XVIII - End of Curses

Shien and Mivangeline huddled together as Isrina walked to Thalamoid in a face-off. Enshiron and Elysia stood by Shien, knowing Thalamoid's sole desire was to see him dead.

"Oreic! Saitori! This is my fight!" Isrina told them. "Go focus on Hernamidos and Fanghui!"

Saitori and Oreic nodded, leading the rebels to search for the last two villains in Altair. Meanwhile, Mivangeline, Enshiron, and Elysia stayed with Shien.

Mivangeline prayed with Isrina before letting her confront Thalamoid. "God loves you and forgives you. In Jesus' name, you will break this curse. Amen."

Isrina nodded. "Thank you, Mivangeline."

The hooded Thalamoid adjusted her purple martial arts robe with a purple martin embroidery and bowed. "I've come home, Mother."

"I'm not your mother, Thalamoid!" Isrina declared in front of everyone. "And you're no longer part of the Niang family!"

The schizophrenic robot glared at Shien. "Because of him."

"Shien is my Little Chickadee! My true son!"

"I'm your true child! I'm your daughter! I'm born from your womb! Not Shien! He stole your love from me like a thieving cat! Shien should've never been born! Did you know how many times I've tried to kill him when he was a baby? 57! And every time, you and Jinhai would get in my way!"

The droid woman roared in rage, scaring Shien and his friends.

"How dare you and Jinhai love the smelly baby who needed to be fed compared to me! I'm efficient and independent, but you still chose Shien over me! He stole your attention from me! If I knew that, I would've killed Shien long before his birth! It would save me this suffering if I destroyed him within your belly!"

Isrina glared at Thalamoid.

"That's exactly why we kicked you out, Thalamoid. Jinhai and I did love you. I respected you because my husband built you as a droid pupil. But if my Little Chickadee's life offends you that much, too bad for you. It's you whom I must destroy."

"Y-you want to destroy me? You dare side with Shien, the fake son! I wasn't created! I'm real! I'm born from your womb! I'm your daughter, your true child!"

Shien and his friend shook their heads, unable to comprehend Thalamoid's schizophrenic reasoning.

"Hallucinate all you want, Thalamoid. But I'm not your mother. We have nothing left to discuss."

"You traitorous hag! Then, you die!" Thalamoid screamed. "Avian Form: Sandpiper Spear!"

The droid lunged her palm forward like a spear.

"Avian Form: Peregrine Landing!" Isrina stomped a crater to trip Thalamoid.

"Avian Form: Ostrich Buster!" Thalamoid stood on her hands to kick Isrina repeatedly like a machine gun. "Avian Form: Parotia's Guillotine!"

Isrina elbowed the beheading kick away. "Avian Form: Toucan's Mace!"

"Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!" Thalamoid and Isrina parried with beak-shaped palms. "Avian Form: Puffin's Foot!"

Isrina tripped Thalamoid with her foot, but the droid bashed her head into Isrina's with super speed.

"Avian Form: Roadrunner Blitz!" She aimed a fist at Isrina. "Avian Form: Shoebill Thunderforce!"

"Avian Form: Heron's Knee!" Isrina bashed her knee against the powerful fist. "Avian Form: Chickadee's Touch!"

The deadly two-finger strike paralyzed Thalamoid's arm. "Avian Form: Bowerbird Crusher!"

Thalamoid screamed when Isrina twisted her arm into metal pieces.

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Isrina didn't hesitate to slice her palm at Thalamoid's neck.

Just like that, Thalamoid was beheaded. The magenta glow of her skull's lightning bolt eyes faded. Isrina sighed with relief after defeating Thalamoid.

"Mom!" Shien hugged Isrina.

"My Little Chickadee," The mother hugged him. "You don't have to worry about Thalamoid ever again."

Mivangeline, Enshiron, and Elysia applauded. Now, Hernamidos and Fanghui were truly the only villains left to deal with.

***

Enshiron grabbed his wind violin while Elysia took her machete, weapons they also used in real life. The two Vulpi helped Oreic and Saitori battle Fanghui as Shien, Isrina, and Mivangeline fought the Reaper Squad with their Avian Form in the central city streets of Altair.

"Look what I found! Three dead birds!" Hernamidos hovered before the trio with his jet shoes.

Isrina's breathing paced as Shien and Mivangeline stood with her. They faced the Reaper Squad leader, who wore a seven-eyed tactical mask and a vampiric mercury cape.

"Y-you," Isrina growled at the one who killed her husband. "This ends today, Hernamidos!"

"Aw, the red bird just sang her last song! How cute!" Hernamidos glanced at Shien and Mivangeline, laughing his brains out.

"Haha! And I see the red bird's Little Chickadee got a girlfriend! This is your attempt to restart the Niang family from scratch?"

Hernamidos rotated his two pistols across his fingers, pointing them at Shien and Mivangeline. "I'll just have to blast your brains out before you two have kids! That's what I did to all the poor newlywed Niangs back in the day! Think fast!"

The Reaper Squad leader fired his pistols at Shien and Mivangeline.

"Avian Form: Riflebird's Wingbeat!" The couple flapped their arms like wings to blow the bullets away.

"Avian Form: Roadrunner Blitz!" Isrina jumped into the air, bashing her head into Hernamidos' jet shoe with super speed.

