Chapter Four: “Endearment” (Part 2)

Ximena Vega found herself running throughout the night’s fog. Panicked. Blood was pumping through her veins at break-neck speeds.

It was as if she was being hunted by an invisible predator as she found herself caught up in a mad race for survival… She looked over her shoulders in hopes of seeing any clue or a trace of a hint to the identity of her pursuers, but she could only see nothing but darkness and the fog surrounding her. The only thing she knew at this moment was to keep running towards some unknown destination and far away from whatever was pursuing her.

Ximena’s body was filled with a sense of urgency and purpose. She couldn’t think of any rhyme or reason. She just acted on these impulses to fuel her forward into the mystery of the night. She couldn’t see what was in front of her, so she raised a hand up to hopefully protect her face from possible harm in the scenario that she ran into something or someone.

She ran through the heavy fog until she reached a clearing where she could see someone was being held captive against their will. It didn’t take long for Ximena to identify the woman in question was none other than her best friend, Priscilla Lennox. Priscilla’s limbs were bound by chains while she was guarded by two dozen women that Ximena easily identified as the Children of Venus. The clear giveaway was the similar armor (or lack thereof) that framed noticeable jewelry drew direct parallels to Hanney’s transformed state, given the similar styles and embroidery. Ximena threw caution to the wind and ran out into the clearing, making a beeline straight to her captive friend. Ximena reached for Priscilla but the Children of Venus easily knocked her down to the ground with ease.

The Children of Venus taunted her as they all spoke in unison, “We are backed by the might of our Venus. What can the weak and frail mortal known as Ximena Vega do to the likes of us? Stand back and let us put her out of her misery.”

Ximena pushed herself off of the dirt and dry leaves and slowly rose back to her feet. She looked between the obstacles at her best friend, continuing the struggle with her chains to no avail. Her eyes then glanced towards the Children of Venus’ leader, who watched from the shadows. Her eyes were illuminated with an eerie ethereal pink glow while the rest of her distinguishing features were hidden in the shadows. Their “Venus” said nothing. She merely sat atop of her throne, drinking from her golden chalice. Their Venus found the situation amusing as her laughter began to fill the clearing as Priscilla continued to struggle with her bindings.

The Children of Venus then focused their attention on Ximena Vega’s best friend as they assaulted Priscilla’s body with a relentless volley of energy blasts.

Ximena found herself frozen in place as if her feet were encased in cement shoes. Her body refused to take action due to her sudden paralysis of fear and anxiety. She was forced to watch this horror play out in front of her.

The only thing Ximena could hear over Priscilla’s cries of anguish and Venus' laughter was… “I thought you could save me, Xi…”

Ximena hated herself - her weaknesses, her inability to take action, and most of all, her fear and crippling anxiety.

“I can’t let it end this way… I won’t! For Pris, I can’t!!!”

Ximena took a deep breath and threw herself head-first towards the Children of Venus. She found herself held at bay - not by the Children of Venus as they continued their attack but by ethereal chains spawning from her very own chest. For a moment, Ximena thought these were more diversions from the Children of Venus and their master, but it quickly dawned to her that it wasn’t that at all. These shackles were physical manifestations of her lack of confidence in herself, self-doubts and insecurities. These restraints were not going to be broken by force, not as long as this negative cloud consumed her mind, body, and soul.

Ximena Vega tugged and pulled regardless, trying to free herself from her shackles. Priscilla Lennox was right there, a few yards away outside of Ximena’s reach, but her negative emotions left her rooted to this one spot, forced to watch the Children of Venus eradicate everything that was of her best friend until Priscilla’s body was nothing more than a smoking, lifeless husk.

The Venus finally spoke as the scent of Priscilla’s burning flesh filled Ximena’s nostrils, taunting Ximena Vega once more as her glowing eyes shone through the darkness as they watched the embers of Priscilla’s destruction peter out.

“How can you defeat me when you couldn’t even save your best friend that you cherish so much? She was right there calling for help and you allowed her to die. All of that divine power at your disposal and you did absolutely nothing, but stand there like a sniveling child. Face it, Ximena. You’re no hero. You are what you have always been - a failure.”

Ximena buried her face in her hands, shaking her head in both denial and despair at what had transpired before her eyes. She found herself sinking deeper and deeper within the mental quicksand from the cataclysm of emotions running through her head.

Venus and her followers turned their attention towards Ximena. It was evident that she was going to suffer the same fate as Priscilla. Her body remained rigid and planted in position. Her fate is already set in stone. There is no escape.

Ximena could watch helplessly from her position as the entire room was illuminated by the accumulation of divine power that was emanating from all of the Venuses’ collective fingertips that were directed towards her.

Ximena screamed in a combination of frustration and anguish as she felt completely betrayed by her own body.

“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!”

➤➤➤➤➤

Ximena’s eyes snapped open as she woke with a startle with her body bathed in sweat after literally jumping up from her bed. Her heart was pounding at a rapid pace and with such ferocity that Ximena was convinced that it was going to burst right through her ribcage and out of her chest completely. She panted heavily, trying to calm herself down. She wiped the beads of sweat that had collected onto her forehead. She stared at her trembling hands that were consumed by the sheer terror that she vividly and explicitly experienced in her dream.

