They all agreed on that part and after everyone had cleaned up they met back in the central area. While everyone had mostly returned to their normal appearance, Vic kept the beard and continued to stroke it as he pondered everything.
"Why?" Seraphina asked as she looked at his beard.
He shrugged and smirked. "Makes me feel more like a Jedi."
"Vic, do you still have your blade?" Luca asked. He nodded and reached into his cloak and pulled it out. "So mine takes away the force and yours radiates it. I want to test out the limits of these but before I do, Kobak hold out your hand."
"What? Why?"
"Your symbiote was affected by the force on the planet. If I activate this blade, it expands its power outward which could have an affect on you."
Kobak looked to Anoxa who nodded slowly. Taking a deep breath, Kobak stretched his hand out toward Luca who in turn held her hilt out toward him. As soon as he got within the bubble of her negation field, the symbiote began to peel away from his hand, revealing the pale green skin beneath it but also causing Kobak tremendous pain. He quickly pulled his hand back and held it to his chest as the symbiote moved back up over his hand.
That felt like it was killing me! Don't you ever do that again!
"Okay…so now we know that this is bad for you. So I won't be activating it on the ship. I think it would be best for me to keep this locked in my room for now."
"But what is our plan going forward?" Anoxa asked. "I mean, it's been a year. Everything could have changed by now."
"The only thing we know that hasn't changed is that Infernis still has to be out there," Vic said as he continued to stroke his beard.
"True, but he could have won by now. The Jedi could be gone," she told him.
"We need to figure out what is going on in this word now. We need to know what has happened," Seraphina mused.
"Zeltros." Anoxa looked to all of them. "We can go to Zeltros. They have withstood every invasion that has ever come to them. If Infernis has taken over there is a good chance they are still safe."
"Then we'll go there," Luca nodded. "I'll use the command system to send a coded message to the Jedi. Hopefully if they are still around we can find their location as well."
"Do you think you could fold space and get us to Zeltros?" Kobak suggested as Vic took the pilot's seat and he sat beside him as copilot.
"I could, but it's been a year. Last time I folded space to Zeltros I had a clear picture of it from Anoxa's mind, and even then it was foolish because things could have changed since the last time she saw Zeltros. Without knowing what has changed in this year, I'd rather do it the old fashioned way. Otherwise for all I know I could fold space and we'd end up in a starship or some black hole."
"Right…let's not do that."
"Agreed," he smirked.
For the next week they flew through space toward Zeltros. In that time the group spent it mainly preparing for what was to come. Seraphina and Vic spent time alone, talking about the future, a future they might never have.
"I don't want to lose you," he whispered softly to her as he held her in his arms.
"If it comes down to it, I want to make this right," she told him.
"I know, but Seraphina…you're my life. You're my world. Without you, I'm nothing."
She smiled at that and leaned up, lightly kissing his lips. "Without me, you are a Jedi. You are a good man and one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to know."
"You're not entirely wrong about that." He smiled, but his grip on her tightened as he pulled her closer. "I don't want this to happen. I don't want to lose you."
"We might not have a choice, Vic."
"When the time comes, I will just have to make certain that we do. That we will do this right and seal him away that way we can continue on without having to make that sacrifice."
"It wouldn't be our first sacrifice." She moved her metal hand over his nub. "All of us have lost something."
"Luca still has all her limbs," he protested with a smirk.
"Yes, well that's Luca. I think what she's kept in limbs she's lost in innocence." Seraphina glanced at him and caressed his cheek, sighing as she rubbed his beard. "Is there really nothing I can do to talk you out of this?"
"If we survive this, I'll consider shaving."
"Then I guess I'll have to survive this, huh?"
"Looks that way," he grinned. She shook her head and pushed him back onto her bed only to have him grab her and pull him on top with a laugh.
"You really think that we could end this?" Anoxa asked, sitting in the copilot seat with a bowl of purple looking noodles which seemed to move around in the liquid as she slurped them up.
"I think that we are drawing close to the end game," Luca told her. She sat back in the pilot seat, tired but not wanting to sleep. She pulled her combat gloves off and stretched her hands before glancing back at her friend. "Do you think our masters are still alive?"
