"Gray… Grayslake…" Floris lifted her head slowly. Her voice was low but filled with rage.
Zed's eyes sharpened as he turned quickly. "Found you."
"Move!" Kochi shouted with urgency.
The ground beneath Zed erupted in a violent black explosion, like a volcano tearing open. The blast tore the air apart
Zed leaped aside just in time, hitting the ground and rolling hard before sliding across the dirt. He didn't waste a second he rolled again and moved closer to Kochi.
(She's just like Miss Kate…) the thought flashed in his mind. Then his eyes widened. "Someone else is here."
Kochi blinked in confusion. "What?"
"You need to check it out now! It could mean serious trouble!" Zed's voice was sharp.
"What are you saying.." Kochi began, but another violent blast shot up from the ground, forcing both of them to throw themselves out of the way.
"You gotta…" Zed started to say, but he was cut off when floris rushed forward with sudden speed. She grabbed his face with one hand and slammed him to the ground.
"Grayslake!" Floris screamed from the distance.
"Zed!" Kochi shouted at the same time.
Zed's eyes narrowed. In his hand, a small blade formed instantly. Without hesitation, he drove it into Floris's side.
Floris staggered back, her breath sharp. Then her eyes twitched. The moment she looked at Zed, his image shifted in her mind he was no longer Zed. To her, he was Grayslake.
"AHHHHHH!" she screamed, her voice shaking with fury.
She dashed forward with blinding speed, her fist pulled back for a devastating punch. Zed twisted his body and dodged.
In his hands, the small knife vanished and reshaped into a massive sledgehammer. With a roar, he swung it in a heavy arc, smashing it into Floris and sending her flying through the air.
Floris stopped herself mid-air, floating in place as her eyes burned with hate. She stretched both hands forward, then sharply pulled them down.
Above them, the roof of her dark domain twisted and reshaped into dozens of jagged spikes. They fell all at once, descending toward Zed like a deadly rain.
He looked up and, without hesitation, swung his sword, deflecting each spike one after the other in rapid strikes. The clang of metal against stone filled the air.
But while he was busy, Floris moved again, closing in for another attack. Before she could strike, Kochi's chains shot forward, wrapping tightly around Floris's body. With a violent pull, Kochi yanked her back and flung her away.
Floris struggled in the chains, unable to summon her powers. Her breathing grew heavier, and her eyes narrowed to sharp slits. Then something inside her snapped.
A burst of pure, dark energy erupted from her body, shattering Kochi's chains instantly. The ground cracked beneath her feet as her power surged. Even the walls of her dimension couldn't withstand it her entire domain shattered into countless fragments, fading into nothingness.
The world outside began to tremble, the shaking so strong it felt as though the land itself was breaking apart.
Floris's entire body was wrapped in swirling dark energy. She raised her head and released a massive wave of power into the sky, the shockwave rippling for miles.
Far away, Felt turned in the middle of his fight with the worm. His eyes widened as he saw the dark pillar of energy. "Holy shit… is that Floris?!"
The worm roared and suddenly grew more aggressive, thrashing violently before charging in the direction of the burst.
Floris did not move. Her face was blank, her rage absolute. The worm lunged at her, but she simply raised her hand and fired a blast straight at it. The hit struck clean, but the monster didn't fall it was immune.
Floris tilted her head slightly, her expression unchanged. Then she snapped her fingers. In an instant, the worm vanished from existence.
Her head lifted to the sky, and her voice tore through the air in a scream of raw fury.
"GRAYSLAKE!"