Veketh glanced down the dark and dreary corridor of the small maintenance tunnels running underneath the mansion Barath had housed himself in. Jebediah's dead, the front guards are gone… No one's come out yet which means… Veketh firmly strode forward into the dim halls. I can take out Barath and leave the Gang to those witches.
As he began to sense a presence, Veketh smelled the air and his body froze. In the dark, two glowing yellow eyes, that of a predator, honed in on him. Out from the shadows lumbered a ten-foot werewolf, the monstrous beast wearing an inappropriate tag that said 'Volmir' on it.
"Who gave him a lycanthrope!?" As Marina's grinning visage came to mind, Veketh cursed, "That backstabbing garbage!"
Volmir hunched itself onto all fours and began a charging attack. Veketh raised a shield to block the beast and sent it flying back. His shield wavered and Veketh realized he hadn't fully yet recovered.
Volmir eyed its prey and tried to encircle him but, realizing how tight the corridor was for its huge body, slammed into the walls, brick and metal flying about. As Veketh moved to avoid the debris, Volmir's arm swung downwards and cleaved through Veketh's shield. Narrowly avoiding the attack, Veketh fired wind and lightning from either palm to send the beast away.
Volmir tanked the attack and regained his footing, practically unphased by Veketh's best.
"Marina went and got me killed in the end…" Veketh began to laugh at his own pitiable end, "Ain't that like her…?"
The snarling and growling from Volmir only ceased when a familiar face shimmered above it and stabbed downwards.
Veketh watched Luke wrest his blade from the remains of the beast's disheveled head and glare at him, "If you want to beat the Gang, you'd need allies. Instead you leave me to die."
"Naturally," Veketh seethed, "You killed my team!"
Luke faced away from him, "Your orders did. Barath is mine. You can hang back in case the gang comes running."
Veketh folded his arms and when Luke moved onwards into the mansion, sighed and shimmered away.
…
Luke's entrance to the central foyer began with a bang and a whimper as several lesser demons were flung back by an explosion of pink. Barath turned to face the intruder and found himself surprised, "You? I expected Veketh."
"Your pet is dead…." Luke threw the collar down to Barath's feet and filled his body with energy, "You stand no chance against me."
Barath snickered as he reached for his whip, "Oh, ye of little faith…" Pulling a small tincture out from his pocket, Barath cackled louder, "The perfected Roseblood is ready. I shall be the first of the new wave of demonic power!"
Luke rolled his eyes, "But I'm right here."
…
Ailyn's orbing brought the whole Cuentas family to the outskirts of the mansion she had sensed Luke's energy at.
"Ailyn… What's going on?" Mia asked with concern in her voice, "This is… Old Valentine."
"Luke's in trouble… He's after a gang of demons and… And I think he plans to lose." Ailyn explained as best as she could between haggard breaths.
Geiney rushed forward, "Why would he do that!? What happened!?"
Ailyn gave Geiney a pained look, "His dad is dead… And he's blaming himself."
"No, really, what the hell happened!?" Geiney shouted again, drawing attention from the one watching over them all.
Marina shimmered into view before them, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Josh stepped forward in front of the others, "A demon; and a strong one at that. What business do you have here?"
"The siblings have a challenge awaiting them. I'm here to ensure the parents stay in line," Marina snapped her fingers as the air around them cracked and exploded, lightning shooting in every direction around them. "Besides, after destroying your mansion and your poorly-trained staff and students… I wanted to test the masters."
The wording quickly forced Josh into an overwhelming rage, "You're with the Demon Fists!? You destroyed our home!?"
Tilting her head, Marina scoffed at his demeanor, "If you just trained them right, we couldn't have been able to anyways."
Mia rushed to her husband's side in an attempt to quell his rage, "Josh, don't let her get to you. We can't split up right now."
"If you delay, the boy will die," Donavihk appeared beside his master, "Even if you win here, another innocent will pay with his life. Why do you think we keep him around?"
Sara stepped forward, "You used him as bait!? How many demons did he kill!? You let him destroy your own kind for this!?"
"You're questioning how demons die? Isn't that a net good for you?" Marina laughed at Sara's miserable expression, "So, what will it be?"
Ailyn glanced around at the Cuentas family as they all ran through their minds several options.
Finally, Josh stood tall, "Mia, we'll fight her." Facing his children, he smiled, "We'll win, too."
