2:04 AM

Mary Jane felt naked without her heels on.

Without them, she was just a tiny woman, who still looked like a girl. Her head got itchy and she tapped her weave, not wanting to mess up her roots as she walked down the empty hallway.

It was hard making it through barefoot. Certain parts of the halls had craters in them from previous fights. The walls were missing entirely. Broken windows let cold air in, and being in a skimpy costume wasn’t doing her any favors. The main building didn’t seem that bad compared to others, as there was less blood on the floor and walls. Mary Jane shivered as she walked through the cold halls using her cell phone as a guiding light.

She didn’t like being alone but she knew she had to be strong. She was the leader of Team Eight, one of the strongest on campus, and knew that others would be looking for help. She feared nothing.

Except for being alone.

She thrived in a crowd. Mary Jane was a born leader. She was surrounded by friends all the time, her looks and strength a magnet to all of those who came within view. Women wanted to be her, men wanted her, and a few women did as well. After years of constant attention, Mary Jane now couldn’t stand silence. It was worse than being in a crowd, the sweat and smell of people pushing up against her. The halls were so quiet compared to their usual shouts and laughter.

Mary Jane tried her hardest to cheer herself up.

I am a strong and independent black woman. I don’t need anyone.

She repeated this over and over in her head, trying her hardest not to be scared. She didn’t pay attention and was caught off guard as someone came into view.

A man dressed as a knight scared Mary Jane as he passed through the wall.

“It’s a ghost,” Mary Jane screamed. “There’s fucking zombies and now ghosts!”

“I’m not a ghost,” the knight corrected her. “My name is Kvebj, the demon of what you call-”

Mary Jane laughed in his face and started laying into him.

“You’re not a demon! What kind of demon is called Kevin!?”

“It sounds like Kevin, to you mere mortals,” Kvebj shouted. “But in Hell I am-”

“This bitch’s name is Kevin!”

Kvebj had left hell to make his clan proud. He was the strongest demon in his clan, feared by all. Kvebj had come all the way through the Seven Circles, the Gate of Silence, and was favored by Deceit to help in her quest for raising an army.

All to be mocked by a barefoot eighteen-year-old young woman dressed in a cheap costume.

Mary Jane's entire body shook as she laughed, the tension from her day relieved at the absurdity of it all. Her stress and worry had evaporated away as she continued to mock him, not worried that he might be a threat.

“I wish I had internet,” she giggled. “Cuz I would live stream this and-”

Kvebj promptly punched her in the jaw, and Mary Jane was caught off guard. She cried when she fell to her knees and now shook in fear instead of joy.

“My name is Kvebj,” he repeated. “I will be the one that kills you.”

“I’m not dying to some ghost called Kevin,” Mary Jane shouted.

Her eyes burned a deep gold and she gazed up at him.

“Eat shit, bitch,” she whispered.

A giant pillar of stone and dirt shot up from underneath him and Kvebj went skyrocketing up with it. Mary Jane grinned, wanting to try out her new move on an unsuspecting victim.

Another pillar of stone and rock pushed Mary Jane out of the roof of the building, and they stood, eyeing each other from a distance in the sky, standing on the tall spires. Kvebj was shaken up but wanted to pretend that he could handle the situation.

“Give up now before I kill you,” he screamed.

His voice sounded quiet from far away, and Mary Jane began laughing at him again. She started to believe she was invincible, and Kvebj dared to break the illusion of it in her mind by punching her.

“Cute that you think you're in charge,” she shouted. “This is my turf.”

Mary Jane pushed her feet inside the pillar she was standing on and started to stretch out her arms. She cracked her neck and rubbed her palms together, excited that she could finally try out a new move she'd been working on.

The pillars of earth Kvebj and Mary Jane were standing on shot up into the air again, and he along with it. Screaming, wondering how high it would take him Kvebj held on for dear life.

Mary Jane laughed at his terror, and suddenly, the pillar Kvebj was on fell to the ground. With nothing keeping him up, Kvebj was at the mercy of gravity. Mary Jane pulled her feet out of the pillar and jumped off.

She aimed her body straight for Kvebj, keeping her legs close to her chest. At the last moment before she approached him, she thrust her legs out.

She missed.

Mary Jane couldn’t comprehend what had happened. She didn’t truly miss, but her entire body had passed through his. With the ground quickly approaching, Mary Jane screamed.

The pillar underneath Kvebj rose again, but this time Kvebj passed right through it, and Mary Jane continued to scream, not in pain but in anger.

I always win. That’s how it is. That’s not changing!

Stolen novel; please report.

Kvebj passed through the rock, the ceiling, and other various floors until he landed on the last one. He rolled, trying to break his fall. Instead, he broke his left foot. Kvebj didn't have much time to run away, as a giant ball of rock came hurtling through, leaving a gaping hole in the building. It crashed a few feet away, and Kvebj shook, narrowly escaping his final death.

Mary Jane was inside the ball, trembling and shaking. If not for the pillars she already made beforehand, there would be no rocks to fly toward her and protect her fall. She would have died on impact, and now the illusion of her being invincible was shattered.