“Get a grip of yourself, Ximena. It was only just a dream… A little TOO real for comfort, but a dream nonetheless… ” She reminded herself.

Ximena then realized that she never actually came down after leaping up out of bed. She was floating above it.

“Whoa… That’s new, I guess.”

Her sudden realization caused her to lose her concentration as she fell back down onto her bed below with a soft thud. The mattress absorbed most of the audible impact for her mishappenings would not wake up her roommates in the adjacent bedrooms. She looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was only a few minutes after midnight. She pulled the covers up to her chest and laid back onto her pillow as she gazed up at the ceiling.

“Thank goodness it was just a dream… But how long before it becomes a reality? I don’t know how many more Children of Venus are out there and I don’t know if Pris would be able to take care of herself against another one…”

As she dwelled on her thoughts, Ximena looked up from the bed and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were glowing with the golden ethereal glow that accompanies her transformations into Diosa.

“I got so worked up from that dream… or rather nightmare, that my powers kicked in. That tears it. Ximena Vega wasn't able to save Priscilla, but Diosa sure as hell can. I can’t just sit here all night doing nothing while Pris is still out there doing God knows what. I have to bring her home before she hurts herself or even worse… she hurts someone else.”

Ximena tossed her covers aside and got out of bed. She looked out of the window and into the moonlight sky.

“The night’s still young. I’m already buzzing for some action, so I think I should let my inner orisha out.”

She then looked towards the mirror.

“Besides, this could be fun since I haven’t seen the change happen with my own two eyes.”

It wasn't until now that she realized that her eyesight had improved to the point where she didn't need her glasses that were sitting on the nightstand. After waking up from her nightmare, she could see everything in her room as clear as day with her enhanced, divine eyesight.

Ximena took a deep breath and steeled herself to invoke the transformation to change her body from plain to extraordinary. It didn’t take long before she could feel a tickling sensation on her neck as her short cropped black hair grew longer and wavy.

Ximena continued watching her reflection in the mirror. She was slowly gaining height as she felt her legs stretch longer and tone to perfection. She could feel her panties tightening around her hips and waist before hugging her sex as her buttocks swelled and settled into a heart shape as her glutes toned much like the legs.

At this point of the transformation, she stepped back from the vanity mirror at her dresser as she felt her growing feet brush against the bottom of the dresser to give her blossoming body the room that it needed. She brushed some of her longer hair out of her face as it continued to grow past her shoulders.

She lifted up her once-oversized T-shirt to watch her formerly non-descript waist suck in slightly to give her body the hourglass shape that many women strive for as more mass was added to her hips. This change combined with her already heart-shaped ass and divine pillars of femininity that were now her own shapely legs came together to compose the formation of her child-bearing hips.

If she was thinking clearly prior to commencing with the transformation into her super-powered alter ego, Ximena would have removed her clothing but that is going to prove to be a costly mistake. Her panties were wedged into the two perfect hemispheres that would be best described as her ass, tighter than any thong. Ximena had already given into the pleasures of the change as she was already aroused from her panties rubbing her sex. Her panties were already soaked from her arousal at this stage of the transformation, allowing them to snap with ease from the crotch first. An involuntary thrust of her hips caused the panties' elastic to finally give up the ghost and tear away from her hips and float down to the floor.

Her plain and lackluster stomach underwent its own transformation as her abdomen tightened up with each breath with a faint six pack as Ximena gained washboard abs without slaving away in the gym for months in a matter of mere moments.

Sensing what was coming next, Ximena instinctively cupped her barren, nonexistent breasts and began massaging her chest underneath her T-shirt. Ximena bit down on the bottom of her lip as she continued to watch her reflection in the mirror with anticipation. She felt the power building up in her chest as fat cells multiplied and her back muscles grew and strengthened for the budding mounds that were enlarging in the palm of Ximena's hands. Her arms lengthened and toned to perfection like her legs while her hands grew larger with her budding breasts. Ximena purred as she could feel her freshly grown manicured nails sliding across her ebony orbs as they grew in size. They grew bigger and bigger until settling at a DD cup. She instinctively arched her back as her torso lengthened to add even more to her height while her back and shoulders widened to balance out her new dimensions and curves in her transforming body.

A sensual gasp of "Oohhh!!" escaped Ximena's lips as she opened her eyes to gaze at her reflection in the mirror before losing herself to the sensory overload fueling the wonderful transformation that her body was undergoing. Her hair was now brushing her shoulders and cascaded from the roots in wavy curls. Her facial features went from plain and ordinary to simply divine with her cheekbones rising to prominence and her lips puffing up into a sexy pout. These changes gave her a more alluring and sultry appearance that Ximena could only smile back in response as she was still caught up in the sensory overload of pleasure that flooded her senses as the transformation petered out. Ximena brought her larger hands to the collar of her stretched out T-shirt and tugged, causing it to rip straight down the middle of her chest in one smooth motion as if she was a butterfly bursting out of its cocoon. Ximena tossed the rags to the floor and admired her naked form in the mirror.

"I'm definitely one hot tamale if I say so myself..." thought Ximena.

Ximena's bedroom illuminated once more as her golden armor, sequined mini-skirt, and heeled sandals materialized on her body. With the added height from her high-heeled sandals, Ximena, now in her fully transformed state as Diosa, had to bend down to look at herself in the vanity mirror on top of her dresser.