"Understood, dear." Mia knelt down to the ground and let the magic in the air and the very earth fill her, "It's been a while…"
Geiney yelled "Rapido!" and charged towards the front stairs of the mansion, his two sisters and Whitelighter close behind.
Josh and Mia had been glaring at Marina for the longest time.
"Are we going to fight or not?" Marina's voice sounded desperate, the cry of a child throwing a tantrum.
"Aren't you looking forward to get kicked around? You must be very brave to face us." Mia's teasing had no effect on Marina.
"You could say I have been looking forward to this fight. I could fight the strongest of demons but that's no fun. What good is a battle if your power can destroy demons with a snap of your fingers? Besides, all my thrills have come from witches. They fight so desperately clinging to their morals and it makes using that against them so much more fun. Demons typically play for only themselves. People? Sometimes they fight to the end. Sometimes they take their own lives. Sometimes they kill their loved ones to survive. Fascinating, right?"
"We just want to help the boy in there." Josh hadn't met the boy yet, but if Marina wanted him dead it was his duty to save him.
"The faster we get to fighting the faster you can help him." She sang.
The couple nodded to each other and Mia motioned to the enemy with her hand, giving Josh the message for him to attack first.
The two assumed a battle stance. Josh stood facing his opponent, his arms limp at his side. Marina jumped to Josh to deliver a kick but Josh slid under her leg, bringing his own upwards. Marina parried him and gripped his shin, roughly throwing him aside. Josh winced as he stood, trying to keep the edge.
Marina brought a downward chop upon him; Josh seized the arm, arched his back, and using the momentum in his hips and arms, threw Marina over his shoulder. Marina's body slammed into the ground, a hard thud echoing outside the manor.
Josh gave a little grin as Marina got up. Marina tested the waters with several quick jabs that Josh easily deflected until Marina connected a low kick and a push kick to Josh's waist. Josh was thrown off balance and barely ducked low when a third kick came flying his way. He retaliated by striking her unprotected waist and throwing a second to her jaw, a kick into her flank knocking her around.
Marina attacked with two fast jab attacks aimed at Josh's throat. Josh pivoted on his feet and dodged the first attack and on the second attack, he locked his hand around her wrist and tried to overtake her to the ground. She held her own as she stepped forward, the two locked in a battle to throw the other off balance. Josh took two steps back and in a swift motion he swept her feet from underneath her body, using his arms to slam her body to the ground. Because of the momentum Marina took the full brunt of the force exerted on them both. She gave a huff as her back hit the floor, the wind escaping from her lungs.
Josh took the moment to begin punching Marina's face several times. When Marina regained her senses, she threw Josh over her body. Josh recovered fast and backed away.
The thrill of the fight made Marina sneer like a wild animal playing with their prey. She was only toying with him, savoring the flavor of the fight. Josh was skilled in a martial art, one she was not sure the name of. This was the heart of a warrior, the leader of the Cuentas School of Magic. Oh, she picked a very good contestant.
"Good. You fight well. I'm almost honored to be fighting someone with your skill of physical combat. But how's your magical combat?"
Marina threw her arms at Josh and shot two streams of fire towards him. Josh was forced to use his two favored abilities. Using his powers he lowered the temperature down to freezing around him and increased the gravity around him as well. The fire froze and fell to the ground before it could reach him.
Marina felt the change and looked around, dropping her arms. It took her a moment to figure out what had happened and chuckled. She was impressed at his magical abilities as well.
"So you can control the temperatures and gravity. That is a coveted power to have. Too bad I don't have anything on me to take your power away. I could use a power like that." Marina teased
"You'll have to take it from my cold dead hands." He retorted.
Marina shrugged, "Perhaps I will."
Josh held his arms out on either side of his body and used his power to change the barometric pressure of the battlefield, dropping the pressure tremendously. Winds began whipping in front of Marina. Josh exerted great force to keep the wind from striking him. She shielded her face with her arms for a moment and shot fire back; the wind carried it right back around without much effort on Josh's part. She couldn't use her power in these winds. She needed to change the direction of the fight.
With a bit of difficulty she closed the distance between her and Josh and threw a diversionary punch, gripping his throat when Josh blocked. Taking the shot, Josh lowered himself to the floor, breaking her opponents balance. With a thrust he threw Marina into a corner.
