Once Upon A Miracle

Chapter 26: ...ACTION!

"I feel like, like pudding," Iggy groaned. "Pudding with nerve endings. Pudding in great pain."

~ James Patterson (The Angel Experiment) 

~~~~~~~~~

The next few things happened all at once.

The Skrulls charged at them on Evil's orders. There were too many of them, much more than Miracle had estimated. Compared to the pirates, their side fell pitifully short of manpower. But while the pirates charged with iron swords and blazing guns, their side was armed with a wide range of abilities.

As chaos unfurled in the room, Miracle spotted Lust. With an hourglass body, shining blonde hair that cascaded around her shoulders and thick eyelashes, she easily disarmed the men with a wink or a sway of her hips. Then there was Trickster, fluctuating in and out of existence, confusing the pirates that surrounded him, creating those deadly illusions he was so infamous for.

Jealousy, who seemed to have taken up the appearance of a drag queen for some bizarre reason, was the easiest one to spot in the confusion. Whenever one of those men charged towards him, he let them get close enough such that he could daintily reach out and tap them on the chest.

As if electrocuted, the hairs on the arms and legs of the men would stand up. They would, then, turn around and charge at their own, yelling obscenities at their comrades, their resentment and envy being enflamed by a single touch.

Anger, perhaps, was the one cherishing this situation the most. The guy was practically glowing, his hands resting on his hips, his obnoxious laughter booming over the dim of shouts and gun shots. Of course he was thriving. This space was filled to the brim with angry people, after all.

He was soaking it all up, using the fury of the pirates to influence them and override the orders placed by Evil. Some of the haziness seemed to clear from their eyes. Miracle even spotted one guy with a wooden leg look around in bewilderment when the white film in his eyes disappeared. Then, taking a flask out of his belt, he took a swig, shrugged, turned around and limped out of the room grumpily. Miracle thought he heard him say, "Nay, not my fight, not my problem. What am I even doing here? What is this bloody place?"

Miracle almost dared to hope that they might win after all. That they stood a chance maybe, when, abruptly, the shadow of a man loomed over him and Sherry. He didn't look too different than his mates but there was something about him that seemed loosely familiar.

Miracle recognised him as the man who had attacked them in the Taj Mahal in India. Miracle had knocked him out cold with his trusty poker. In fact, his bald head still had a huge, red bump protruding from it. And under Evil's influence or not, he did not look pleased at all.

But with both Sherry and Miracle's hands tied with ropes that refused to yield and only tightened when they pulled at it, their last resort was to crawl away on their knees. The man did not seem in any hurry, though. He moved predatorily, sensing the weakness on his prey, smelling his own victory.

Miracle's heart did a wild jig as he cried out in frustration, futilely trying to untie himself. It was too late, though. The man was already upon them. He was about to lunge at Miracle, when, abruptly, another figure appeared before them, taking the brunt of the man's immense weight as he pounced on him. The pirate and Hate wrestled each other, their arms and legs swinging at the other. It turned into a full-on brawl such that it almost became hard to distinguish whose arm was whose or who was winning the fight.

That is, until, Hate found a weak spot. His hand reached out and punched the man hard on his skull where the bump – a lovely gift from Miracle – was barely healing. Crying out, the man jerked back and stumbled on the floor, his head probably swimming with stars. Hate shook himself off and stood up, quickly striding towards Miracle, disbelief in his eyes.