Chapter Twenty-One! Yay!

So who wants to know what happens next?

Lucky you! Here it is!

All you reviewers and readers make me smile inside. :3

Moonlit: This story has won an astounding 1 She-Demon Seal of Approval. XD

Guest: Mua ha ha ha ha!

DisneyXDGirl: ...Chase, we might be teaching these people bad things...

"That sounds like a you problem, Zara. :3"

Anyways, let's get to the excitement! Joraed?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

"Teamwork: Because none of us is as badass as all of us."

Unknown

"...When I thought that I fought this war alone, we were one with our destinies intwined..."

Poets of the Fall, "War"

Chapter Twenty-One -...We Stand United

Chase

Joraed. It made an afrit like Jasper look like an imp.

Instinct wanted me to grovel at its feet.

Considering that the only other demons in here other than Joraed and I were imps and Jasper, though, I kind of had to shoo this demigod away.

Oly reverted to her gargoyle form, deciding that being seen was the least of her worries as Lovett started to yell. "I called you, Joraed!" He pulled Azazel's Bane away from his chest a bit. "I am your master! You can't hurt me! I have Azazel's Bane, see?" He dropped the amulet back against his chest before gesturing broadly. "Kill everyone else."

Well, Lovett missed something here. You see, Calling didn't bind a demon's will like Summoning did. So, if Joraed was so inclined, it could just refuse. However, as most demons enjoyed a little chaotic murder...

Joraed was going to indulge.

It's large form - now subject to the gravity that didn't exist in the Otherworld - moved very slowly towards the people and imps cowering against the walls. I shifted back to my normal self, flapping my wings wildly until I was airborne again. Good thing, too: I nearly punched a Chase-sized hole in the floor.

For the record, yes: As an almost-human, I could fly. My lovely raven wings weren't decorations. However, you'd freak if you saw a flying cat-kid, so I didn't do it often.

Anyways, I would need my hands to fight, and that required revealing myself.

Of course, that attracted the attention of the afrit flying towards me with murder in his eyes.

Great. An aerial battle with Jasper. I banked sharply to avoid a fireball from him and rose a bit higher while I watched Oly drop towards the ground frantically. This would suck.

"...With no one wearing their real face, it's a white-out of emotion, and I've only got my brittle bones to break the fall..."

Poets of the Fall, "War"

Bree

Occasional flashes of light that reflected its outline were all that Bree could see of Joraed. She and Leo were scrambling towards one of the walls with Adam, Davenport and Tasha on their heels. Their main goal at the moment was to reach Douglas, who had the luck of actually being near the stupid wall to begin with. What made the run hard was that the massive demon was causing the floor to crack and shake with every move.

A sudden weight dropping on her shoulders made Bree stumble a bit. "Keep running, Human! Mush!"

Of course. Freakin' Oly had landed on her. Where Bree would normally throw the demon off, she just kept running this time. An imp wasn't a problem at the moment.

"Where's Chase?" Tasha asked from somewhere behind.

"Look up!" Oly answered, basically yelling to be heard over the screaming crowd.

Bree chanced a look above her. Overhead, Chase and some winged Anubis-thing were flying around one another, Chase dodging and weaving to evade balls of fire sent his direction in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

"Bree, watch it!"

Mr. Davenport's voice made her look ahead to find herself aimed straight for Joraed's giant leg. With a yelp, she cut sideways and ended up running between the creature's legs. It was terrifying to be that close to something so obviously bloodthirsty, and heat came off of it in waves - the bottom edge of her dress actually began to smolder - but, by god, Bree made it safely (although Joraed probably hadn't even noticed her). She let out an exhilarated laugh born of adrenaline as the fire on her dress fizzled out; what a rush.

"Kick ass, Breezy," Oly congratulated as the imp clung to her shoulder.

A few more seconds of fleeing brought her to Douglas, who caught her arm. "You all right?" he asked.

She nodded as Leo reached them. "Okay, give me a minute," Leo panted, leaning against the wall.

"Master, Jasper is going to eat the half-breed!" Oly hissed loudly by Bree's ear.

"I can see that," Douglas snapped, gesturing at the two locked in an airborne dance of death. "Just get some energy going." Concentration overtook his expression.

