Worth It Today, Worthless Tomorrow

The first words out of her mouth were “What in the world is that!?”

The shock was understandable, but Slater had hoped Lillian would address his statement instead. Her first action after her exclamation was to, on the contrary, inspect the burnt slash in the fence.

“If this is connected back to us, we’re screwed now, you know that?” Her indignant tone replaced the breeze that had once gone through the area. She placed her fingers on her temple. “But… You did make us a way through here, we’ll talk about this and whatever that… thing of yours is later.” Lillian bent the wires downward and slipped herself through, placing her feet squarely on the other end, before turning and beckoning her brother through. He made the simple motion of putting one foot through after the other, now fully being free from the Lower Levels.

The pair walked into the center of the small area that let out to the fence. A whole host of pinks, blues, and yellows blared in their faces from all the glowing signs strung up on the lustering buildings. It was completely unlike the world they had lived in up until now. Although, Slater was the only one who was drawn in by the scenery. His sister was more focused on a small paper note in her hands. Slater’s fixation was only broken once he registered the rare material in Lillian’s hands.

“Paper? But, if you needed a message saved why not use a—“

“We can’t risk having this tracked, it’s a location we can’t have leaked.” Lillian answered without so much as peeking up from the slip.

“Well, where is it leading us then?” Slater asked the most reasonable next question.

Lillian gave a small sigh, resigning herself to what she knew was right. “Yeah, I guess it’s alright to tell you. We’re—“

A fireball whizzed by Lillian’s face before she could finish.

“Don’t think you two are getting away!” The brown haired woman from earlier had climbed through the fence as well, with her face’s expression now contrasting her previous neutral one. “I’m gonna burn both of you up and take that damn sword back!”

This was bad. If the two drew attention from a fight, there really was no chance out of this. Knowing what they wanted, Lillian made the only sound decision she could think of at the moment. She shoved the paper note to Slater, pushing him back as he scrambled to keep himself up.

“Follow those directions. You’re our one shot.” Turning to face the cloaked woman, Lillian planted her feet to signal to her that she could not pass until Lillian fell to her knees.

“No! Let me take her, I have this sword!” Slater started to ready his weapon.

“Don’t be an idiot! All they have to do is take that from you and the fight is over, leave this one to me.” Lillian’s words made his blade drop to his side once more.

“You won’t lose, right?” Was her brother’s simple question.

“I’m trusting you to go get help, the least you could do is put a little trust in me!” She gave a lighthearted retort back. Hearing it, Slater’s only response was a breath in, before lowering his head for a nod and running off to follow the note’s directions, disappearing around a corner.

“It was a big mistake letting him go, you know,” The white cloaked woman began to taunt. “If both of you were here, beating me would be easier, wouldn’t it?”

“I look out for my brother all the time, the least I deserve is a little time to finally let loose on my own!” Lillian’s demeanor relaxed as she cracked her neck with a sadistic smirk. “Besides, where is your buddy from earlier? Still chewing his food?”

“He was too pissed to think straight, so he’s searching your house for any more important items.”The woman began generating another ball of fire in her hand. “Not like you’ll be needing it anymore anyways.” She ejected the ball from her hand, barely missing Lillian’s unconcerned head which had tilted just enough to avoid its path.

“You could be more creative.” Lillian gave her feedback, rolling up her sleeves to reveal bandages wrapped around her palms and arms. She cracked her knuckles, just in time to duck under two more incoming fireballs, which hit and knocked down one of the absurdly neon signs Slater had just been admiring. From the ducked position, Lillian launched herself off the ground, kicking up pebbles and dust, and towards the enemy. Her right arm extended for a devastating punch, but the woman put up her arms to defend her front. But the punch never came, instead, Lillian had appeared behind her and dug her fist into her back with a force more akin to a stone pillar than a girl’s arm, launching the woman through the air and into a nearby wall.

“The hell… How strong—Are you?” The woman got out as she peeled herself off the surface of the building, holding one of her shoulders. She had addressed Lillian, but had lost sight of her in the kicked-up dust, and as it settled, Lillian remained out of her sight. Before she could recognize it though, the knocked over neon sign from before smacked into her side and sent her sliding backwards.

Lillian threw the sign to the side, putting her fists back up again. Her form was reminiscent of boxing, supported by her specific taunt of asking the woman to come closer with her fist.

“Fine.” The woman spit out alongside a fair amount of blood. “You want something creative? Something different?” An orange orb, not too dissimilar to the one Icarus had, rolled out of the woman’s cloak. It had flared up following her statement, matching the open flame icon on its side. The woman clutched her head in pain. “Then let’s see if this is original enough for you!”

The entire plaza area had a sea of flames consume it within seconds, leaving Lillian grasping to climb on top of one of the still attached signs on the building walls. Once she situated herself on one a sufficient height from the fire, she put her body against the wall and turned her focus to her adversary. The woman’s eyes had gone white, her mouth agape as veins were visible wherever her skin poked out from her cloak.

“So, she couldn’t handle this much of the core.” Lillian observed, now focusing on the thing causing all of this. “Now, how do I take that thing out without roasting alive?” She observed the area, trying to get a grasp of what all of her options were from atop the neon sign. Viewing all the other places she could jump to, she noticed a sign placed right above where her core had rolled out of her cloak.

Her grip on the wall she was clinging to lessened, her mind visualizing each leap she had to take. It was a mere three jumps away. Her chest got tight and her feet became cold, but nonetheless, the girl took the first leap towards an old sign, lacking in color, that was sending out sparks intermittently.

She passed through the flame-heated air, her foot extending over to the top of her target. Luckily, her foot made contact and she was able to balance herself. The next jump was slightly farther, but with enough time she could—

The sign began to collapse under her weight.

As a knee-jerk reaction honed from years of living on the streets, she simply pushed the box down into the flames below to save herself. From midair, the next target certainly seemed in Lillian’s landing range, but to ensure she made it she performed a twist through the air to have her feet land first, facing back towards where she had jumped from. The gentle drill then placed its tip on the chrome platform beneath it, stopping its spin just as it touched down.

When her feet landed, the woman in the flaming pit below blinked a few times, coming back to her senses. She immediately saw the enemy above her, and pushing back her the weight of exhaustion, threw one more fireball at the chrome sign Lillian had just landed upon. The sign began to descend, just as the last had, but due to Lillian measuring her next jump, she began to descend too.

The world rushed upwards, with Lillian’s instinct screaming throughout her body once again. She threw her left foot in an axe swing motion, putting it in front of her face. She quickly tore off part of her pant leg from her knee down, throwing herself forward once again, an end of the torn cloth in each hand, and snagged it on the sign she had aimed for. If Lillian was going down, she thought, it only makes sense to make sure the object she had aimed for came down with her. With all her might, Lillian pulled down on the unit and flung it into the ground below her with the tearing of wires and crackle of electricity. Directly onto the exposed core, the unit had all of its force located. With the crash of steel meeting steel, the flames subdued themselves.

Landing safely on the still-hot, charred ground, Lillian composed herself and stood above the paralyzed in fear wannabe arsonist.

“Your core is done for, please surrender.” Her fist raised at the defenseless woman, Lillian’s other hand grasping firmly at her collar. “Don’t make me—“

Once again, Lillian had been interrupted. A fist had come from the side and knocked her back, relieving her grip on the woman.

The figure which had counterattacked said one phrase in a slow, dispassionate voice:

“No more… Potato…”