"I think it would take a small army to kill Toa Sen, and even then he would take them out before he died. Then there is Splyn'Ter, he trained you so he has to be pretty bad ass."
"He's tiny but fierce," Luca smirked.
"Reminds me of someone else I know." Anoxa glanced at her friend's side. "Do you have the saber?"
"Not right now. I'm trying to get accustomed to it. Losing the force like that is nearly paralyzing. I don't know why someone would ever use a lightsaber like that."
"Neither do I. It seems to weaken to the user. What is good about that?"
Luca shrugged. "I think that when my saber and Vic's saber are active they're going to cancel each other out though, which will make them both normal sabers; but we'll see. I want to do tests, figure out what they are capable of before we go to our final battle."
"The First Order." Anoxa smiled at the memory. "We should have gotten a tattoo with that on there."
"With all your work money, I'm sure we could afford it, Madame Anoxa," she grinned.
Anoxa laughed. "Oh please, like you wouldn't jump at the chance to be one of my girls."
"As long as I was your favorite, maybe. I think I'd make a better bouncer though."
"I have no doubt about that." Anoxa took Luca's hand and kissed it before they stared out into space again. "Luca...back there, when the spirits or whatever they were asked you if you'd sacrifice everything-"
Luca paused and looked away. "Sorry about all that. I don't know what came over me. I just...I started blurting things out. Whatever I felt was the right answer I-"
"Luca, did you mean it?"
Slowly Luca looked over to Anoxa, their eyes meeting and Luca found herself once more unable to lie. "Yes. Every word."
Anoxa didn't say anything to her, but she smiled, knowing that her friend needed that. She needed that smile. In her heart that, Anoxa felt something and she wasn't certain what it was. Luca's words had stirred something in her that she had never felt before. Her free hand came up to her chest while the other stayed firmly gripped to Luca's hand and she stared off into space and contemplated their future.
After the first week, a message came through in their system with coordinates for them to regroup to. "It's from the masters, at least I'm assuming."
"It's an old code," Vic mused. "But it checks out."
"They probably have to use the old code because we've been gone a year. We don't know the new ones," Seraphina explained. "We're a week away from Zeltros, but just three days from these coordinates."
"Do we think we can trust them?" Kobak asked the others.
If the Jedi have all succumbed to Infernis I say we kill them all and then take the sabers as a show of good faith to our new dark lord and master.
"I've got an idea," Anoxa said. "We can go to the coordinates. Vic, you've got the best ability to sense them. Before we land or open ourselves up to them, we'll search the ship with the force.
Make certain they are all still untainted by the dark side. Think you can do it?"
"Shouldn't be a problem."
"Then let's go see how the Jedi have fared." Luca said and input the coordinates. A few days later their ship dropped out of hyperspace by two severely damaged capital ships.
"Oh…this….this isn't good," Luca whispered.
"Vic? Sense anything?" Anoxa asked.
Vic pressed his hand to the wall of the ship and stretched his influence outward. He scanned every inch of the ship with the force before smiling. "Everything seems normal."
"Then I'll hail them." Luca pressed the button and a minute later Grand Master Skywalker's voice came through for them.
"We thought you were dead," were the first words out of his lips.
"Never count us out," Luca smirked. "We need a council with the masters immediately."
"Of course you do. I'll call them."
Their message was abruptly cut and they guided their ship into the docking bay. No sooner had they landed then they took note that the docking bay was rather vacant, not at all the bustling hub of activity that it had been before.
"Do you think everyone's just out on missions?" Kobak asked hopefully.
They're dead.
"Judging from the ship, well, we can hope," Seraphina whispered.
Super dead.
They ventured through familiar halls which were now empty, past rooms which had once been places of learning and how now been converted to chambers of healing for the wounded. Anoxa grabbed Luca's arm as she hid behind her small friend from all the medical droids. The others couldn't help but to smile despite the sad scene before them. Somethings never change, no matter how much everything else changed around them.
When they arrived at the Master's chamber, they quickly realized that these were not the same masters they had left. Their chamber of meditation and council had been turned into a battle room, and the masters now bore scars and wounds from battles they had waged for survival.
