“Are you sure about this?” Ksatah whispered as the four Decaylings readied themselves up. “It looks like there’s a lot of them…”
Antitheta, the unusual Life Goddess who had appeared out of nowhere, simply smiled. “Dear, I’ve done this before, I am definitely sure about this.”
“The fact that you have done this before is both calming but also stressful!” Kalis exclaimed. “Like, how many times have you done this?”
The Life Goddess counted on her fingers, then shrugged. “Probably too many times. Bored Life Goddesses that want to enslave everyone are, unfortunately, kinda common. But this one is someone I’ve met before, and she’s not the brightest of suns.” With a smile, Antitheta patted Ksatah on the head. “If I’m honest, I normally do this sort of thing with a partner, but you four will do for now.”
“We’re just the distraction, to confuse the bitch so Antitheta can drive them away,” Arkay shrugged. “As long as we remain shielded, we can knock out the Decay Lords who have been mind-controlled, giving Antitheta her opportunity to strike.
Antitheta smiled, paused, then sniffed the air. After a few sniffs and snorts, she turned back to the Decaylings. “Could actually do this with just Arkay, but we all need to learn some lessons about shitty Life Goddesses! And it’s going to take me like a minute. Anyway, let’s get going!”
With a snap of her fingers, everything around them went white. Everything flashed a bit more, then abruptly faded. All four Decaylings quickly realized where they were and who they were up against.
“OI, YOU PRICKS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
Wearing a shimmering dress covered in silver scales, Askitella, the Mind-Stealer, stepped up from her throne.
“How DARE you just let yourselves in!” Askitella roared, summoning a staff. “My lovely Belighted, it is now snack time! Kill the little hybrid monsters!”
Immediately, all the Belighted turned to face the four Decaylings. In this room alone, there had to be at least 30 of them. However, the Belighted hesitated at first, none of them seeing the Decaylings as a threat.
“It’s kinda weird that we’re in the middle of a shopping mall…” Kalis whispered, charging his weapon, a basic stun-stick.
“It’s the most central place on the ship,” Vetal hissed, whacking a random mind-controlled being on the head, one that had come too close. “Now, shut up and start knocking these bastards out like that weird nice Life Goddess told us to.”
“Actually…” Arkay suddenly stepped forward. “I have a better idea…”
Standing up straight, Arkay gathered electricity from all around him. He then tapped his hands together, before thrusting his claws into the ground. In a singular blast of energy, all the Belighted in the room collapsed into various heaps, all briefly stunned by Arkay’s display of power.
“How…” Askitella hesitated for a moment. That hesitation was all that was needed. In an explosion of silver and gold, the Mind-Stealer disappeared. Standing on the makeshift throne behind the silver-blooded half-corpse was Antitheta.
“How DID you two do that?” Kalis suddenly asked, breaking the silence. “That was so fucking cool!”
Arkay shrugged. “I will admit, I do have some experience when it comes to Life Goddesses…”
Antitheta beamed as she leapt over stunned Decay Lords, Aksitella’s corruption fading away from their minds.
“That was really cool!” Antitheta seemed very pleased. “Honestly, you four should come with me, we’d have great adventures together!”
“I’d love to,” Arkay admitted. “But I have a lot of… stuff I need to sort out first though.”
“Yeah, same…” the other Decaylings muttered, not at all enthusiastic about the idea.
Anitheta patted Arkay, then slipped him a business card. “It’s fine, I get it. Offer is always available if you change your minds!”
“Thank you…”
Before Arkay could say anything else, Antitheta disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just in time too, as the Decay Lords all around them were starting to wake up.
“I hope they don’t blame us for this…” Vetal frowned.
“It was recorded on the security cameras, we’ll be fine!” Kalis perked up. “Any of you guys want ice cream?”
“Yeah, sure. Always helps with strange stuff like this..”