She took a moment to run her hand across the golden tiara fixed to her forehead before trailing over to her wavy, flowing black hair.

"Better than any salon..." she mused. "...At least not any I could afford anyway..."

The emerald-colored orbs of her eyes shone in the moonlight as Ximena continued to study her reflection, first taking note of the richer, caramel-colored tone that her skin took in this form in stark contrast to her pasty, dull brown skin tone.

"Pris always said a good moisturizer would do wonders on my skin..."

Her golden armor hugged Diosa's body like a second skin while simultaneously being as flexible and malleable as any fabric as it didn't constrict nor hinder her movements.

"One of these days, I'm going to have to ask Oshun what this stuff is made of..."

The armor tapered off at the waist into a form-fitting, hip-hugging mini-skirt that covered her thong underneath while simultaneously preserving her modesty.

“Looking good from over here, hot stuff…” said a voice coming from the open bedroom window.

Diosa immediately spun around to find whatever or whoever that voice had belonged to. She was taken back by who she laid her eyes upon at first sight. It was other than her best friend, Priscilla Lennox, in her own transformed state sitting on the window pane. She was still dressed in the tattered rags and garb that gave anyone seeing her currently the impression of being a modern day amazonian warrior woman from the raised in the jungles of Africa. It should be mentioned that she was barefoot as well, not that Priscilla minded her current choice in wardrobe.

Priscilla merely smirked, “Missed me?”

Diosa glided across the room in an instant and greeted her best friend with a hug.

Diosa stammers, “I didn’t know what to do after I dealt with the Child of Venus and you were nowhere to be found. I thought I lost you to that curse completely. Speaking of which… how are you here and still like that?”

Priscilla returned her best friend’s gesture and responded, “Well, I can’t do anything about the choices in fashion. After all that’s happened, I just wanted to see you after I got my bearings about me. But what about you though? You got a total makeover and didn’t even tell me.”

Diosa looked away shyly before finding her voice.

“I-I-I did this for you. I don’t know if you remember but Nemesis set you loose to hurt me and God knows whoever else after that. I couldn’t stand back and watch my best friend become someone else’s pawn and instrument of evil.”

Priscilla laughed at Diosa’s last few words before repeating them, “Instrument of evil. Xi, I think you’ve been reading too many of your comic books… While I appreciate your gesture, there’s far more people out there in the world who need help than just lil’ ol’ me, y’know?”

Diosa quickly interjects, “I wholeheartedly agree, but they aren’t my best friend like you are.”

Priscilla continued, “I don’t remember what happened entirely, but I can piece together the fragments of my memories of us on that beach with Nemesis to understand the gist of what’s going on. There’s nothing to worry about anymore. I’m me again… more or less for the better too, if I may add.”

She gestured towards Diosa with a double bicep pose to tease her friend.

Diosa shook her head, confused. “I can’t wrap my head around any of this, especially seeing you standing right in front of me. The last thing that happened was that you fled the fight with Venus and now you’re back here like nothing happened. None of this is making any sense at all to me right now.”

Priscilla rested her hands on Diosa’s armor-clad shoulders.

“Xi,you can rest easy knowing that I am not here to hurt you nor your grandmother. I came here to let you know that I’m okay now. I made a new friend that broke Nemesis’ curse, so I can keep this wonderful gift.”

Diosa raises an eyebrow. “Who is this new friend?”

“Instead of telling you, how about I take you out to meet ‘em? That way we can have a little fun painting the town red after.”

Diosa looks away sheepishly as she’s lost in her thoughts as she sits back down on the edge of her bed.

How do I know if I can trust Priscilla? Is this even really her standing right in front of me? How do I know that she’s not just going to try to tear me limb from limb once she’s led me into some sort of ambush? There’s so much I don’t know about that curse that Nemesis placed upon her… But at the same time, this is my best friend standing right here in front of me. I should know her better than I know myself. In either case, I should take her up on this offer. Helping Priscilla in any way that I can is always going to be worth the risk, no matter what.

“Earth to Ximena, are you in there?”

Priscilla asked Diosa as she gently tapped her onto the golden tiara decorating her forehead.

Diosa slowly looked up and into Priscilla’s eyes. Her outward appearance had drastically changed, but the boldness and that air of confidence that she could do anything - something that she always envied about her best friend - was still there as plain as day.

Even if things turn for the worse, I can’t lose track of Priscilla again… If she didn’t show up like she did, I would have been completely out of options. I’m not letting her out of my sight - not this time…

Diosa spoke up while she gave Priscilla an awkward shrug.

“It’s like you said earlier… It’s still me, more or less. You know me, I just tend to get overwhelmed with everything, especially juggling being a superpowered knockout - in more ways than one. It just feels like everything is smothering me all at once without any room to breathe. I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time!”

Priscilla shook her head and helped her friend back to her feet.

“Ximena, you don’t have to believe me or anyone else, but the person you need to believe over all else, is YOU. Not those doubts and fears telling you can’t do something. That’s the anxiety talking. I’ve told you that time and time again. I want you to believe in the Ximena that can do anything that she puts her heart into. Believing in yourself got you this far, so don’t stop now or ever. You hear me?”

How could I ever doubt that this is Priscilla when she’s pepping me up like she always does?