Eagerly the young knights searched for their masters. Toa Sen stood up when he saw his pupil. His right arm was missing now, replaced with a new mechanical one. He seemed momentarily relieved to see his pupil, but that lasted only a split second before he gave her only the slightest of approving nods that she was still alive.
Ezra sat in his spot and nodded to Seraphina. He had several new scars across his face, and
he seemed too weak to stand anymore. Still, he smiled at her return.
Splyn'Ter sat was well, hands on his cane, a crescent shaped scar over his right eye, leaving him blinded in that eye. His good eye, however, was trained on Luca. He smiled at her, not bothering to hide his relief and joy to see her. He bowed his head and stood as well, to honor their return.
The others were there as well, Skywalker, X2, and Solan. Each tired, each wounded, and yet each staring at them with fragments of hope in their eyes.
"You are truly alive," Splyn'ter said. "This is the best news we have heard in a very long time, and we are due for some good news. You owe me money Toa Sen."
"I told you my padawan wouldn't die that easily," he huffed.
"You also said she would likely be missing another limb."
"Yeah well…we'll talk about that later."
"What happened to you?" Solan asked as he stepped forward and examined them.
"We wanted to ask you guys the same thing," Seraphina said. "What has happened since we've been gone?"
"We have been fighting, all this time. We tried to take on Infernis. We tried to get the sabers that Luca told us about. This is the result of us trying that," Skywalker said as he took a seat and motioned to the other masters in the room. "So tell us, what happened to you."
Luca stepped forward. "It's hard to explain. We went in search of one of the legendary sabers and we found it. We found two actually."
"You did?" Skywalker said in shock.
Luca nodded. "We spoke with gods of sorts. Beings of pure light and dark, that explained to us what Infernis is and what he was. He was once a Jedi, but now he is the physical embodiment of the fire of the force. We walked among a paradise comprised of nothing but the force. The sabers were used by Jedi of the past to seal him away and then lost to the ages."
Skywalker's eyes narrowed as he examined them. "That cannot be true. Something of that importance we would know about, beings like that can't exist."
Luca glanced back at Kobak. "Kobak, go back to mine and Anoxa's room. I don't think its effects go that far."
Kobak wanted to protest, but he saw what Luca held in her hand and he nodded, understanding her plan. He hurried out and Luca counted down from ten until she thought he was far enough away. "While you guys suffered, we walked in a paradise, but we didn't know we were gone that long. We woke up in our ship, having seemingly slept for a year."
"So you're saying you had a dream about these gods of yours?" Skywalker asked.
"Perhaps."
"Then how can you trust what these dreams told you?"
"Because of this." Luca activated her blade and stared at the shimmering silver blade. She also watched as every master nearly collapsed as their connection to the force was abruptly severed, leaving them pale and weakened. Just as quickly as she activated she deactivated it and placed it back onto her belt. She did not want to hurt her masters, but she also wanted them to believe her. This was the easiest way to get her point across.
"What was that!?" X2 demanded.
"It is a lightsaber used to negate the force. It has a counterpart which Vic holds. One that radiates the force. They are two parts of what we need to seal Infernis away." Luca bit her lip and thought about telling them that Infernis's power could transfer, but a quick glance at Seraphina who shook her head encouraged her to keep that part private. The master's were desperate. They had seen horrors in the last year and they wore haunted expressions on their faces. They might see that power as a way out.
"You really believe that you have a way to beat him?" Solan asked them.
"Yes, we do," Luca confirmed.
"We tried, this year to make an alliance with the Empire and the Sith, as was suggested," Skywalker said. "It did not end well."
Luca's eyes widened and heart stopped as she realized what he was saying. That was her advice. Was it her words that made this happen? "What…what went wrong?"
"Emperor Roan Fel was betrayed. Infernis now controls the Empire. The only allies we have left are the Sith. The Empire's forces wiped out the majority of our fleet. We are now fully on survival mode. Every action we take is not to ensure our survival, it has been months since we made an aggressive move against Infernis."