She got up and shot a fire ball in his direction, knocking him into the very spot where she once stood. She hurled another fireball at him; with the way the wind was whipping at him, the fireball felt like it was shot out of a cannon and caused him to fly a few feet into the air, landing flat on his back. He willed the barometric pressure to increase until the winds ceased to flow. He groaned, getting up and holding his injured chest where the fireball had hit him. She used his own power against him. This was not good; the demon learned quickly.
She brought her hands closer, allowing a stream of fire to connect from each hand. The intensity of the flame grew ever further, eventually turning blue. Marina smirked devilishly as she shot a finer flame, similar to a blow torch, towards Josh. Josh reacted fast and brought his hands up to shield himself from a bright source of light. His power allowed him to increase the precipitation a thousand times allowing for the water and sleet to act as a shield. Water vapor rose from the connection of the precipitation rapidly like a pot full of water. The attack didn't last more than a few seconds but when Josh brought the shield down, water and small pebbles of ice coated the ground.
…
Luke held his right arm up and glared at Barath. The red lines covering the sickening demon's body unnerved him, but not enough to dissuade him. Jumping under another swing of his deadly whip and jumping forth, Luke finally plunged the blade into Barath's chest.
Barath howled in agony as a familiar voice left Luke's lips, "Time to return to me, brother."
"You may have killed me, but the Gang has the perfected formula…" A grin took hold of the demon's face as he faded into Luke, "You should have absorbed Jebediah when you could have…"
Barath's fading away changed the expression of his killer minutely, if at all. Killing him didn't change anything. Of course it wouldn't…
Luke turned for the door, his emptiness growing. Bending down, Luke lifted the whip Barath used off of the floor. "The Torturer's Whip might be the cruelest weapon of them all."
Throwing it into the air and shimmering it out, Luke finished collecting the sixth Blades weapon.
Deciding to end the day by heading home, Luke dropped down from the small bannister he had been standing on for the tail end of the fight.
As his feet touched the ground, an attack out of nowhere destroyed his right side. Luke collapsed to the floor reaching for his wound and giving a hateful glare to his attacker.
"Too easy. Barath was weak if this child killed him," Ariel glanced around the room at the scars of their battle, "That kid might have been toying with him. It's a shame I can't just kill him now."
Arvic and Darren shimmered in beside her, "If we did, them siblings would know. Then we couldn't end this little war right here." Arvic calmly assuaged her concerns.
"War or not, we'll win easy. First the kids get taken down, then the parents, then our clients. Finally, we can retire!" Darren's excitement shook the tense mood the wrong way.
"Retire if you want. I have people to take down," Ariel glared in the direction of the doorway, "Veketh for one."
Arvic waved his hand, "They're coming closer. Let's hide."
The three shimmered into corners of the room and set a ward about them to conceal their presence. The trap had been set.
"Josh, tag me in." Mia said, eager to take down Marina, seeing as Josh could use the help. Josh nodded, turning to face Marina once more. He closed the distance with a flying kick which Marina evaded. With the distance closed, Josh grappled Marina, and broke Marina's balance by turning his body outward and pulling with all his strength. Marina flipped and rotated midair and landed hard on her side. Marina watched stars dance around her.
Josh reached Mia's position and gave her a low five, tagging her into the fight. Mia raced forward with vigor and jumped up, pile-driving herself into Marina. Marina groaned from the unforeseen attack and pushed Mia away from her.
Mia, using her knowledge of mixed martial arts combat, began her own attacks towards Marina. She tried different combinations of hand attacks that always followed a kick. It took Marina a few blows to begin defending herself. Marina did keep up with Mia but her inability to out speed Mia meant she still took attacks occasionally. Marina was practically cornered as she was relentlessly attacked.
When Mia's stamina finally started draining and her attacks slowed, Marina counter attacked with her own style, sending waves of kicks in flurries at her weakened opponent. Mia kept up for a little while before her arms felt the wear of battle and they grew heavier with every deflection or block. Eventually Mia was roundhouse-kicked to the ground.
"Come on, witch. Your husband lasted longer than you in hand to hand combat." Marina taunted.
Mia finally lost her cool and in the heat of her anger she forgot the pain and numbness in her arms. She retaliated with grapples and take downs. Marina was inexperienced when it came to take downs as Mia noticed with Josh's fight. Using that knowledge to her advantage, she went for grappling and tackles whenever she could. Sometimes she would have to change her strategy to hand attacks before she got the chance to do it again. But Marina was smarter than Mia gave her credit and she tried looking for the little ticks that signaled when Mia was going to tackle.