Diosa could only nod her head slowly before embracing her best friend with another hug.

She softly whispers, “One of these days, I’m going to repay you for everything that you have done for me… a thousand fold, even if it kills me.”

Priscilla pats her on the back, smiling.

“You already have… Your friendship is worth more than its weight in gold, Ximena.”

Diosa corrected her, “Diosa.”

Priscilla seemed puzzled at her response, “Diosa?”

“Yes, it’s the name that I have chosen for myself while I’m… like this.”

Priscilla smirked before ducking out of the open window.

“Leave it to you to go by the nickname that your mother used to call you… But it definitely fits. Let’s get going. I want to get you back here before you turn into a pumpkin after midnight.”

Diosa playfully nudged her out of the window, “It’s ALREADY after midnight.”

Priscilla falls out of the window but catches herself in a pocket of air before floating back up to the window and grabbing Diosa by the wrists to join her outside.

“C’mon, slow poke. Follow me… if you can keep up that is.”

Diosa smirked, “Oh, I can definitely keep up. Just lead the way.”

A gust of wind is left in their wake with both women oblivious to the fact that the force knocks down one of Ximena’s beloved framed photos of her and Priscilla together off of the nearby dresser. The picture frame shatters like glass upon impact onto the floor, causing Xolani to wake up and investigate after hearing the commotion from her own bedroom down the hall.

The elderly woman slowly opened the door and called out to her grand-daughter.

“Ximena, are you alright? I heard a crash and wanted to see if you were… oh my.”

She took note of the shattered picture frame on the ground and opted to get the broom from the nearest closet. She swept up the glass carefully and picked up the photograph from the floor.

She muttered aloud as she looked at the photo of Ximena and Priscilla hugging each other, smiling from ear to ear.

“Nothing could separate those two from each other. They were always like two peas in a pod…”

Oshun appeared and looked surprised at Ximena’s disappearance.

“I should have known that the child would not heed my advice.”

Xolani could only laugh, “Sometimes wisdom is wasted on the youth, but we have to be patient with them. At the same time, I have to question how devoted you are to ensuring my grand-daughter’s safety and well-being.”

Oshun looks shocked that a mere mortal would talk down to her in such a manner, but Xolani continues before she could speak.

“I mean no disrespect to you, Oshun. I’m well versed in the stories of the mighty orishas that have watched over humanity in the past along with the other deities in your parthenon. That’s why I can’t help but wonder why you were unable to save Oya yourself. You blessed my granddaughter with all of this great power at her disposal when you could have resolved this matter yourself.”

Oshun couldn’t get angry with this mortal as her qualms with her were fair assessments and concerns.

Oshun spoke the truth from her heart, “The truth of the matter is that not even I completely understand what has happened to Ximena and what she is fully capable of. The only thing that I did was grant her a fraction of my power to defend herself against the Nemesis, but it shouldn’t have been this potent. Whatever has been awakened in her needs to be studied and nurtured. The mortal plane has more than its own share of threats without a demigoddess running amok without any control of her powers. Fear not, I do not wish to cause your granddaughter any harm. The truth of the matter is that trouble will be drawn to her like a moth to a flame no thanks to the power that she now wields.”

Xolani sighed, “And that’s what I’m deathly afraid of.”

“I’ll do my best to steer her in the right direction, but as you have seen firsthand tonight, I have my work cut out for me… if I believe that’s how the human saying goes?”

Xolani and Oshun share the laugh together until Oshun’s eyes widen at a sudden revelation after taking note of the multiple aegises that have accumulated in Ximena’s room.

➤➤➤➤➤

A several miles away, Diosa watches Priscilla fly as gracefully as a bird in the skies above.

Priscilla pauses and calls back to her friend.

“What’s wrong, Xi? I told you to keep up or I was going to leave you in the dust.”

Diosa responds, “Oh it’s nothing. I was just admiring how you always make everything look so easy.”

Priscilla merely shrugged, “I can’t contribute that to natural talent. Oya’s powers have a natural affinity to the elements found in nature, namely air and electricity. Her powers make this as easy as doing the backstroke.”

Diosa then asked, “So how is Oya doing? Is she still in there with you?”

Priscilla was silent for a moment before answering.

“It’s like she’s sleeping in the back of my head. She doesn’t say anything but allows me to stay like this. It’s fortunate that she trusts me with this gift and her wealth of knowledge of how to use it properly.”

Diosa adds, “And it’s only right that we use these gifts responsibly.”

"With that big geek brain of yours, don't tell me that you haven't run your own checklist to take stock of what you can do with these gifts or have you been a little preoccupied to take any notes?"

Diosa looked awestruck as the thought never crossed her mind until now.

"It's just that between all of the craziness going on and then one thing after another, I really haven't had time for anything. To be honest, I was lucky to get some sleep tonight before you showed up miraculously no less."

"Sweet dreams, I gather?" teased Priscilla.

Diosa frowned, "Not really..."

Diosa stopped in midair before continuing, "I dreamed that you were in trouble and there was nothing I could do to save you…"

Priscilla flew back to ease her friend’s concerns, “You can put those fears to bed, my little Sleeping Beauty. I'm right here in the flesh and just as much of a 'hot tamale' as you are. Watch and learn, Xi, ‘cause I’m going to show you why you should have nothing to be afraid of with all of this power at our disposal."