The group looked to one another. The Jedi were on their last legs of this fight. "Masters… we…we can do this alone," Seraphina said, prompting all the masters to look at them with shocked expressions.
"Yes, we made this mess. We want to fix it," Anoxa said. "So, we can do this, no matter what."
"You will need help," Solan said. "You cannot hope to do anything by yourselves. If you truly believe you can defeat him, then we will put together whatever offensive we can."
"What we're saying is, we don't want anymore to die because of us," Vic finally said.
"We have caused enough death," Luca added.
Splyn'ter got up and shook his head. "Nonsense. You think far too much of yourselves."
"Master?" Luca said in shock.
"If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. A monster like Infernis does not stay sealed forever. These deaths are not on you, they are on us. They are on the Jedi as a whole. We sealed him away, and yet we lost the key and the blades to keep him in check. We are to blame for this as much as you are."
"We took children and expected them to be warriors and knights. We robbed you of your lives. Everything you have done, has been for the order," Solon explained to them. "You are still all so young and yet you have seen and done more than probably any other knights your age have done before. All the good and all the bad you have done are on us, your masters."
"We should have taught you more," Ezra sighed. "But the time for that is far past."
"We should have trained you better," Toa Sen added. "But you've proven that you are fast learners and that what you do works better than anything we have done. Look at all we have lost to try to reclaim two blades, and yet your group somehow is always in the right place at the right time. The force is guiding you, and it seems as if even the truest aspects of the force have put their faith in you."
"In return, we should do the same," X2 nodded.
"What everyone is saying, is that you are still Jedi. You are still our brothers and sisters. We do not abandon our own. We will put what we have in your hands and we will assist you in anyway that we can. In the end, let us hope that the force is in our favor," Skywalker told them with a weary but hopeful smile. "In the meantime, we will be preparing our forces for a final assault on the dreadnaught. Until then, may the force be with you."
Their team went about preparing for their journey back to the planet where all of this began. Each one was somber and silent, their thoughts on the battle ahead. Luca and Vic spent time experimenting with their new sabers, figuring that when deactive and in close proximity they cancelled out each other's effects, whereas when they were both active they did the same thing. Whereas Luca's blade negated the force, Vic's saber amplified it, magnifying the effect of any power user. Only when they had gotten comfortable with their blades did they join the others. Finally they had gotten everything secured and the Secret Runner was ready for them, they all boarded the ship for what they feared might be the last time.
"So, we are going to set a trap and call him to us? Are you certain he will come?"
"He will," Luca assured Kobak. "I know him. Once he knows that we have the sabers he will come, and then it will be up to us to get rid of him once and for all."
"I think after this…I'm done," Vic said as he prepared their ship for the jump to hyperspace.
"Done with the Jedi. Just done."
No one said anything to that, as in their hearts they were all feeling the same way. All this war, all this loss, all of this and all they wanted to do was to go back to the simpler times when they were free from all of this. Upon landing on the planet, Luca began to set up the ship's communication device to reach Infernis while the others searched for a good spot to fight him. The coliseum area where he had originally been housed had been destroyed during their first fight. Anoxa headed down the path Shado Vao once walked so long ago. She came upon a room which looked to be a memorial to fallen Jedi, with large statues built to honor them.
She ran her hand across the stone and counted the paces it took to cross it. It was a wide area with a high ceiling, more than enough from for them to fight. This would do. Meeting back with the others, they joined each other back on the ship.
"I'm using the same channels I had when I was under him," Luca started and then smirked a bit as she and Anoxa shared the same perverted sense of humor. "You guys find a good spot for us?"
"Yeah, there's a good room where we can house him," Anoxa said.
"Then…let's do this." Luca started the call and waited for it to connect.
"Luca…maybe we should do this from the portable comm.," Anoxa whispered, but stopped when a dark image appeared before them. Infernis stood there in holographic form, his gaze burning into Luca.
"After all this time, you finally call," Infernis said, his voice booming through their ship.
"Miss me?" Luca asked, her voice calm and her eyes narrowed.
"Why did you call me? Are you that eager for death?"