After a fake out, Mia pinned Marina to the ground and gave her two strong jabs to Marina's cheek. Marina pushed Mia's shoulder up and off of her and kicked Mia away. Marina righted herself with a kick-up and regained her stance.
Marina couldn't help but to admit that Mia was a stronger physical fighter than her in her current position. But she was just toying with the witch. She knew she could easily beat Mia, but where was the fun in that? Marina changed strategies. She drew herself closer and went for a punch and kick at the same time. Mia blocked the hand strike, but the kick caused her to grunt from the force of it, her knee buckling, as if it was on fire, numb to the toes.
Marina brought her hands together and connected them with a stream of fire. Mia knew what the attack was and took two strides back and summoned a shield. The blowtorch-like flame hit the shield with terrifying force, forcing Mia to shift herself lower to not be knocked off balance.
"Fire? Are you a fire starter?" Marina teased.
"I'm much more than that." In both hands she summoned a fireball and a windball. With a little wave, she released both. Marina blocked both with a fiery shield of her own.
"Nice try," Marina laughed, "Shields are basic spells for demons, too."
Mia summoned another fireball and windball, smashing them together. The ball grew three times as big and the force whipped Mia's hair out of her face. Marina's shield withstood the new attack but the knockback sent her flying to the ground.
Marina gave a frustrated scream, "How many times will you throw me to the ground!?" She realized it was one of the reasons why they gained the upper hand for the moment,
Marina had had enough and summoned a fireball in her hand. She tossed it in the air and with her other hand shot a stream of fire towards it. Mia watched, having no idea what this attack even did. The stream of fire caused the fireball to inflate a couple feet in diameter and when it had reached its peak, it sent a wave of fire towards Mia and Josh. Mia waved her hand up in the air and materialized a wall of solid ice. The wave impacted the ice and exploded, causing large chunks of ice to fly towards the couple.
Marina chuckled, "Had enough, witch? I was just getting started."
"It's not over for us, either!" Mia got back on her feet and tried for another attack. She waved her hands and summoned a wave of fire and wind together. The two waves swirled around, gaining speed. A smaller version of a tornado appeared and Marina tried to dissipate the attack but she was caught in the vortex and flung towards the outer mansion wall, a sickening thud ringing out. The impact where her head hit caused a small chunk of brick to crumble, leaving a red and pink colored brick exposed.
Marina launched various combinations of her attacks. For every two fireballs she shot at Mia, she hurled a stream of fire towards the witch. The two were evenly matched, but Mia seemed to have the upper hand as she created another ball made of fire and wind and launched it towards Marina. Marina was hit dead on and flung towards another part of the wall.
"Had enough, demon? I think it's time to vanquish you." Josh stood next to Mia, ready to cast an improvised vanquishing spell on the demon…
"Luke!?" Geiney sprinted into the room the second he noticed his friend crumpled on the floor, hands practically glued to a deep wound on his side. "Why's he not healing?"
Luz rushed to their side and inspected his injuries, "He's unconscious. The magic won't work as strongly."
"Where's the attackers?" Sara's suspicions grew until she sensed a presence. Jumping back, a woman she had never met rocketed into the ground where she just stood. "You lured us here!"
Swinging forward, Sara managed to strike the woman back into the wall.
Luz stood to join her sister but was unable to stop another demon from pushing her away from her brother. Geiney looked up in time to see a grinning young male demon approach, "I'm Darren. You're my new plaything."
Geiney quickly picked Luke up and turned for the doorway but the third demon blocked the way. "Arvic at your service. Our boss wants a simple fight. Three of us, three of you. Consider this our one mercy."
The female demon regained her composure and pointed at Sara, "You managed to dodge. I'm curious about you."
Sara powered the shield around her body and gave a bold reply, "I can do far more than just that."
"Enlighten me. Feel Ariel's wrath!" Ariel charged her own aura around her and leapt forward with such blinding speed Sara could only block.
Luz stared down Arvic, her body tense and bristling at the thought of fighting alone.
"I'll wait for the others." Arvic pointed to the other fights, "I'm not one for combat. I'm a dashing gambler at heart."
Luz raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Yeah, a demonic gang member's not capable of being both."