Hernamidos spun on his remaining shoe, crash landing face down.

"Avian Form: Kingfisher's Axe!" Isrina aimed a downswing kick at Hernamidos.

"I don't think so, loser!" The Reaper Squad leader backflipped up, firing an electric lasso from his wrist gear. "Game over!"

Isrina screamed as the lasso captured her and electrified her.

Mivangeline cut the rope to set Isrina free. "Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!"

"Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!" Shien attacked Hernamidos with beak-shaped palms.

"Heh! Bring it on, Little Chickadee! I got some bloody seeds for you!" Hernamidos' wrist gear unsheathed blades to parry.

Shien clashed his palms against Hernamidos' wrist blades. Hernamidos smirked, aiming red lasers from his wrist gear. As Shien's palms battled the wrist blades, he jerked his head away from the saw blades Hernamidos launched wherever the lasers aimed.

"Avian Form: Parotia's Guillotine!" Mivangeline aimed a beheading kick at the Reaper Squad leader.

"Think fast!" Hernamidos' shoe shot a missile that Mivangeline barely dodged. "No way I'll let you two have kids!"

The Reaper Squad leader fired his wrist flamethrower, forcing Shien and Mivangeline to retreat. Isrina dashed into Hernamidos again, parrying his wrist blades with rolling punches and cutting palms.

"Listen, I know why Isrina has a hard time beating him! He has too many weapons to adapt to whatever he pleases!" Mivangeline told Shien.

"How can we help Mom?" Shien huffed.

"We must disassemble his gear! He has two pistols, shoe launchers, and adaptive wrist gear. We should take them out!"

"Okay, Commander!" Shien saluted.

"Try me, red bird! Think you can beat me after your years of failing to kill me! Haha!" Hernamidos' wrist gear aimed red lasers, firing spinning saw disks.

Isrina rolled from the deadly projectiles until Hernamidos flicked his foot to fire a sudden missile. The missile exploded on Isrina's foot, making her tumble. Hernamidos laughed until Shien grappled Hernamidos' right wrist.

"Avian Form: Bowerbird Crusher!" Shien twisted the wrist gadget, crushing it into pieces.

"Hey! Don't touch my toys!" Hernamidos used his other wrist gear to blast a flamethrower back.

After Shien jumped away, Hernamidos flicked his shoes to fire missile barrages at Shien.

Shien rolled away from the explosions as Mivangeline swiped her foot across Hernamidos' shoes.

"Avian Form: Puffin's Foot!" The commander's attack cracked Hernamidos' shoe launchers.

"You nasty bird, wanting to fly with Niangs!" Hernamidos grappled Mivangeline's neck with his other wrist gear, pressing a button to electrify her. "You'll die with the other 108 Niangs I sent to die without children!"

Mivangeline held her throat, screaming in pain until Shien aimed a spear-like palm to crush the last wrist gear.

"Avian Form: Sandpiper Spear!" The attack destroyed Hernamidos' last wrist gear. "Avian Form: Flamingo's Talon!"

Shien kicked his two feet into Hernamidos.

"Die, little birds!" The Reaper Squad leader fired his pistols at Shien and Mivangeline.

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Mivangeline slashed her palms to cut Hernamidos' hands off.

The Reaper Squad leader squealed in agony as his arms bled. As Shien ran to help his injured mother, Mivangeline approached Hernamidos, who scampered back in fear. He had no weapons left.

"Stand back!" Hernamidos was cornered against the wall of a skyscraper.

Shien wrapped Isrina's wounded foot with bandages as Mivangeline confronted Hernamidos on their behalf.

"Don't kill me! I beg of you!" Hernamidos' seven-eyed tactical mask gazed at the brown-haired girl with deep blue eyes.

Mivangeline declared.

"I break this generational curse over the Niang family! In Jesus' name, I declare the Niangs are free! Hernamidos, your time tormenting this beautiful family ends now!"

Mivangeline then plucked Hernamidos' seven-eyed tactical mask off his eyes. The Reaper Squad leader screamed in pain as his face bled to death, for the mask was a vital apparatus that kept his scarred face alive. With Hernamidos dead, Mivangeline looked at the seven-eyed tactical mask, dropping it before crushing it with her foot.

Shien helped his mother limp to Mivangeline. "Mivange! We did it!"

"Thank you," Isrina cried, hugging Mivangeline.

Mivangeline held Isrina and Shien close.

"Isrina. Shien. The curse has been broken. Jesus has healed your family! Thank you, Jesus!"

"Amen!" Shien jumped. "Thanks be to God!"

Mivangeline hugged her future husband and mother-in-law. The trio then looked for Oreic and the others. They were battling Fanghui, who wielded the Nordic Herald's Hand. His red martial arts robe was marked with three interlocked triangles, Valknut, an ancient Nordic symbol.

"Herald's Hand: Gateway to Niflheim!" Fanghui's red hair flickered like fire, stomping his foot to summon a burning white crater shaped like a six-winged seraphim.

Fanghui's red and teal eyes sobbed in fury.

"My family was taken away because of the Vulpi! They hate me in the afterlife for failing them! By the power of the Aesir gods, I shall bring Ragnarok to the Vulpi and earn my family's love!"

Mivangeline heard Fanghui's howl in tears. "There's one more person in need of healing."