The Raging Wildcat {1} (Catman)

Chapter 18- "Can't. Breathe."

Rory and Starchild stood side by side on the flattened mountain top. The only movement in that moment was the duo's hair that was gently tousled by the wind.

The quietness was broken, though, by Starchild. As a proud smile graced his face, he told his brunette friend, "you found your powers."

Rory returned his smile and turned to face him with eyes full of glee. "At first I was just angry. I could feel this power or energy wanting to surface, but anger wasn't enough to bring it out."

Rory then turned her attention to the south of the mountain, where she knew the others were.

"But then I thought of all those that matter to me, and how I knew the Crimson Witch wanted to hurt them. All I could think of is how much I wanted to protect them."

The pair had much more that they wanted to discuss, but a rumbling from the rock pile halted any further words.

Their eyes comically widened as they watched the Crimson Witch emerge from the rubble. It seems as though the witch was going to put up much more of a fight.

Starchild shifts himself so that his body shields Rory as the witch maniacally grins at the duo.

"You want the Wielder and the Rock, Starchild?" the witch taunts the lead singer.

Her goading worked, and Starchild jumps into action to land a punch on the witch out of anger. Rory had no time to react and stop Starchild. She was forced to watch him come to an abrupt stop as the Crimson Witch grabbed his extended fist, keeping him from landing a hit.

Her face contorted into a malicious grin and further taunted him.

"Why settle for a little girl and the rock when you can have the whole mountain?"

With her sheer strength, the witch slings Starchild around by his arm, catapulting him off of the face of the mountain they had all been standing on.

The witch was not done with the guitarist, so she quickly followed after him as he flies backwards. Starchild attempted to counter her blows, but Rory could see the witch pummeling her friend again and again.

Rory could feel the now familiar tingle of her powers surfacing again as her eyes blazed in fury at the sight of Starchild being mauled by the Crimson Witch.

In one swift blow, the Crimson Witch sends Starchild careening into the bottom of a deep chasm. From her vantage point on top of the mountain, all Rory could see of the guitarist is a plume of smoke and dust rising from the pit.

The Crimson Witch then turns her eyes full of fury to latch onto the figure of Rory. The witch noticed the ethereal glow starting to surround Rory once again. A growl erupted from her throat when she concluded that she would not be able to control Rory if she used her powers.

With a plan in mind, the Crimson Witch quickly flies back to where Rory was standing, clutching the Rock of Kissteria so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

Just as the Crimson Witch thought, she couldn't use her magic to get a grasp on Rory's figure. She knew, though, that she could tamper with her emotions enough so that her control on her newfound powers would slip, long enough to gain back control of the brunette.

"Weak girl, do you think that you could withstand me!?" the witch confronts Rory.

With fire in her eyes, Rory resolves herself to not give in to the witch. "I will not let you destroy the world, Crimson Witch. You could never defeat my mother, and you will not defeat me."

The Witch's malicious grimace turns upward into a frightening grin. She has found her way into Rory's head.

"What an interesting choice of words, Wielder. 'You could never defeat my mother.'"