Arvic shrugged her off, "Don't be so judgemental now. If your siblings can't beat those crazies, you won't live long after anyways."
"Why are you working with them then?"
"The same reason you fight us. We were never really given much of a choice, you and I. I'd just rather not fight you if it's unnecessary."
Luz proudly smiled at her siblings, "Oh, it'll be necessary."
Geiney felt his heart stop when Darren appeared before him and pushed him to the ground, "You're a wind user. Unlike me…" Darren coated his body in wind and moved with such speed and fluidity Geiney's eyes struggled to follow, "You're not one to experiment, huh?"
A quick palm strike sent Geiney flying into a nearby wall.
"Ow…" He muttered while getting up. He retaliated by trying to tackle Darren, but he maneuvered out of the way at the last second, slapping the boy in the back. Geiney tripped from the force into the dirty floor. He felt a warm, tingling pain on his arm; he had scraped it on the ground.
"Stand still!" Geiney screamed in frustration. Darren smugly grinned with satisfaction after dodging a flying kick Geiney randomly attempted.
Darren shook his head, rooted to a spot nearby. "I know you can do better than that." His cooing voice infuriated Geiney further.
A well-aimed wind ball flew towards his direction. Geiney watched as the attack neared his opponent, only to have his hopes shatter before his eyes when Darren smoothly brought his hand up and stopped the attack.
"How!?" He squealed.
"Because I'm better. The power of the wind flows through my very being. Your wind is like a gust; it doesn't faze anyone and doesn't get very far. Let me show you what real wind can do."
Darren rolled his arm around and a strong gust of wind flew towards Geiney. He brought up a shield but the attack pushed him effortlessly until his back hit the wall.
"He's strong… How can I beat him if my attacks don't faze him?" Geiney muttered to himself.
Geiney tried to change strategies; he threw another wind attack at Darren and crept closer. Geiney tried for a second tackle, succeeding in taking his opponent to the ground. The boy drew his arm back and struck Darren in the face. His satisfaction grew when his knuckles cracked against Darren's skull. Another blow and another crack. When Geiney tried to wind his arm back for another strike, Darren used his power to throw Geiney up in the air. When Geiney was falling he saw Darren rotate his arm around for another attack. Geiney created a shield and threw it towards Darren. His shield slammed into Darren and before he gave his victory cry his body hit the ground. Both Darren and Geiney lay motionless on the ground.
Geiney rolled on his back, and gave a pitiful moan. His hands touched his ribs where he felt the numbing sensation of the impact. He slowly got up momentarily forgetting he was in the middle of the fight. Darren and Geiney turned to each other; their eyes connected. Darren hadn't had the wind knocked out of him and prepared another attack.
Geiney brought up his shield as he was attacked with transparent teal colored tendrils, his hands at his sides. The tendrils were created by powerful gusts making small cyclones that moved like water through the air, whipping at Geiney and nearly shattering his shield with every blow. Geiney stood his ground to no avail, finally being knocked aside, no more than a ragdoll to be played around with by his opponent.
Geiney's body rolled around on the ground. He used the nearby wall for support to regain his footing. This was not a fight he was going to win. He needed to be stronger. He wished he was stronger, but it wasn't like there was a wind teacher he could learn from…
A teacher to learn from… Geiney all but laughed; was the answer actually that simple? Geiney had to focus his mind on his enemy. Maybe a little experimentation was all he needed. That was Darren's advice anyways. But if he messed up, it was all over for him.
Geiney tested Darren's reaction time; he threw a wind ball and Darren deflected it back to Geiney. Geiney focused his power around himself at a center point. His eyes focused on the ball coming towards him and with a cry he seized the energy. Darren lifted an eyebrow. Geiney cried victoriously and channeled some more of his power through it, enlarging it twofold.
"Darren! Catch!" Geiney threw the ball again and Darren lifted a hand up. The ball stuck to the shield and Darren threw it back. Geiney once again focused his power and seized the ball midair. He spun around making the ball grow in size once more. He tossed the attack back to Darren.
Darren moved his arm around him and threw a concentrated gust of wind, sending it back. For a split second he doubted himself; could I control it? Geiney seized the attack midair again and finally flung it with all of his force.
Darren frowned; he had caught on to Geiney's adequate experimentation. Darren waved a hand and the wind faded into nothing.
"Stupid," Darren shook his head several times, "Wind flows through me. I can disrupt the flow at any time." Darren laughed, his eyes closing as he held his face, "Fighting fire with fire is a fool's game!"