I’m going to die, aren’t I? If I can’t hit him, how can I win?

She decided she would rather die trying than wait for her death, as he could pass right through her shield and kill her anyway. Taking another deep breath she told herself that she can do anything, and mentally prepared herself to fight. With a tap of her finger, Mary Jane broke the ball of earth and walked into the hallway filled with debris and ceiling pieces. Stray papers fell through the hole, and the moonlight illuminated the empty, blood-streaked halls.

“Let me hit you,” she screamed.

She ran towards him and Kvebj simply lay on the ground, turning transparent. With every kick and punch she threw, Kvebj was invincible.

"My suit is quite fitting for this situation," Kvebj chortled. "I am invincible and-"

“No one asked you for your opinion! No one wants to know!”

This woman is so mean, Kvebj thought. She never lets me finish speaking.

There was no fight to be had if the other participant didn’t, well, participate. Kvebj waited for Mary Jane to tire herself out. She stopped trying to punch and kick him but instead realized something.

“You can’t kill me if you can’t touch me,” Mary Jane said. “You’re useless.”

"No, I'm not. I just need to find Acheus and-"

“He’s dead and missing.”

"No," Kvebj insisted. "Deceit can feel his new energy, stronger than ever before!"

Mary Jane started to laugh again, and Kvebj became even more irritated with her, thinking that she never took him seriously as a threat. It wasn't that she never did, it was just that she had become so hysterical from fear that she started to laugh, not knowing how to react.

Kvebj took off the helmet of his knight costume to reveal the face of a young man.

It was Chris Sheffield, captain of the tennis team. He was missing an ear, most of his dyed green hair was pulled out, and his entire face was bruised. His scalp was bleeding, and little bits of black tar streamed down the face of his host. Kvebj's host had put up a good fight, but not good enough.

Mary Jane was not scared at the reveal, because she didn’t know Chris, and because she had become normalized to the death surrounding her. The grass was green, the sky was blue, she was invincible, and the dead walked among them.

These were all facts in her head that she knew to be true.

“I don’t give a fuck who you work for," Mary Jane explained. "Your boss, however, is an idiot!”

“Don’t talk about her like that you-”

"Ace is one of the worst trainees on campus! All he can do is teleport! How he got into the Defense Program makes no sense!”

“Deceit sees things you cannot,” Kvebj screamed.

He got up from the ground and he was no longer translucent, his focus gone. He tried to balance on his good foot and leaned back into the white lockers. Kvebj knew he could win as long as he tired her out and became overconfident in his skills.

"How dare you question her judgment," Kvebj screamed. "You're nothing but a-"

Mary Jane saw her chance and promptly grabbed him by the hand. In one swift movement, his right arm tore off, and black tar spread all over the lockers, floor, and their bodies.

It seeped into the cracks in the ground, turning the fallen sheets of paper into mush. Mary Jane watched as Kvebj cried out in pain, the black tears streaming down his face. She was still holding onto his arm and could feel its fingers twitch slightly until it finally went slack.

“No one tells me who I am,” Mary Jane said. “I already know. I’m stronger than you!”

Mary Jane no longer felt naked without her heels. She had black tar covering her body from the chest down and started to think of the different ways she would kill Kvebj. Again she believed that she was unstoppable, knowing that he couldn’t hurt her.

He again turned transparent and started to groan. Out from his body grew new bones, a new arm, this one skeletal but thick. The bleeding finally stopped and Mary Jane threw the arm to the ground, finally having decided how she would kill him.

“Spiteful whore,” screamed Kvebj.

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve called me all day,” Mary Jane goaded. “So sweet.”

She knew that he was letting his anger get the best of him and that he couldn't hit her unless he stopped using his ability. He shook with rage, knowing that he couldn't kill her without endangering himself.

Mary Jane got out her phone and started playing games.

"You dare mock me," Kvebj screamed. "You-"

“Look. We can do this until the sun fucking rises. But you can’t use your ability forever.”

"Yes I can," Kvebj screamed. "I can do any-"

"Astrals powers are blood-based. You lost a lot of blood buddy."

A smirk was plastered on her face as she tried even harder to anger him again so he would slip up and no longer be transparent.

"I give you uh…. Five minutes until you can't keep it up," Mary Jane said.

"Stop interrupting me," Kvebj screamed. "I don't care!"

Mary Jane tried to finish her crossword puzzle game as Kvebj had to make a tough decision. Risk losing another arm and more blood, or risk running out of enough iron to fuel his ability. He decided to make the worst choice, and do nothing.

Mary Jane yawned and walked over to him. He smirked and stood still in place.

“You can’t hurt me, whore,” he sneered. “You can’t do-”

Mary Jane stopped right inside his body. She stood there and looked right down at her phone. She was stuck on finding the word craven.

She played it cool, her fingers trembling, hoping that her gamble would pay off.

“Ya got three minutes. You can either explode into bits or I can tear your head off,” she whispered. “It’s your choice.”

Kvebj started to cry.