A Trick of the Light

“Huh?  What was that?” Ripper wondered, her hazel eyes locked on to the rearview mirror that hung from the inside roof of the car, just in front of the windshield.  She was seated in the passenger seat, waiting for her blond-haired teammate, Lizard, to exit the store and return to the car.  She had been relatively calm and trying to decide which InuYasha characters should be which members of Disorganization XIII in her parody videos when something in the mirror had caught her eye.  At first, she had been alarmed, but the shock soon wore off and she dismissed it as a trick of car headlights reflecting in the mirror.

However, she rethought her decision when it happened again and she caught a better look.  It appeared to be the transparent, silvery outline of a handsome man with blond hair that was lightly blowing in a nonexistant wind.  Her eyes widened with shock.  She recognized this man!  He disappeared again before reappearing, still transparent.  This time, a cruel smirk was painted on his face.  “Raiden...” her mind moaned, horrified.

“Surprised to see me again, O' Great Creator?” he asked, tauntingly, reminding her of his last attack on her; she had almost been struck down, but Thalkor had appeared and sent Raiden flying with one hit.  Ripper found herself unable to answer; her body was slowly being chilled and paralyzed by a strange cold air and her left cheek was burning up, as if Raiden's strong aura were caressing it.  She felt herself being pushed back against the seat and sat helpless to do more than watch the ghostly man in the mirror.  

Raiden's eyes narrowed as he said, “Your dragon is not here to save you now, Wench.  You, a poor excuse for a creator, are completely defenseless against me.”  His voice became colder, if that was possible.  “I hate you so much...  Words cannot describe my feelings.  But, then again, you created me, so you should know why I feel the way I do, why I despise my God so much.”  Her throat seemed to close as the cold air seeped down it; even her heart seemed to be affected and slowed its beats.

“You created me to be cold, vile, despicable, deceiving, cunning, murderous, and in granting me life, you freed me.  I am almost out of your power, almost a being of the human realm.  And when I am finally separate, I shall roam the spiritual realm, hunting down idiotic fools like yourself and killing them in a bloody mess.”  

Her mouth fell open as her mind screamed for Thalkor, who simply responded, “I cannot find you, Sire.  I am flying, searching, but I cannot locate you.”  

“You fool,” Raiden raised his right hand and extended his claws, “he cannot help you now.”  He stabbed his claws through the back of the seat into her left shoulder, right under her collarbone.  The pain was intense and the four scratches he had left on her left wrist in an earlier attack began to burn.  

He removed the claws slowly, flexing his fingers ever so lightly to send new signals of pain through her nerves.  His reflection in the mirror was now solid and colored, allowing her to see the coldness in his eyes.  “You shall not bleed from this wound, nor any of the wounds I leave.  You shall suffer, however.  Those scratches on your wrist shall serve as reminders of my threats; this pain in your shoulder shall hamper your fight.  I will continue to pursue you until you concede defeat.”  He began to fade away.  “And tell Jerico that if he wishes to protect you, he will have to learn the signals better.  You have been subconsciously calling for him since I appeared, haven't you?”  

As his cruel smile faded away, so did the chilling air.  However, she was still unable to move and her breathing was very shallow and slow.  It was not until Lizard entered the car and spoke to her that she was freed from his spell.  She sat in her seat silently, truly scared for the first time in her life.  Lizard extended a kind hand to his creator, trying to fulfill his duty of keeping the master happy.  When her voice finally returned, she hoarsely said, “He wants me dead...and I don't think I can stop him.”