Geiney stood in front of Darren and rotated his body, a wide spin kick connected to Darren's jaw. Darren stepped sideways and crashed into a statue bust that fell onto the stairs and shattered right before Darren fell back onto the shards.
Now in an enraged frenzy, Darren jumped up, "Cheap shotting son of a bitch!"
"Hey, what was that thing you did with your hands? Like this?" Geiney spun his arm around and opened his palm and a blast of wind erupted into the unprepared demon's face, flinging him into the wall of the mansion, "Can't disrupt the flow if you're not focused."
Darren tried to get to his feet once more, "That stings like hell… You're learning."
"It was your advice. You told me I had to experiment so that's what I did." Geiney gave a malevolent grin. It was time to end him. Remembering an attack Luke had taught him, Geiney summoned wind into one last ball and spread it thin. Small razor-thin waves were flung at Darren. Geiney visibly saw three rips appear in his shirt. Darren doubled over and Geiney rolled his arm again and sent a second wave of wind towards the enemy. Darren was too slow to stop the attack and flew helplessly against the wall, collapsing to the floor with a loud bang.
Geiney groaned, "Yeah. That had to hurt." Geiney stepped closer and grabbed a candlestick from an overturned table. He poked Darren in the cheek a couple times to see if Darren was really unconscious.
"They're holding their own, it seems." Arvic sighed and straightened his body, "So, why don't you just waste everything you've got on me and I can win and leave?"
Luz paused. Did he know her power? "You want me to just hit you with my best?"
Arvic laughed at her incredulous expression, "I'm not one for drawn out fights. Not all demons fight the same."
"If you're sure…" Luz trailed off and focused all of her energy inside her. This ability of hers had taken Gabbriel down and brought Mike off of his high horse. Hoping her practice was enough; Luz held out a hand and unleashed power unto Arvic.
Sara rocked back and forth on her feet, her arms up in front of her face. She eyed her opponent as they slowly walked in a circle, matching her every step. Ariel was a tough opponent. Sara had been on the offensive but she had gathered enough information about her opponent to be able to defeat her. Or so she hoped.
Sara faked out a punch and kicked Ariel's leg, causing it to move back. She kicked the other leg and jumped up, punching her hard in the face. Ariel took the hit like it didn't faze her. She tried to counter attack with some hand chops and elbow attacks. Sara deflected the elbow attacks, matching her with a few of her own.
Ariel dodged and dipped as Sara's elbow flew and hit nothing. Ariel kicked Sara in the gut, pushing her back. The two continued to attack each other, but Sara realized she was only wasting energy. She stepped back and gave her opponent a quick scan. Ariel was not well balanced.
Sara grappled Ariel and managed to get underneath Ariel's arms. Sara found herself on the floor.
"I was expecting a much more entertaining fight. Perhaps I was wrong about you. You're weak."
Sara, in her anger, swept out at Ariel's legs, narrowly missing her target when she jumped out of harm's way. Sara kicked herself up into a crouch stance. She tried to attack her with some boxing combinations but Ariel blocked most of her attacks. The few that landed were returned in kind, the force fields generated by their magic shifting and sometimes shuddering from the force of the blows. Sara grunted when she was struck in four joints of her arms. With Sara momentarily stunned, Ariel took advantage and locked Sara's arm with her knees and her hands locked on Sara's wrist.
She rhythmically pulled Sara's arm the wrong way, hoping for Sara to lose stamina. The flashes of hot pain brought tears to Sara's face. Her opponent was strong indeed. If it had been any other fighter, she was sure Ariel would have literally ripped their limbs from their sockets.
Sara rolled forward on the floor until she was on her back when she kicked Ariel in the face. Ariel let go of her arm and Sara brought it to her chest. Her moment of relief was short-lived as she tried for a different grapple. Sara went even lower and lifted Ariel's legs up; Ariel lost balance and hit the floor.
With a twist of her body, Ariel's legs were awkwardly on Sara's shoulder. She used her foot on Ariel's lower back to keep her locked there. Ariel struggled while Sara used this time to think of a different combat strategy.
