The massive gates of the Electric Palace stood tall but damaged, faint sparks flying from broken circuits and shattered crystal sensors. Peggy, bruised and weakened, landed softly in front, her aura pulsing low but determined.
Inside, deep within the lightning-lit throne room, Glacius lounged casually on the electric throne, eyes cold and calculating. Electrica paced restlessly, her heels clicking on the crystal floor as she muttered about the broken security grid.
"This shouldn't be happening," she snapped. "No response from my spies, the cameras are down... something's off. I need toâ"
"Shhh," Glacius interrupted smoothly, rising and stepping behind her. "You worry too much."
He gently pulled her into his arms, his icy hand brushing against her neck. "When you have me... what do you need to fear?"
Electrica blinked, caught off guard by the sudden warmth in his voice. She hesitated... then allowed herself to melt into his hold, her hands wrapping around his chest, cheeks glowing faint pink.
Glacius smiled. A slow, sinister grin.
"...Ironical, isn't it?" he whispered into her ear.
Electrica tilted her head. "What is?"
"That the one who crippled your security... and silenced your spies..."
His icy breath chilled her skin.
"...is me. The one you're clinging to."
Her eyes widened.
"Whatâ?"
Before she could react, a jagged ice-spear burst from her back, impaled clean through her abdomen, frost instantly crawling across her veins.
She let out a strangled gasp.
"G-Glaciusâ!"
He stepped back, watching her crumple to her knees, blood mixing with crackling electricity.
"You really thought I'd make someone like you my queen?" Glacius sneered. "So desperate. So gullible."
Electrica trembled, disbelief and agony flooding her. "But... youâheld me... you... cared..."
"That was your mistake," he said flatly. "You fell in love. You trusted me. You let your guard down."
His grin widened. "And I never let mine down."
"You... bastardâ!!" Electrica screamed, lightning exploding from her palms in a final, furious burst of rage.
"I told you," he grinned coldly , "I play the charming guy pretty well. Especially when it ends with my enemies skewered."
Electrica's eyes, glowing with grief and fury, burned brighter than ever before.
But Electrica didn't fall.
Even with the ice spear still embedded in her back, blood trailing from her lips, she stood tall, electricity violently surging around her. Her body trembledâbut not from pain. From fury.
"You... underestimated me," she spat, lightning bursting from her eyes. "You think stabbing me in the back ends me? I'm a General of Thunder, not some lovesick fool!"
Glacius raised his hand, launching a barrage of ice spears toward her with calculated precision. They screamed through the air, aiming for her throat, chest, and legs.
But Electrica clapped her hands, sending out a shockwave of raw voltage that vaporized the first few spears, dodging the next and retaliating with an arc bolt that exploded against Glacius's shield.
Even impaled, she fought like a storm made flesh.
"Interesting," Glacius muttered, brushing off frost that crackled over his arm. "So you still had this much left in you... I suppose betrayal does wonders for motivation."
Electrica lunged forward, pain evident in every step, but with lightning roaring at her fingertips. "I'm not done... until I've taken you down with me!"
Meanwhileâ
Peggy flew through the palace corridors, wings flickering with light.
Her hands gripped the hilt of her light blade, eyes burning with a singular goal: kill Glacius.
The damaged palace security was no match for her now.
Fried consoles, shattered guardian droids, and frozen defenses lay behind her. Her light scorched through the darkness.
"I'm coming, Glacius," she whispered, half in pain, half in fury. "I'll end your conquest even if it means the end of me."
Thunder cracked and ice shattered as Electrica and Glacius clashed in the throne roomâeach strike bursting with deadly precision.
Glacius, calm and focused, hurled larger and sharper ice spears from the air around him, each one launched with mathematical accuracy toward Electrica's weak spots. Yet Electrica stood her ground, despite the blood soaking the floor beneath her.
Her body jolted with every zap, discharging thunderbolts that intercepted his spears mid-air, her hands scorched and tremblingâbut her rage made her unstoppable.
"You really thought I'd just die after you stabbed me?" she snarled, voice crackling like the storm. "I'll electrocute the very soul out of youâ!"
Glacius, breathing harder now, kept his distance and narrowed his eyes. "You're... a monster," he muttered. "Stronger than meâphysically."
"But I've got more brains."
Electrica's attacks paused for a beat. Glacius spoke coldly, steadily:
"You think I ever wanted you as my princess? As a partner in conquest?" he scoffed. "Don't insult me."
Electrica's glare sharpened. "What are you saying?"
"I never intended to share power with someone like you," Glacius said, voice like a blade of frost. "You're sadistic. You enjoy chaos. You take pleasure in dominationânot order."
He side-stepped her next bolt, then launched an ice barrier as she leapt at him, slamming her back with a shockwave. She growled in pain, but stayed standing.
"You would've never preserved the balance I seek. While I freeze to control and maintain peace, you'd electrocute and destroy for fun," he said, circling her slowly. "You're a force of instability, and I can't afford that in the world I'm going to reshape."
Electrica's hands sparked brighter. "Then why keep me close?! Why charm me?! Why lie?!"
"To preserve you," Glacius said flatly. "As a threat to the world, you had to be contained. Trying to battle you would've been risky. So I waited. Until you let your guard down. Until I knew exactly what kind of person you were."
His gaze sharpened.
"The moment I first saw you... I estimated your power level. I knew you were dangerous."
"You..." Electrica's voice shook. "You used meâ"
"No," Glacius said. "I calculated you. There's a difference."
But even as he spoke, he knew the truthâshe had come alone, that day, when she first appeared before him and Peggy. Not with armies. Not with deceit.
Only with her raw, terrifying strength.
"I should've known," he muttered to himself. "Anyone who walks alone with that kind of power doesn't fear the worldâthey want to test it."
Lightning crackled violently from Electrica's arms. "Then I'll show you chaos. I'll show you what your preserved threat can doâ!!"
And as she roared toward him, thunder in her bones and betrayal in her heartâ
Peggy entered the palace, silent as dawn, sword of light drawn. Her wings glowed faintly, but her eyes burned.
The palace shook as battle raged within its heart. Thunder clashed with ice. And thenâ
Peggy burst through the throne room doors, her glowing wings dimmed but determined, eyes burning with pure resolve.
She spotted Glacius and Electrica locked in deadly combat, but it didn't matter. She zeroed in on Glacius, her blade igniting with fairy light.
"You monsterâ!!" she shouted. "I'm ending you today!"
Glacius immediately threw up an ice shield, his tone sharp but oddly controlled. "Stand back, Peggy."
But she didn't stop. "I won't! You killed me once, remember?! You don't get to tell me what to do now. I'll bring balance, even if it means I die with you."
She didn't realize he was already engaged in a vicious fight. To her, this was the final momentâthe showdown. She had accepted death if it meant balance would be restored. Her blade shined brighter.
Glacius grit his teeth. He tried to hold Electrica back while shielding himself from Peggy's charged strikes. "This is not the time, Fairy Princess!"
But she charged anyway.
Now battling two deadly forces, Glacius was struggling. Electrica, stunned by Peggy's sudden appearance, blinked through her sweat and blood.
"No way... how is she alive?" she whispered.
Glacius didn't look surprised. His voice was cold and honest:
"Maybe... I made a small mistake that time."
That lineâso cold, so casualâinfuriated Peggy.
She screamed, "I'll never forgive you!!" and slashed, forcing him to block with his ice.
Electrica's fury erupted. "How dare you ignore me now?!"
Her body exploded in electricity. She charged a super-charged thunder blast, her strongest yet, and hurled it at both Glacius and Peggy.
The attack hit.