"Not particularly, no; but I know you're searching for rare and unique sabers. As it stands, I have one. Thought you might be interested in coming to me to settle this once and for all, Infernis." Though she said this, her hands trembled lightly, not with fear, but with anticipation. She had spent a year studying him, the way he fights and moves. She knew him, and she knew that if he came, one way or another this battle would be the end.
"You could have been so powerful," he whispered. The air heated up around them as the hologram shattered, replaced by the real Infernis. Both of his doubled ended sabers were drawn and ignited, his blade thrust toward Luca, rage fueling his power as he aimed to strike her down first for her betrayal.
Everything seemed to slow for her as her body moved on its own and she sidestepped the attack, the blade passing right beside her cheek as her eyes locked on his. Behind her mask she smirked and drew her blade. "Looks like you did miss me." Two quick slashes, of her tonfa sliced into his flesh before she jumped back to dodge a flurry of blows. From his body, flames erupted outward, masking his body in a crimson cape of death, with that, fire licked at their flesh, burning their skin with every second.
Luca's hand rested on the negation saber, tucked into her sleeve out of view. She was tempted to activate it to dampen the flames, but Kobak was here with them. Doing so would only hurt him. She would have to wait for Vic to activate his saber as to negate the effect.
"This ends now children." Infernis lunged at Luca, the blades burning bright in his hands and his eyes full of bloodlust and murderous intent. His blades swung down all around her, but she seemed to dance before him, dodging every single one of his attacks. Her body disappeared, her eyes laughing at him as she teased him with every miss. The angrier he got, the faster his attacks became. Swinging his blade down where she should have been, he hit nothing but air. A curse left his lips and he raised his blade again only to have it fly from his hands.
He looked back to where Vic and Seraphina stood, his double bladed saber went straight to Vic's open hand. The young Jedi did not wait as he activated it and slashed at Infernis, the plasma blade scraping across the flesh of the Sith who just grinned as it seemed to do nothing to him.
Realizing the fire blade did nothing, Vic's mind went back to Luca's report. She wasn't using fire against Infernis either as he might be able to negate the effects. Seeing no point in keeping the blade, Vic shattered it in his hand. Though he could not see through traditional means, Vic was doing his best to pierce through the flames with his sight to see if he could sense the other blades on Infernis; but the flames were too bright even to him. Infernis moved to him, figuring that he would end Luca's friends first and then go for the pink nuisance when there was no one left to fight with her. As he stepped toward them, Seraphina stepped to him as well.
Seraphina's blades activated as she stood protectively in front of Vic, knowing all too well that Vic was not a melee combatant. If Infernis got in close enough, he would cut Vic in half. Infernis slashed, but Seraphina countered. She couldn't dodge like Luca, but she knew how to defend and counter. Infernis slashed at her, but her defenses were impenetrable. She wasn't just fighting for herself. If she lost an arm or a leg, she would deal and move on. This time, she was fighting for Vic. She was fighting for the love of her life. She wasn't going to let Infernis get close to him if she could help it. While she wasn't particularly skilled in the force, she knew enough that she could bind it to her will. Raising her hand, Seraphina put all she had into one concussive blast of the force which sent Infernis flying backward into their communications station. The station shattered beneath the impact, and the heat from his body seared the metal, liquefying it in his presence.
As Infernis stood a blinding light erupted from beside him. Though his flames had no effect on him, this light seared him, burning him from within. His gaze slowly turned to the radiant figure of Anoxa, who pulsated with the pure energy of the lightside. He raised his hand as fire collected as his fingertips, a pleased smile gracing his face as fire began to spread outward toward her.
"No!" Kobak reacted faster than any of them. The flames which had collected were stopped by an invisible force as Kobak stood his ground. His hands were outstretched toward Infernis and his voice seemed to echo with the combined might of him and his symbiote. "No more force!" His hands spread out in the air in a motion similar to ripping something in half as he quite literally managed to rip apart Infernis's connection to the force. It was a technique the symbiote had taught him, a technique mastered in secret and prepared for a moment such as this. With the symbiote's help he was able to see the force and the webs which connected it to an individual. Using his raw power, he shattered those connections to Infernis. It was temporary, unfortunately, and he couldn't combat the flames which were already erupting from him, but he had stopped Infernis from drawing anymore from him.