She soared higher into the air and performed a barrel roll with ease. She banked around and flew back to join her friend.

"First up on the checklist of amazing superpowers… Flight? Check."

Priscilla swoops down low to the ground beneath the clouds. Diosa was quizzical about what her friend was up to next as she followed her lead down into an abandoned trainyard below. Since most of the country had upgraded to more streamlined and efficient bullet trains, these trainyards were the home of many obsolete relics of the past. Priscilla hovered slightly above the ground as she carefully combed through her options for a suitable candidate for her pending exhibition. She smiled as came across her target. It was the largest of the freight cars, with empty cargo cars still attached. She bent down at its side and gripped the train from the bottom before slowly raising it off of the tracks. She quickly had enough headway to position herself underneath it to position herself better for raising it up properly over her head.

Diosa continued to watch from above while she thought aloud, “I knew we were strong but wow. Pris is making that look easy.”

Priscilla shifted the weight and lifted it steadily with one hand.

“That was nothing. How about this for the gun show?”

Diosa asks, “How did you find out how strong you were?”

Priscilla merely shrugs as she walks over to another freight car and picks it up with her free hand in one swift motion before answering her friend in a nonchalant manner.

“You know, when things tended to crumble in my grip, I had this idea that something was going on…”

“Yeah that makes sense…” Diosa nodded in agreement as she got lost in her thoughts at the possibilities.

Priscilla took the moment to tease her friend as she clearly wasn’t paying attention. “So I took to the train yard to test my strength. I managed to almost juggle a train! Scratch that TWO trains!”

Priscilla began juggling the trains into the air adding one after another while Diosa was lost in her thoughts.

Priscilla smirks while she continues to juggle the multiple trains with ease as an air of awkward silence occurs between the two friends.

Diosa’s eyes suddenly snap open wide as she blurts out, “YOU DID WHAT?!?”

"There it is… Super strength? Check,” Priscilla adds while kissing her bicep before setting the trains back down on the tracks one by one.

“Pris, you’re blowing my mind here. These powers aren’t to be trifled with, especially with how much power that we’re packing…”

Priscilla adds with a coy smile, "Not to mention good looks to boot. Definitely check in that box. Better mark that twice just to get the point across. This warm-up was fun and all, but we should test the limits of these gifts with a proper exhibition. C’mon, slow poke. Let’s have a little fun.”

Priscilla took off into the sky again, leaving a powerful gust of wind in her wake that blew back a few of the trains that she put down just a few minutes earlier. Diosa shook her head and followed her lead by pursuing her at high speed. What Priscilla was after was quickly revealed as she took stock of their surroundings in the suburban town that they found themselves in. Several thugs were robbing a shipping van of precious materials and loading it into their own vehicle. The drivers and armed security personnel were tied and gagged while the thugs were busy at work.

Diosa warned Priscilla while they hovered in the air above the scene of the crime, “We shouldn’t be attracting too much unwanted attention to ourselves. I was lucky that the Sentry Corps didn’t get privy of our last round of action when I fought the Child of Venus.”

Priscilla assured her, “You worry too much. This isn’t going to take long at all and then we’re going to be on our merry little way. Just follow my lead.”

Diosa sighed in defeat, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to change her best friend’s mind once she put her mind towards doing something. She watched Priscilla’s body descend from the sky to the ground. She lands right in the middle of the thugs carrying the van’s cargo from the van to their getaway vehicle.

Priscilla smiled, “Need a hand, boys?

One of them utters a “What the hell???” right before spinning around to face her as she extended her hands forward in two directions and projected a powerful gust of wind to throw the four masked men in several directions. Two of them are knocked out instantly from crashing against the unforgiving brick walls in this nondistret area of this city. Diosa wonders if Priscilla may have used a bit too much force with this attack while Diosa glides down and stands in front of their captives to shield them from suffering a similar fate.

Diosa whispers to them, “Don’t worry, you’re going to be alright. We’re here to help.”

She watches Priscilla striding towards the two remaining thugs, finding herself anxious to see what her friend was going to do next. Priscilla’s natural confidence and charisma was magnified and augmented exponentially like everything else in her divine form. If that wasn’t enough, her mere presence gave off the air of superiority that easily conveyed that she could decimate everything and everyone around her in an instant if she wanted.

One of the thugs looks mortified at two of their comrades out cold on the sidewalk, “Oh shit, Biggs. Is she one of those goddamn wildcards??”

Biggs unholsters his high-caliber submachine gun from his back, “I don’t care who or what she is. Just kill the bitch, Wedge!”

Both men opened fire at Priscilla, who merely smiled as Diosa landed in front of her. To the thugs’ unpowered eyes, it looked like Diosa appeared instantly like a high speed blur. Their gunfire ricochets harmlessly off her golden armor. What didn’t hit her armor bounced off of her and Priscilla’s flesh instantly, proving that their means of attack was completely fruitless. Diosa and Priscilla looked at each other bewildered at this revelation as much as their attackers.

Diosa whispers with a tinge of excitement in her voice, “We’re bulletproof!!??”

Priscilla nods approvingly.

Biggs exclaims, “Now there’s two of these broads!!??”

