Evelina stretched, arms above her head and back straight. She stood outside the door to Lucania's room, wearing her T-shirt and jeans once again, bandages covering her chest underneath her shirt. She hadn't been very enthusiastic about changing out of the dress, but she found it necessary. A red dress was not something you wore when you were to go out into the plains. She patted the hilt of her sword, strapped horizontally across her waist, then her gun currently in its holster. Both were there, secure and easy to reach. Her goggles were also covering her eyes again, much to her displeasure. She had liked being able to walk around without covering the most obvious proof of her being an Immortal. It had made her feel normal again, if only a little. At the very least she felt secure when she hadn't had to. A faint smile touched her lips, being with Lucania wasn't a bad thing. It was actually nice; she made her relaxed and allowed her to not hide anything. She sighed. But not all people were like Lucania. She was, after all, also an Immortal, and was feared by the vast majority of Standards for that very reason. As was Evelina. She grimaced slightly as she made her way down the hallway, towards the stairs down. The idea of being feared simply because she was different didn't sit well with her, but Lucania had been right earlier. Even if she was feared now, she didn't want to change that. She had fought too many fights, worked too hard, and spent too much effort in trying to carve out an existence in this miserable world. She wasn't going to just give that up, and being feared because she was different? That wasn't going to stop her. Rather, it made her want to fight more. If she could make just a tiny difference for future Immortals, then that was all worth it. Persevere, continue forward--Show whatever god was out there the power of human stubbornness. [i]Yes.[/i] A short giggle escaped her. [i]We humans are stubborn, aren't we?[/i] Her smile widened just a tad more at that. On her way down the stairs she heard the unmistakeable sound of struggle. Upon entering the bar downstairs it became clear that it wasn't so much a struggle as one guy clearly dominating the other. [i]Men,[/i] she thought, sniffing haughtily. [i]Always have to show off: Who has the biggest dick? Who can drink the most? Who is the strongest? I swear, they're worse than my classmates back when I was 14. The need to be better than others is suffocating.[/i] She grunted and shook her head, ignoring the two men as she headed for the door. She did, however, take note of the guy who had a knife stabbed through his hand, deciding that she'd do what she could for him once she had gotten her stuff back from her bike. For now, however, she couldn't do much but give the guy who stabbed him a sullen glare. [i]Men.[/i] ------ The trip through the slums was uneventful, with not a single pick pocket trying to take her gun or sword. No beggar tried to ask for coin, and only a few wolf whistles followed her as she passed through, and even then no one acted upon those whistles. It was only admiration made vocal from afar. She slipped past the guards without much of a fuss, too, having to only erase herself from sight three times when a sudden guard made his--or her--appearance. Soon she had made it far enough away that she wouldn't be accosted or questioned on sight, and started heading towards where her bike was hidden at a steady pace. It took her a good half an hour to make it there, the sand and uneven ground making fast travel difficult and annoying. She stood on top of a hill, the sun battering her relentlessly, and fruitlessly. Her eyes were fixed on the place where her bike would be hidden. And it was. She could just barely see the handle poking out of its hiding place, thanks to her sharp eyes, but that was not why she had stopped. While her bike itself seemed safe, and everything appeared in order, there was one thing which stood out. It was black, and the size of a truck. Four arms, two ending in a set of pincers with wicked fang-like protrusions within, and the other two being a pair of torso-sized fists. It looked human enough if one ignored that, the jet black chitin and its inhuman size. A strangely human sized head sat atop its torso, a beady eyes peering forward. [i]Hollow![/i] She had encountered a few before, but those were only the man-sized ones and easy to defeat. A truck sized one was a whole different matter: Bigger, badder, and probably a whole lot more powerful. She cast a look back over her shoulder, Russell Town visible in the distance. It was only a matter of time before this thing noticed the city, and by then it would attack mindlessly and, probably, take down a fair amount of civilians and soldiers alike. She knew Octavia was there, and she was confident that the Standards could take care of one this size, but even then it wasn't a chance she was willing to take. She cursed herself as she charged down the hill, screaming in her mind how much of an idiot she was for doing this. [i]Sometimes I hate myself for wanting to help all those idiots![/i] She silently cursed, channeling the spirit of her father when he got annoyed with the recklessness of some of the people. The hollow apparently saw her, as it turned her way and charged, pincers and fists extended forward. Evelina grabbed her gun, turned off the safety and fired, darting to the side as she fired another two shots. The creature just screamed, seemingly caring very little about the bullets embedded in its chest and side, not that they had penetrated far. It barrelled forward, taking several seconds to turn thanks