“Darius, could you please wait for your sisters?” Emelie pleaded with her thirteen-year-old stepson.
Darius rolled his eyes and shoved in his headphones before practically sprinting out the door. Emelie sighed and clenched her teeth in frustration. She knew Darius would use his music as an excuse to ignore her, and as always, his father, Tyson, would believe him. As much as she loved her husband, sometimes she wanted to throttle him for always taking Darius’ side.
Tyson carried a heavy burden of parental guilt towards Darius, who had been raised by his toxic mother for the first five years of his life. The emotional scars ran deep, but Darius refused to see a therapist.
Meanwhile, Sofine and Delphine flew down the stairs in their crisp school uniforms. Sofine paired her plaid pants with a crisp white linen shirt, a fitted black suit jacket, and a vibrant green plaid tie. She had styled her curly ebony hair into four braids in a neat bun at the back of her head. Her smooth skin glowed against her contact lenses, which she wore instead of her usual glasses.
Delphine, her twin sister, was slightly larger in build but just as stunning with the same shade of dark skin. She wore a matching plaid skirt and linen shirt with a fitted suit jacket and tie. Her long locks were twisted into thick locks adorned with golden trinkets. Both girls wore expressions of frustration on their faces.
“Sorry, girls,” Emelie apologized to them as they headed outside to wait by the car.
She grabbed her portable cup of coffee when suddenly she felt a tingling sensation in her arm. She was dismayed to see her arm tattoo, which held her magical weapon, had turned violet. New Battle Angels were about to awaken, and Emelie couldn’t help but feel a pang of fear for her daughters.
As she looked out through the window at them waiting by the car, a wave of emotion threatened to overwhelm her. Her poor babies would have to grow up too soon, just like she did. Sofine frantically rummaged through her locker, searching for her solar-powered calculator.
“Delly, did you go in my locker again?” she hissed at her sister, who was busy fixing her hair in the mirror.
Delphine shrugged absentmindedly, causing Sofine to turn to her with a stern look. But Delphine’s innocent facade didn’t fool Sofine. This was a common occurrence - Delphine always had an excuse whenever something went missing from Sofine’s locker. With a huff of frustration, Sofine declared that she would just make another calculator. Her sister blew her a mocking kiss, which she brushed off with disgust.
Suddenly, a bucket of red paint rained down on them without warning, leaving them drenched and humiliated. The hallway echoed with the sound of laughter as the other students gathered around them. Through the crowd, the sisters could see their older brother Darius and his group of friends, including their two lackeys.
Darius, standing at only 5’6” but exuding arrogance and power, wore the school uniform without a tie. His crew cut and light brown skin made him appear even more intimidating as he sneered at his sisters.
“Well, at least you guys look better now,” he taunted, earning laughs from his friends.
Feeling angry and humiliated, Sofine suspected that this was all carefully planned by her brother and his friends. And when they started spraying soda all over them, she couldn’t hold back anymore. In a fit of rage, Sofine punched Darius hard in the face, knocking him unconscious.
The once-loud hallway fell silent as everyone stared in shock at Sofine’s display of strength. But she didn’t care. She grabbed her sister’s hand and ran out of the school, not stopping until they reached the “No Trespassing” sign on the private beach behind the school.
In a fit of overwhelming emotions, Sofine punched the wooden sign until her hand bled and it broke. Her sister, who had stopped crying, gently took her hand and kissed it. To their shock, Sofine’s hand healed itself - her bones realigned, and cuts closed up before their eyes.
An animalistic growl behind them cut short their moment of awe. Something was lurking in the shadows, drawn by Sofine’s display of raw emotion. And whatever it was, it seemed dangerous. The sisters clasped hands as they turned to face the unknown threat.
A massive, dark orange deer emerged from the shadows, its muscular body encased in swirling black smoke. Its menacing red eyes fixated on the twins with an intense hatred, causing a shiver to run down their spines.
Sofine’s voice trembled as she whispered to her sister, “Let’s back away slowly.”
They moved cautiously, never taking their eyes off the creature. Suddenly, without warning, tendrils of black smoke shot out from its body and snaked toward Delphine, grabbing her in a vicious grip. She screamed in terror and reached out for her sister.