Though Infernis was momentarily stunned by the young upstarts attack, his attention went back to the light power which assaulted him. Sabers and fists he could dodge, block, or dismember, but this was pure, primal force power and it burned the very heart of him. The close her got to her, the more it burned into him. He raised his free hand to shield himself from the light as Anoxa put everything she had into burning him. "You believe you are fire, but you will burn! You will not survive this!" Anoxa shouted, her eyes glowing the power of the force itself. She pushed her hands toward him, focusing her light onto his frame.
"Girl, I have survived far more than you can throw at me," he whispered. From the light, his double blades slashed through her, searing into her body and ending the focus which she used to maintain the power. Her sides and chest were sliced into deeply, her back pressed against the wall of the ship as she struggled to stand. Infernis pressed on and as she moved her hand to deflect his blade, he simply knocked her tanto blade out of her hand and sent it flying to the ground. Another slash hit her leg, nearly crippling her. Even as she fell she reached for Shepard's blaster and fired at him, the shot blasting through his side, forcing him to take a step back. With a growl of fury he raised his blade for a final stroke.
"This fight is between us Infernis!" Luca shouted from behind him. She revealed the negation saber, knowing that would draw him to her and away from Anoxa. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Vic already positioning himself in such a way that he could move and help her; for now she had to keep Infernis's attention drawn on her. Try as she might, she was no healer. She couldn't help Anoxa the way she needed it most. No, she was a fighter and a killer, and she would do what she did best. "You want this, don't you? Well come on then! Show me what power you have!"
"Where did you get that?" Infernis reached through the flames and drew a second saber, this one igniting with a yellow blade which sparked and crackled with power.
"Come closer and I'll tell you," Luca smirked. She kept the negation saber in her right hand, her tonfa in her left ready to block if needed.
"Oh, I shall." Infernis dashed toward her, a blur of fire and slashing blades. As Luca parried and dodged his attacks, the others regrouped. Kobak and Seraphina moved into defensive positions around Vic and Anoxa, the later of which was slumped down, badly wounded. Anoxa struggled to try to assist Vic, as she had mastered the art of healing, but she was in too much pain to focus on helping him.
"It's okay, I've got you," he whispered and pressed his hand to her. Her wounds began to close up, leaving nothing but burning scars on her flesh. Her body still hurt and her insides still felt as if they were on fire, but she could stand and more importantly she could fight. Vic started to help her up when she heard Luca scream.
Quickly she stood up and looked past the others as a bolt of lightning seemed to stream from the tip of Infernis's blade and slam into Luca's chest. The energy arched through Luca, lightning literally seeped into every pore of her body, paralyzing her every muscle and restricting her every movement. She had dodged every strike, but she had never expected the blade to be able to project energy from it. She had been caught off guard and now she was unable to move. She collapsed to her knees, her eyes able to move just enough to see the others racing toward her.
As Infernis kept the lightning arching into her, he raised his other hand and slashed repeatedly at her body, leaving gouging marks across her torso. "You should have stayed with me, little one," he told her and struck down at her right hand which held the blade he desired, intending to sever her arm with one clean stroke. As his plasma blade slammed downward, it connected with living metal and was instantly shorted out by the symbiote's skin. Kobak stood between Infernis and Luca, arm outstretched to take the impact. His free hand stretched toward Infernis's head as he let his mind into the monster's. "Give me the blade," he commanded, using every ounce of force power he possessed to try and control him. Though he demanded the blade, in Infernis's mind he saw a Sith, asking for a tool to strike his friend's down with.
Though Infernis seemed to smile, Kobak realized it was because there was only darkness in the Sith's mind and he had no hope of controlling it. "Foolish little Jedi. " Infernis back handed Kobak, sending him crashing into the wall of the ship, denting it under his weight. He then moved to strike Luca, down, but where she had been only a puddle of her blood now remained.