to its oversized body. [i]Very different from a small one,[/i] Evelina registered, pointing the gun at the beast to fire again, this time aiming for its legs. Four more shots rang out, two meeting their target but doing very little, hardly even making it hesitate. She gritted her teeth and holstered her gun. It wasn't going to do her much good against this thing, its armour was just too thick. She instead called upon her powers, one hand raised as if to stop a blow, as the other began to glow faintly; a small orb of light gathering in her palm. The beast came upon her like a steam train, its screeching roar piercing the air like some mad god's symphony. She darted to the side and skipped away, watching it slowly turn and come in for another charge. This time she was ready. She raised her right hand and the air shimmered. The Hollow impacted with her barriers, stopping it in its track. Infuriated, it started pounding it, booms echoing across the plains. Lines started to appear across the surface, small veins of light all gathering at a small point in the centre. Punch after punch after punch. It didn't stop, continuing its attempts at breaching the invisible wall in front of it. Evelina grinned. The centre of the wall flared bright and a shockwave issued forth. A boom echoed across the plains, a powerful blow of kinetic force hitting the hollow point-blank. It was thrown back, landing head over heels with its chitin cracked several places, black goo oozing out. A few seconds passed before it got on its feet again, seconds during which Evelina focused her efforts on the light in her left palm. It was slowly growing; becoming the size of a tennis ball and steadily becoming brighter. [i]Not long now.[/i] The Hollow charged, and so did Evelina. She dissolved into light, propelling herself forward. She appeared again a second later, too close for it to react. She had her right hand curled into a fist, a shimmer surrounding it. The punch sent the hollow sprawling onto its back, its chitin cracked further. Evelina found herself on her back within seconds, however, one of its feet having whipped at her in an unnatural angle, sending her flying. She spat out sand, cursing herself for not having noticed the digitigrade legs. She was bruised, but nothing beyond that. She stood up in time to see the thing charge again, a mindless form of attack. She stood her ground, eyes narrowed and air around her shimmering. One pincer reached out and around her, closing in a crushing death grip. The fangs stopped an arm's length away from her, kept back by some invisible force. She raised a hand, first open then closing it like a fist. The pincer started opening as if pushed by the barrier around Evelina. Her teeth bared, she yanked hard with her powers, a violent crack tearing through the air, accompanied by the Hollow's screeching wail of pain as half of its pincer was town off. The torso sized hands, made a grab for her but found the barrier to still be in place. Its frustration rose. It was unable to find purchase anywhere and screeched and roared as it continuously tried to get at her. Again, lines appeared across the barrier, coalescing into a single point. A flash, a boom, and the Hollow was staggering backwards, disoriented by the blow. It shook its head and readied itself for another charge, but found its target gone. Evelina had dissolved into light and propelled herself up into the air, behind the beast. She grinned wickedly, canines glinting in the air. A stray thought came to her, a memory of an old comic book she had read. It was about a young boy with wild hair and a staff on his back. She didn't remember the specifics: Not his name, nor what story it was. She remembered only one thing: A word, a single word with no meaning whatsoever. But even then, something followed it. Her lips parted, and the word came out. Like a child playing pretend would, she extended her left hand, the orb of light now shining bright. A bright beam erupted from it, screaming straight for the beast. [h2][i][b]KAMEHAMEHA![/b][/i][/h2] The beam tore right through it, the force of her concentrated light burning its chitin to cinders, and reducing what remained of its blackened heart to ash. It slumped forward and fell to the ground, a pool of black spreading out beneath it. Evelina landed on the ground, legs buckling beneath her, falling heavily on her back. She groaned, cursing herself for having let herself materialize in two metres height. She placed a hand on her chest, breathing deeply in an effort to calm down her racing heart. She had taken a few more hits to her barriers than she would have liked, something which she could only blame herself for. The Hollow was slow, so dodging had been easier. [i]But I had to weaken its shell first, or my beam wouldn't work![/i] True enough, she conceded to herself, standing up with a little effort. Her legs hurt, as did her hip where she had been hit, but a quick inspection showed only a bruise forming. There wouldn't be any meaningful damage, luckily. A few minutes later and she had found her bike again. It was out of its hiding place and was currently under a quick inspection. By the looks of it everything was still there, so no one had found it and stolen her things. [i]Good.[/i] She spent another fifteen minutes just resting, making sure her heart had calmed down before she started the trek back to the city. It was only a half hour walk, so she didn't want to waste fuel on that. She sniffed at herself. She needed a bath again. That Hollow had smelled something fierce, and now she did too. Her nose scrunched up in disgust. [i]Just great.[/i]