In a surge of protective rage, Sofine charged at the beast, determined to save her sister. But as she got closer, the creature swatted her with one powerful arm and sent her crashing into a wooden sign.
Fueled by the same anger that had consumed her earlier that day, Sofine let out a fierce scream directed at the beast, “Leave my sister alone!”
With a burst of energy, she unleashed a powerful force that knocked the creature back and into the water. It released Delphine, who landed unconscious on the sand.
As Sofine caught her breath, she suddenly felt a searing pain in her leg. Something was trying to break free from within. Instinctively, she rolled up her pant leg and gasped in shock at what she saw: an intricate tattoo of a spear etched up and down her leg.
Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she chanted fiercely at the creature, “Oh, pitiful demon, using your envy to break a spirit. May my wrath swallow you up!”
A brilliant violet light suddenly surrounded Sofine, engulfing her in its ethereal glow. As the light dimmed, she found herself clad in sleek, shiny black armor that hugged her body like a second skin. Two stars adorned the chest area of the armor, while a crown of intricately crafted black feathers adorned her head. The long, open skirt allowed for easy access and revealed a tattoo on her leg, pulsing with energy.
The beast, jolted by the sudden metamorphosis, lunged upward with feral fury and charged at Sofine’s unconscious sister.
In a heartbeat, Sofine’s hand lashed out toward her leg tattoo as she bellowed, “Justice to me!”
In response, a spear ignited into being in her grip, its energy crackling with raw, electric power. With a burst of flight from newly formed wings, Sofine soared toward the monstrous foe. In a blur of precision and defiance, she dodged the beast’s savage strikes, countering with a vicious slash to its legs.
A horrific, guttural wail tore from the creature’s throat as one of its limbs collapsed, shattering the silence of the combat. Seizing the opening, Sofine unleashed a banshee scream of such ear-shattering intensity that the beast crumpled to the ground in agonizing defeat.
Meanwhile, Delphine fought to pry open her heavy, aching eyes, a searing pain radiating along her side. Memories of the chaos flooded back, and adrenaline spurred her to her feet. Where is Sofi? she wondered in a haze when a bloodcurdling, inhuman howl cut through the air. Spinning around, she saw her sister, a vision clad in celestial armor, wings, and wielding a spear that had now severed the deer monster’s leg.
Even as Delphine struggled to grasp the surreal scene—deer monsters were unthinkable, and her sister resembled a warrior out of a mythic battle—the victory was undeniable. Sofine’s triumphant scream had brought the fallen beast to its knees, but its discarded leg writhed. With a horrifying shift, it transformed into a colossal, blazing orange scorpion.
Panic surged through Delphine as she envisioned the monstrous tail poised to administer venomous death to her sister. In a burst of raw determination, she swung her arms in defiant, slashing motions. Out of the watery depths behind her, twin blades materialized like shark-toothed saws, colliding with the scorpion’s tail and lopping it into jagged pieces. The creature screeched in agony as it bled in terror.
A sudden searing pain in her left leg drew Delphine’s attention downward. There, an intricate tattoo of a trident spiraled across her skin, a mark of power.
Embracing the pain as a catalyst, her confidence ignited; she chanted, “Oh cowardly demon who dared to shatter a soul, be cleansed by my unconditional love!”
As her words faded, her body erupted in a radiance of brilliant light blue. Clad in armor that mirrored her sister’s—the bright blue metal adorned with golden seashells around the chest—and crowned with a halo of exquisite seashells, she moved like a force of nature. A trailing train of scale-like armor cascaded behind her, providing swift access to her formidable weapon. Her wings, dripping with the vibrant hues of a mermaid’s tail and lined with the shimmer of water, flared with predatory grace.
Reaching down with resolute strength, she shouted, “Respect to me!” and her enchanted trident obeyed, leaping into her grasp.
As she began a haunting, foreboding melody, the battlefield erupted anew. The deer monster, now frenzied, turned its wrath on the scorpion creature. Seizing her moment, Delphine soared stealthily to her sister’s back. In that instant, as the monsters snapped free from their grim trance, a squadron of newborn Battle Angels surged forth in a relentless, all-consuming assault.