Ariel was strong against her when they were toe-to-toe. However, Ariel had trouble once she was on the floor. Ariel struggled until she got one leg free and soon wrestled the other from Sara's grasp. She tried to sweep Sara from underneath but Sara rolled over her body, foreseeing the attack. Sara dodged a kick from the right and when Ariel brought her leg around for another, Sara grabbed her foot, stepping forward and pushing her to the ground. Ariel brought her bare feet up, but Sara took control of her ankle and stepped to the side. She kicked Ariel four times across her face. Sara then grabbed her ankle with both hands and tossed her like a rag doll into the hard marble stairs.
Sara jumped high and delivered a powerful knee strike to Ariel's back. Ariel lost her breath, wheezing for air. Without mercy, Sara grabbed a fistful of her hair and began beating Ariel into submission. When Sara's knuckles began to tingle, she smashed Ariel's face into the stairs once more.
Ariel lay motionless, occasionally giving out a small squeak of pain as her body was sprawled out into the ground.
Arvic withstood the attack and seemed disappointed, "Really, Luz? That's all?" Arvic glanced over at his defeated cohorts and shamefully avoided looking at anyone, "Today's just the worst. Fine, I guess I'm finishing it myself."
With his guard dropped, Luz released the actual energy boiling inside her. As Arvic was consumed by the power, he realized she had managed to learn to control the expenditure of the energy.
"Clever girl…" Arvic felt his body begin to fade; before he could go quietly, a familiar blade pressed into his back, "Et tu, Veketh!?"
Veketh sneered and spat to the side, "Go back to where you belong."
As Arvic faded into the blade, Luz watched silently, unable to muster any energy to fight. Veketh actively ignored her, waiting for Geiney and Sara to run to Luke before calmly approaching Darren.
Stirring from his wounds, Darren cursed at the sight of Veketh, "I'm not goin' back into that blade!"
"I don't give a damn what you want." Veketh coldly twisted the blade into Darren's chest and added the third member to the blade. Without a word, he continued by slaying Ariel as well.
Sara finally noticed him and asked, "Who are you, exactly?"
Veketh smirked with a gleeful innocence, "I'm your ally for now. This Roseblood Gang has three members left and the location of the leader lies with your family."
"Our family?" Geiney asked with his attention garnered.
"Javier Cuentas, renowned Mexican revolutionary and freedom fighter. He's privy to the knowledge of the leader of the gang and, without him, I can't break the curse of the Roseblood. It's a dire chemical that can only be harvested in the bodies of normal humans, don't you know?" With an atypical cruelness, Veketh pointed at the reawakening Luke, "He knows what it does firsthand. A shame it came at such a high cost, right, kid?" Without another word, Veketh shimmered out of the mansion.
Marina laughed manically and used her power to lift herself from the floor into a standing position.
"Please, witches. I was just toying with you. You have rather pleased me with this fight, but you're right. It's time to end it. I've had my fun."
Mia and Josh ran towards Marina and began their physical assault against the demon. She was not wrong; Marina was an even better skilled fighter than she had let on. Both Josh and Mia were tricked, and they expended their energy into the fight too early.
Marina used her opponent's attacks against each other, allowing her to take control of the fight. Josh tried to go for a grapple, but she moved her hands underneath his, took two steps back, dropped on her back and using her foot threw Josh over her body. He collided with Mia and the two tumbled unto the ground.
The two stood up, rubbing their heads.
With a nod to each other, Josh lifted one hand, focusing his power into it. Marina felt the change and grunted, falling into a somewhat crouched position. Josh had increased gravity around Marina. Mia created another tornado with her power and Marina was sucked into its vortex spun mercilessly around and launched through a boarded up window. The boards broke and Marina was lost inside.
Mia and Josh breathed heavily from their usage of power finally catching up with them. A concentrated blast of fire was shot out of the window and Mia and Josh took cover away from the flame. Marina emerged mostly unscathed by the attack and looking rather annoyed.
The witch couple knew this fight was coming to an end and probably not looking too good for them. Marina shot a stream of fire out of her hands at both of her opponents. They dodged for cover. Running around the battlefield, Marina could not aim at two separate targets at the same time and had to alternate between targets. The two parents kept their distance as Marina tried to shoot at either one, sometimes focusing on one until a ball of magic was sent catapulting her way.
