

“I’m glad you decided to wait, it would have spoiled my big moment.”

She gave Luscin a half hug and continued, “Let’s go see Lucy, she’ll be glad this is over.”

Another set of eyes was watching the battle and was less pleased, but not surprised at the outcome. Suzanna had been an ambush predator that needed to choose her prey wisely. She wasn’t equipped for head-on fights. It’s a shame he didn’t get partnered with someone like Greta, but then she didn’t need one. In hindsight maybe she did. Now that this has been resolved, unsatisfactorily as it was, he can move on to his other project full-time.