Diosa disposes of their firearms by melting the barrels with two well-placed blasts of light from her hands. The two thugs quickly dropped their weapons to the ground, no thanks to the accompanying heat that made them too hot to handle even further. They showed their true colors as cowards after turning away to flee for their own safety.

Priscilla rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth in disgust. “Typical… Cowards.”

Wedge broke off into a sprint. “Screw this, man. I’m out here!”

Biggs was following closely behind. “Wait for me!!”

The two thugs pile into their car. Wedge fumbled with the keys before sliding them into the ignition and starting the car. Priscilla strode around to the front of the vehicle and planted her feet firmly into the ground.

Biggs demands, “The bitch must have a death wish! Floor it and make roadkill out of her!”

She placed both hands on the front of the car. Priscilla’s fingers crinkled the steel like it was a piece of aluminum foil within her hands. It wasn’t going anywhere. Biggs and Wedge could hear the tires spinning but they weren’t making any headweight. The tires began to smoke from how much friction that was being applied from spinning in one place. Wedge tried to shift gears into reverse, but Priscilla saw that move coming and lifted the entire vehicle by the front end off the ground and slammed it down with enough force to dislodge all four wheels from the car completely. Diosa cringes from the sound of the impact as she watches from a short distance away.

Priscilla didn’t stop there after their getaway vehicle was completely out of commission. Instead, she raised it off of the ground and over her head with ease. She toyed with them further by tossing the vehicle up and down high into the air. Cries of “Oh my god, I’m gonna be sick…” could be heard as continued to have her way with these criminals in a scene reminiscent of her display either in the trainyard with the freight cars.

Priscilla spun the car in the palm of her hand until the accumulating centripetal force threw one of them out. A rather annoyed Diosa catches Wedge out of the air by the collar of his trench coat. Priscilla decided to push the envelope further to make a statement. She gripped the car at both ends and began to apply pressure. Biggs began to scream in horror as the car was being slowly crumpled up like a soda can within Priscilla’s grasp.

Priscilla’s eyes narrow as she applies more pressure into the groaning steel and speaks to her captive.

“I want you to feel just as helpless as those people you left tied up like pieces of meat.”

Biggs tried to escape out of the doors on the passenger and driver’s sides of the car, but Priscilla repositioned her hands to compress the car from that angle as well. Biggs was running out of room fast.

“Please, just take us to jail. We give up. I’ll do anything you want if you can stop your crazy friend from turning Biggs into a can of sardines!” pleaded Wedge as he hung suspended in the air as he remained in Diosa’s grip.

Diosa tosses him into the nearby open dumpster and calls out to Priscilla.

“I think that’s enough…”

“No, it’s never going to be enough. I give up too. I give up giving common filth like him a second chance. Sure, he will go to jail for his crimes here, but then what? He’ll be back on the streets a few months and right back at it again. The cycle needs to end right here and now…”

Biggs pleads with this ebony goddess who has his life in her hands literally as the entire car was about to swallow him whole from the inside. She was still applying more pressure to the vehicle.

“I BEG YOU! I WON’T HURT ANYONE AGAIN!! I’LL TOTALLY GO STRAIGHT IF YOU JUST LET ME GO!!”

The commotion of the exploits had gotten the ire of the local law enforcement as they could hear their sirens getting closer to their location.

Diosa spoke up again, “That’s enough. He clearly got the message. I think that’s our cue to leave anyway.”

Priscilla dropped the car in a nonchalant manner, “Fine. I swear, you have an uncanny knack for ruining my fun sometimes…”

The car lands in the middle of the street. Diosa ripped off the roof of the vehicle to check on the condition of Biggs. He was still breathing but passed out from the impact of the car hitting the unforgiven pavement. Priscilla shrugged and took to the sky, leaving in a gust of wind just as powerful as the one that accompanied her arrival. Diosa shook her head and followed behind her as they both flew off under the cover of the night, leaving the police to piece together exactly what happened here.

Once they were some distance away, Diosa spoke up to her friend.

“Don’t you think that was a little much back there?”

Priscilla rolled her eyes, “They were common criminals, Xi. Nothing I did to them wasn’t anything they already had coming. To be honest, I think they got off too easy with what we can do if we were to kick things up a few notches.”

Diosa sighed, “Listen to yourself right now, Pris. Don’t you think we should be a little more responsible with these powers?”

“I AM being responsible. What do you think they were going to do to those people they had tied up if we didn’t show up? They weren’t going to give them milk and cookies, y’know.”

“But Pris, you were toying with them… Toying with their lives. That wasn’t right.”

Priscilla snaps back, “They were already toying with the lives of those people they had tied up. I have no regrets about what I did to those jerks. If I have to do a little more to put the fear of God.. or rather a Goddess… in them then so be it as long as they get the message.”

“You weren’t just scaring them, Pris… You were scaring me too. It reminded me of what you did to Zabrina and her friends on that beach. I’m afraid that Nemesis’ curse would overpower you and I wouldn’t be able to save you this time…”

She adds, “And what if I don’t need saving, Xi? I didn’t kill anyone. I know what I’m doing. I know what buttons to push. I can assure you that I am in complete control over my powers…”

Her eyes glowed white and sparked with electricity as clouds crackled with thunder and lightning. Turbulent winds picked up and thrashed violently around her body. The hurricane-level force gusts of wind threw Diosa back in the air as she had no time to defend herself nor react to this sudden outburst from her friend. She looked up, trying to find Priscilla within the eye of the storm, but couldn’t see through the combination of rain, sleet, snow, and volleys of hail that obstructed her field of vision. The silhouette of Priscilla’s body could be sent from the scattered flashes of thunder and lightning within the eye of the ongoing storm while she manipulated nature’s fury like an orchestra conductor.