Mia and Josh settled by throwing simple attacks at Marina, trying to wear her down, if only for a moment. Mia threw energy balls at Marina and Josh settled on creating barriers of precipitation around them in case they were hit by the stream of fire. When Marina tired of chasing them with fire, she began throwing fireballs at them. The fireballs hit the barrier and failed to break through, though the strain weakened them. Marina noticed this and began to relentlessly attack Josh. Josh tried to thicken the shield but the fireballs were destroying any progress and she was not giving him the chance to recover either. Mia tried to cover him but an unexpected stream of fire hit her and she crashed into the nearby wall.
When Josh's barrier disintegrated, a quick fireball to the chest sent him towards the wall.
"No…" Mia moaned and fell forward as one last fireball hit her in the stomach, the pain too great for her to handle.
"It will not end like this…" Josh promised before he too passed out, his back towards the brick wall.
"Goodnight!" Marina taunted.
"Luke!" Geiney rushed over and knelt by his friend. Luke drifted in and out of consciousness not willing to go down like this. "We need to do something!" Geiney cried, putting pressure on the wound, an action his sister had taught him to do.
"What can we do? Luke absorbed the magical energies of multiple demons. He has become powerful in his own right. There's no telling what will happen if we cast a spell to remove his powers." Sara explained.
Luz knelt next to Geiney and gently took his hands away, inspecting the wound, "There are signs of healing. It's slow but he should be fine after a night of rest. Considering his powers, I wouldn't be surprised if he awoke any minute now." She took out a handkerchief from her back pocket and placed it on the wound to help stop the small amount of bleeding. Luke stirred from the pressure, the pain catching up to him.
Luz continued, "Geiney, if Luke adjusted to those powers without dying before, then there is some hope for him. Usually, when innocent people obtain demonic powers, one of two things will happen. The first scenario is their body tries to reject the powers, but in doing so it contaminates their mind. This makes people psychologically and emotionally unstable; they go crazy. The second typically occurs in those with stronger constitutions; they become evil and it's possible they can be lulled into a demonic state. If they give in, they can make the change."
"Then Luke will become a demon?" Geiney whimpered.
"No," The siblings turned their head to see Ailyn walking in, "Up until now he had no trouble controlling those powers. I believe his heart played a major part into this, his strength of will. But that won't last long, I'm afraid. If those demons were telling the truth, Luke may have been in a terrible situation. He mentioned earlier that it was his fault. With his heart broken, those powers he has been saving up could become his destruction. I don't think that you guys can do anything for him now. Our only option left is going to see Sandra, the Elder. Only the Elders can help him out now."
Ailyn thought about something and reached out hovering one hand over the wound. Luz removed the handkerchief from the wound and allowed Ailyn to heal the boy. Ailyn's hand glowed, but she pulled her hand away when a shock of energy shot out of the wound and hit her hand. She shook her hand, the numbing sensation began to take over her hand from the sudden burst of pain.
"I knew it. I can't heal him anymore. Those powers are interfering with my magic. Luke will have to heal himself with his own powers."
"Let's take him to the Elders." Geiney declared.
Ailyn nodded, "I can take him to a safe place. From there I can call Sandra down, but when I do I won't be able to help until I'm finished with Luke and Sandra."
"No, I'm going with you." Geiney stepped forward.
Sara saw the look of determination on his face and suddenly felt guilty. She pushed Luke this far. None of this would have happened had it not been for her stupid pride. She sent Luke to his death bed, but even though the boy knew he would die, he still fought on. She felt the need to cry; a pitiful irony that Luke would be the stronger one of the two. While he acted careless at times, he managed to take down an entire group of powerful demons and still fought on to keep his friends safe. Even now he continued to fight against all odds. If not for the perilous situation she would have been proud of him, but she was scared for the child.
"I'll go too." Sara said, not looking at either one of them, but the crack in her voice was heard by everyone there. "I have to apologize to him. I am to blame for Luke being in this situation. I dared him to do this. I pushed him over the edge… Looks like I can't do anything right after all."
"Sara, don't say that. It's not too late. We will get Luke back. I'll go too." Luz nodded to Ailyn.
"Very well. This is a serious situation; if any other Elder gets involved we could be facing more problems than we can handle."
"Why is that?" Geiney questioned.
"Because this situation is something the Elders take to the extreme. Who knows what can happen if someone else gets involved or worse other magical entities…" Ailyn placed a hand on the wounded child and Geiney placed his hands on Luke. Luz and Sara placed a hand on both of Ailyn's shoulders and together they orbed out to Ailyn's safe place. Geiney could only shudder at the thought of other celestial entities doing something to Luke…