After she reached her destination, Speedy didn't slow down.
With a burst of movement, she flung Queen Gianna to the side like spoiled meat—infested, rotting, forgotten. The vampire queen hit the concrete with a sickening thud, her body bouncing off the floor once before settling in an undignified sprawl.
She groaned, scrambling to her feet, her legs trembling as she extended a shaking hand.
"I take back what I was about to say earlier.." she hissed, voice strained. "This won't be a minor punishment."
Speedy didn't flinch. She just stared—calm, silent, cold.
Gianna's lips curled into a venomous smile as she began to summon her Abyssal Energy, prepared to bind Speedy, paralyze her in place
But nothing came.
The smirk froze. Her eyes widened.
She tried again, harder, more desperately.
Still..nothing.
"You won't be able to summon your powers." came Speedy's voice, smooth and nonchalant, like a casual observation rather than a warning. "I deadened your pressure points when I ran here."
The queen staggered back, stunned.
Speedy lifted a single hand, palm open, silencing her.
"Recognize this place?"
Queen Gianna blinked, a strange, foreign feeling coiling in her chest. Unease. Dread. A tight, nauseating tension curled in her gut.
What was this?
Fear?
She turned slowly, eyes sweeping over the cold, cracked stone, the mildew-laced air, the narrow hallway lined with rusted hooks and old stains.
And then she knew.
Her breath hitched.
The dungeon.
The one they had chained her in.
The memory slammed into her like a boulder, and the knot in her stomach tripled.
"Why are..we here?" she asked, voice barely a whisper.
Speedy didn't answer.
She walked toward the small concrete door at the far end of the corridor. Raised a fist.
BOOM.
With one clean punch, the door shattered—cracks webbing like broken glass before the whole thing crumbled inward.
The smell hit her immediately.
Blood. Mold. Feces. Rot. Decay.
It clawed into her nostrils like poison, making her wince. But she forced herself to breathe, forced herself to move.
She had to see her.
Footsteps echoed behind her. Queen Gianna, trailing like a ghost. Speedy didn't turn. Her senses remained sharp, ready. One wrong move, and she'd kill her without hesitation.
As she stepped deeper into the room, a pale beam of light spilled from a crack in the ceiling, illuminating a single table.
Speedy stopped.
And saw the body.
A quiet whimper broke the silence.
Her breath caught in her throat. She looked again, closer, and nearly broke.
There she was.
A mangled vision of suffering. A living embodiment of what Speedy had sensed earlier. Bruised, broken, with barely a flicker of life clinging to her.
Speedy's entire being wanted to scream. But she clenched her fists, grounding herself.
She had to be strong.
For her.
Queen Gianna hovered behind, watching with veiled contempt as Speedy slowly approached the table.
There she lay, Ego Zandros.
The Vampire Goddess.
The one she loathed beyond reason.
The one who granted her power.
The one her husband had loved more than he ever loved her.
Gianna's teeth clenched. Her jaw locked.
She hated her with every ounce of her undead soul.
And Speedy could feel it. Every bitter, rotting emotion Gianna radiated, but she didn't care.
She stepped closer. Without hesitation, she dragged a swift line across her palm. Blood welled up instantly, thick and red.
From behind her, the Queen's voice rang out, uncertain.
"What..are you doing?"
Speedy ignored her.
She leaned over the table, gaze meeting the bruised and swollen eyes of the woman on it. Those eyes widened in disbelief—shocked, stunned, utterly overwhelmed.
Speedy understood.
Fifty years.
Fifty years without seeing anyone but her torturers.
Fifty years in chains.
The sheer will it must've taken to survive..
She gave her a soft, reassuring smile. No words were needed.
'I'm here to save you. I'm here to free you.'
The Vampire Goddess's tears fell instantly. Hot, silent, and endless.
And with them, Speedy's own walls broke. Her tears fell too, quiet and unrelenting.
"I won't let you—!"
Queen Gianna lunged forward.
But she was too late.
Speedy turned her hand, letting the blood slip into the goddess's mouth.
Gianna froze, watching helplessly.
And then—
BURST.
A soundless explosion of energy, violent and raw.
A tsunami of Abyssal Energy erupted from the goddess's body, painted in shades of blood-red and silver. It hit like a divine scream. Grief, fury, vengeance, and desperation all given form.
The force hurled both Speedy and Queen Gianna back like leaves in a storm.
Ego Zandros roared.
She cried, screamed, howled—a sound not of this world. Of anguish. Of wrath.
It raged for minutes before slowly dying down, leaving behind only a trembling calm.
But the energy never vanished.
It lingered, a storm barely contained.
The Vampire Goddess stood in the epicenter, surrounded by fractured light.
Her eyes locked onto Gianna—daggers of scarlet fury, cutting straight through her soul.
Gianna stumbled backward, breath caught in her throat.
She felt it.
The pressure. The inevitability. The primal instinct to run.
And there she stood,
Rejuvenated.
Her silver hair cascading behind her armored back, her form regal and divine. Her face—sharp, beautiful, cold.
She wore black, blood-trimmed armor befitting her name. A true goddess reborn.
Gianna opened her mouth,
But she never got the chance to speak.
The goddess's eyes pulsed once.
Gianna froze.
Mouth open. Eyes wide. Petrified.
Not by magic.
By will.
The Vampire Goddess didn't look at her again. Instead, she turned to Speedy, eyes softening slightly.
Her voice came low, raspy, threaded with quiet rage.
"…Forgive me for that."
Then her tone shifted—sharp, grim.
"But we'll talk after he's dead."
And just like that,
She vanished.
No sound. No flash. Nothing.
Just silence.
Speedy stared at the empty space for a long second.
Then her gaze drifted to the petrified Queen.
She didn't say a word.
Didn't look at her twice.
Whatever fate awaited her..was worse than death.
With a flicker of wind and the faintest blur, Speedy left.
Leaving behind the stench, the dungeon, and the echo of a storm that would never truly pass.