Diosa shouts through the chaotic weather, hoping to reach her friend.

“Okay, Pris!! You’ve made your point! That is enough!!”

Diosa held an arm up, trying to resist but it was fruitless as she was thrown back again by sheer power of nature itself from this supernatural storm of her own friend’s creation. She fell back onto another gust of wind that Priscilla blew back behind her as a safety cushion as the storm clouds dispersed and disappeared as quickly as they suddenly appeared. Diosa regained her bearings as Priscilla floated down to address her.

“As you can see, I am a force of nature, figuratively and literally, thanks to Oya’s powers. Hell… I AM Mother Nature as far as I’m concerned. I didn’t ask for this fate either, yet I’m not shying away from its potential for greatness. I’m not backing down from anyone ever again. So I ask you, Ximena. You heard my answer already. What would you do then with all of that great power that you have been given?”

Diosa found herself at a loss for words as she never thought about what would be next after this ordeal, “Back to an ordinary life after aiding Oshun with her mission, I guess? Spring break is already over and finals are in another month…”

Priscilla grew increasingly annoyed, “Ximena, listen to yourself right now. I can’t believe we’re back at this again…You’re ready to fall back into mediocrity instead of wanting something grander for yourself. You’re always hiding from anything that could potentially be good for you instead of embracing them. You rejected Oshun’s offer when we found her on that beach, but rose up to the challenge to protect me from the Nemesis. You don’t have to be weak and timid anymore, Ximena! You have the tools to change that… You always have.”

Diosa stopped in mid-flight and looked away sheepishly, “You’re the one who doesn’t get it, Pris! You’ve been a force of nature for as long as I’ve known you… long before you received Oya’s blessing. But I’m nothing like you. I’m never going to be able to measure up to the aspirations of greatness that you are so convinced about me. Contrary to our current situation, I can’t just flip a switch and change everything about myself.”

She gestured at herself as she continued, “All of this frightens me from head to toe. I can’t make sense of it. I still don’t even believe a fraction of it, despite everything going on around us and what we have done and continue to do as of this moment with these powers. You’re the one who is constantly forgetting that I’m merely making the most of a situation I never asked to be dropped into my lap in the first goddamn place. Read my lips, Priscilla. I’m not a hero. I’m not some divine being. Not to mention that I will never understand how I am still worthy of your friendship after all that’s happened…”

Priscilla spun around and immediately slapped her across the face with the sheer force of the blow echoing like a crack of thunder in the night sky.

“No, Ximena. You’re going to look and listen to ME.”

Diosa rubbed her face that stung from Priscilla’s blow. That pain served as a reminder that she wasn’t adverse to feeling pain in this divine form.

“Do you remember back in our junior year of high school when I first gained all of that weight, my grades went to shit, and my parents withdrew me to be homeschooled for the rest of the year?”

Diosa nodded silently before Priscilla continued.

“That's when I realized something. It was the first point in my life where I realized how unfair this world truly is. Within the span of that short time frame, I had lost everything that I thought mattered and meant the world to me. It was like my entire life was crumbling to pieces with no way to put it all back together again. When everyone else who I thought were my friends abandoned me, you were the only one that remained. You continued to come over and talk about our favorite shows and whatever book or video game had suddenly tickled your fancy. You never judged me nor you didn’t ask why or anything… You accepted me for who I am, despite you always seeing me at my best and even back then at my worst. You might have thought of it being a trivial matter at the time, but little did you know that you saved my life by just being you when so many were adamant about tearing me down emotionally and ridiculing me for their own sick benefit.

That’s why I think you’re the one that’s crazy for thinking our little argument before all of this craziness started would change anything between us. I don’t regret a single thing that I did to Zabrina and her lapdogs. They had that beating coming one way or another, whether we got these powers or not.”

Diosa slowly raised her head to address her best friend sheepishly (while simultaneously taking a mental note of the devilish smirk on her face while she spoke of what she did to Zabrina) before Priscilla spoke again.

“I didn’t want to invade your privacy, so I didn’t press the issue, whatever it was. You were always an open book to everything else to me, so I assumed that whenever you were ready, you would let me know. Otherwise, I didn’t see it as my place to question you. You were always so patient for me with so many things and continue to do so, despite how much we’ve been butting heads and not seeing eye to eye lately. It was the least I could do for my best friend. I could tell that you were hurting and I wanted to do what I could by just showing you that I was there for you.”

Priscilla continued, “For the record, I don’t blame you for anything that has happened between us… and definitely not for anything that happened to us. It boils down to neither of us not being entirely honest and vocal about what we each wanted for our lives after high school. What mattered… what always mattered… was your loyalty. When I was at my lowest, you were there for me and picked me up again in your own special way.

I want you to see where I’m coming from, Xi.