"You want to see power, Infernis? I'll show you power." Infernis turned as he heard a lightsaber deactive. He watched as Seraphina dropped one of her blades and caught the negation saber in her free hand and for the first time since he had seen her fight, he saw Luca put her lightsaber into her right hand. The dark Sith's eyes widened as Luca's eyes met his and glowed with the power of the force to back her. From her, he felt the same bloodlust he had sensed when he offered to train her, only know instead of it being wild and untamed he felt it cut through him like a blade. Flames licked at her body, but instead of the red he was accustomed to they burned like a blue sun. He readied his blade to defend against her, but before he could even act she had disappeared.
Three slashes appeared on the Sith's chest and Luca now stood behind him, right beside Anoxa who already had a hand on her friend's cheek, her lips lightly pressing to Luca's flesh to allow her essence to move through Luca. Infernis coughed up blood and held his chest as he turned and watched as Luca's wounds disappeared completely from her body and she took an aggressive stance in front of her friend. "This is real power, Infernis," Luca told him. She smirked beneath her mask and readied herself for another assault until she felt Anoxa's hand on hers.
"Look at him," Anoxa whispered. "You hit all his vitals with those attacks. One more assault and he will die."
Luca nodded, realizing what her friend was saying. If they killed him, he would just come back again and fight them again. No, they had to seal him away. Now was the time to end this. Luca glanced to Seraphina who did just as the spirits of the force had instructed. Turning the blade in such a way that a beam of pure light shot from its hilt and slammed into Infernis. In that instant, all the force in their area was cut, and Kobak screamed in pain as the symbiote writhed in agony. It was no more than a second, but Kobak felt as if he died a thousand deaths in that one moment. The impact was fruitful, however, as it resulted in the flames dispersing, and the already weakened Infernis staggered from the blast.
Vic, who had been biding his time during this moment, finally saw what he had been looking for. The force saber floated out from beneath his coat and activated, bathing the ship in the light of the radiant force, stabilizing Kobak and enhancing all those who bathed in its light. Flexing his hand outward, Vic pulled the frost saber from Infernis's robes and straight into his hand. He realized in doing this just what would happen, but he was prepared for it, as much as he could be.
Infernis's rage consumed him, the pain and humiliation he was enduring drew him to near madness. Every time he crippled one of them, another moved to protect them and heal them. Every time he countered one, another moved to counter him. Each of them was so weak, and yet together they were infuriatingly strong!
"Figured it out yet, Infernis?" Luca asked him. His gaze turned toward her and in his eyes all she saw was hatred which burned unlike anything she had seen before.
"Together we possess true power. Focus on what matters to you most. Focus on anger and you will lose what matters to you the most," Vic finished for her. Inferis roared and the ship shook as the full extent of his power was unleashed upon it. It seemed to break apart under the weight of his might and like darkness itself he descended upon Vic. His blades slashed through the young man, who stood there, prepared for his blows and ready to take them. Though Infernis's blade struck his body, slicing through flesh and bone and piercing vital organs, Vic focused on the force and numbed his body to it. Instead, he connected his mind with that of his friends even as his blood spattered the ground and wall. One word seared their minds and with it, Infernis's fate was sealed.
Now.
With that command everything seemed to happen in an instant as if time itself slowed for them. Kobak lay on the ground, but with that command he threw his hand outward as a bolt of pure corruption slammed into Infernis's back. It didn't seem to hurt him, but it wasn't intended to, only to stun him.
Anoxa dropped her weapons and held her hand out while Seraphina was activating her saber
once more. Luca pushed her body to its breaking point as she disappeared from where she stood and appeared beside Vic, ducking beneath Infernis's saber to grab the frost saber which hung in the air before him.
Vic used the force to turn his force saber into its true form and in that split second the air around Infernis's lightning saber rippled and the saber was gone, appearing in Anoxa's outstretched hand. All four of them activated their blades at once as their beams shot outward and pierced Infernis's flesh. Together they swirled around him, forming an enormous purple barrier of pure force energy which was his prison before and now was again. From this orb, a shimmering spot appeared before them and a smaller orb was pulled from it and landed at their feet.
All eyes moved to Seraphina who quickly held up her hands. "I'm not touching it."