All of those heroes that you found yourself enthralled and infatuated with that you talk about all the time didn’t need any fancy tools, a makeover, nor any superpowers to do the right thing when it was all said and done. What mattered… and will always matter over all else… is whether their hearts were in the right place. You always did the right thing just like them, even if it made you uncomfortable or afraid. It goes right back to how loyal you are to our bond of friendship. Just look at yourself right now. You were willing to step out of your comfort zone to protect me… and continue to do so.

I get it. The world is a scary place - one that seems to be systematically structured to destroy truly good people. That’s why I firmly believe that there needs to be good people willing to stand up for those who can’t protect themselves. I’m not asking you to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Xi. All that I’m asking you is to have the courage to face these challenges head on. It’s okay to be afraid, but you need to have faith in yourself too.”

Diosa blurts out as her eyes begin to well up with tears, “I didn’t do those things because I was looking to change the world. I only did those things because you’re my world, Pris. You’re always encouraging me and having the confidence that I didn’t have in myself. I’m a complete trainwreck without my best friend steering me in the right direction. There’s not a single day where I don’t ask myself ‘what would Pris do’ in any hairy particular situation I found myself in. When Nemesis attacked, I pledged to myself that I would do whatever it takes to protect you after all that you have done for me, but here you are back on your own merits. I couldn’t even make amends for getting you into this mess to begin with. Before you showed up tonight, I didn’t have the slightest idea about what I was going to do to find and save you. I’m always going to be lost without you steering me in the right direction. That’s why I’m so afraid to lose you.”

She clenched her fists tightly as the images from the dream replay in her mind’s eye.

“Before you came to visit me, I had a dream tonight… No, it was a nightmare… I could see it so vividly… I couldn’t do anything to save you when you were right in my arms’ length to reach. I didn’t act. I didn’t do anything. I just froze when it mattered most… I stood there and watched you die. Pris, I can’t bare to see that nightmare come to fruition. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself… I just can’t. What is going to happen if my crippling fears and anxiety allow someone to get hurt because I couldn’t act in time? What am I going to do if I mess things up or make matters worse? What if I failed to bring you back home? What if I lost you to Nemesis’ curse? What if…”

Priscilla cuts her off.

“Enough with all of this hypothetical nonsense, Ximena… no, DIOSA. I’m right here in front of you, aren’t I? All thanks to you. You defeated the Nemesis. You defeated the Child of Venus. Both formidable challenges in their own right but you overcame both of them on your own without me holding your hand nor guiding you along. Sure, I showed you how to defend yourself with some self-defense classes, but let’s get serious here. I didn’t have anything to do with your victories there. You have to start giving yourself some credit. One of us would have gotten these powers one way or another, so it worked out all in the end.

More importantly, that dream wasn’t real, but you should take the lesson from it to heart. Don’t choose to stand on the sidelines. Take action when your insecurities demand for you to do otherwise. When those voices in your head start trying to tell you that you can’t do something, shut all of that negativity out and listen to your heart. That will never lead you astray. No one ever said that all of these choices were going to be easy or you would have all of the answers. I thought you would know that better than anyone.”

Diosa interjected, “Pris, you make it sound so goddamn easy to do when it’s a daily struggle I deal with.”

“I know that it’s not going to be easy, but don’t give up without even trying. That’s all I’m trying to tell you. Truth be told, but Ximena Vega was already my hero long before she became Diosa and that’s a fact… As far as I’m concerned, becoming Diosa only made Ximena Vega into an even more phenomenal person than she already was. The only difference now is that the rest of the world can see what I have seen all along and definitely can’t look away. That’s why I don’t want you to ignore the possibilities of this power we wield. In due time, this power will give you what you’re always envied of me - confidence. Master that and you will be unstoppable. That’s one power that you don’t need to transform into Diosa to master. It’s been inside you all along. You just need to bring it out to the surface. I’m only hard on you because I know you are ready to step out of the shadows and stand on your own. Look at what you have accomplished already. Can’t you see that you’ve always been worthy? You believed in yourself when you faced those challenges in the past. Continue believing... Just like I have always believed in you.”

Diosa took a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes and smiled back at her best friend.

“Thanks, Pris… For everything. You always know the right thing to tell me to make sure I don’t completely lose myself to that pit of quicksand in my head, y’know?”

Priscilla nodded in agreement before adding one final remark, “No, thank you, Xi… for being my best friend.”

Diosa and Priscilla resumed their journey with Priscilla taking the lead again. Unknown to her best friend, Diosa was still swept up into her thoughts and a spiral of emotions swimming throughout her head.

The young woman known as Ximena Vega, now calling herself Diosa as she wields divine powers that she does not completely understand appreciated the pep talk and vote of confidence from her best friend, Priscilla Lennox, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about the line that her best friend nearly crossed in a nonchalant manner. It was one thing for her to cross that line while under the control of Nemesis’ curse or when Oya was the dominant personality in control of her body, but if she crossed that line willingly, then her best friend may be willing to cross a line that there’s no coming back from. The thought terrified Ximena with the choice that she would be forced to make. She saw a mere fraction of the sheer amount of divine power at Priscilla’s disposal. If left unchecked, Priscilla could prove to be a force to be reckoned with. Could Diosa really live with herself if she had to stand face-to-face against her best friend as her enemy?

She thought, “I can’t allow it to ever come to that. I just can’t…”