Mr. Davenport finally made it to the wall with Tasha hanging on to his arm, both stumbling as a particularly violent tremor rocked the glass beneath their feet. Adam threw an arm around each of their shoulders to steady them as Douglas began whispering rapidly. It was total gibberish to Bree, but she didn't say anything. Leo, however, scrunched up his nose once he caught his breath. "Great; Douglas just had to lose it."

Adam looked ready to respond, but a loud, frustrated howl sounded from above, accented by several loud cracks.

"...When the love in letters fade, it's like moving in slow motion, and we're already too late, if we arrive at all..."

Poets of the Fall, "War"

Chase

Jasper was hard to shake.

Apparently, he was an afrit with a vendetta as he shot fire ball after fire ball towards me. I was doing pretty good on the dodging front, but there were a few close calls.

For example: That son of a bitch singed the feathers on the tip of my left wing.

And, because I was having to fend off this guy, I couldn't do a damn thing about Joraed.

Jasper had to go, but I didn't know how to get rid of him. Worse than that, we were both being pulled at by the gravity from the portal Joraed had used to enter our world, which made flying a total pain.

Wait, fuck that "our world" crap. This was my world. Joraed wasn't welcome in it!

I swooped and weaved, shifting my tail a bit for balance and avoiding a few more fire balls that either hit walls, were decimated by Joraed's extreme energy - he generated a lot - or sucked up by the portal overhead.

I know, I know; shit's falling up. Why?

Because screw physics.

...That sentence was physically painful for me to say.

Ha! I'm funny.

Suddenly, some very loud cracks sounded behind me - my ears were not pleased - followed by Jasper howling out his frustration. I chanced a look back and saw him hovering in place now. swatting at many rapid, banging flashes of colored light that suddenly swarmed him.

I frowned. What the -

"That won't hold him long, Chase," Douglas said over my com' set.

Okay. Got some magic going on. I could live with that.

I started frantically scanning the milling crowd below as I touched my com' set. "You guys all right?"

"Chase, we're fine at the moment," Mr. Davenport answered. "But we won't be if we don't get rid of this thing!"

"So how do we do that?" Tasha asked. Go Mom! Way to participate.

"You Dismiss Joraed and snap the Call in half," Oly answered.

"That thing is bronze," I pointed out, wearily watching Jasper as he struggled against Douglas' spell.

"Usually a group of Summoners can weaken it, but we don't have time for that," Douglas explained.

"Maybe I can snap it in half for you?" Adam offered.

After several seconds of silence, Bree spoke. "Could that work?"

"If we do it right," Douglas answered wearily.

"So we need that Call," Mr. Davenport summed up.

"And Azazel's Bane so that Joraed can't stop the Dismissal," I added, finally spotting Douglas. "Quick question: Why are you on stage, Douglas?"

"I'm not. Don't do drugs, kid."

Confused, I ran through the planes and felt a smirk appear when I realized what was going on. Before I could tell them, though, the Douglas on stage started jumping around. "Look at me, you disgusting titan! Yeah, Joraed; I mean you!"

Joraed turned and faced Lovett and Douglas on stage.

Around that time, Jasper was finally freed from whatever Douglas did and launched himself at me, his eyes filled with anger. I let out a manly shriek that may or may not have sounded like "I'm too young to die" and pulled my wings in tight, dropping six feet before catching myself again. Jasper's weight and momentum carried him past where I was, even though he was trying to correct himself. A desperate plan formed instantly in my mind as I flew upwards. "Just watch the stage!" I hissed over the com' set before it was wretched brutally away from my ear by the portal I was drawing close to, taking several strands of dark fur with it.

Fucking ouch, by the way.

I watched it fly into the spinning tear in reality as I finally stopped, flying as close as I dared to the thing. Jasper was rapidly gaining, a ball of fire growing in his hands.

Please work, please work, please work -

Just before Jasper ran into me, I shot to the side, watching him as he barreled past me.

My job here was done.

Jasper managed to get turned around, but not before the portal's gravity took hold. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't escape it. It looked like he was flying in place.

He roared and spat, snarling curses and threats at me as his form started to waver. Had he changed into a gnat or something, he might have escaped. But he was too proud. And as the force of the portal began to pull his essence apart like he was nothing, I only saw hatred in his eyes.

He was dying, and his last thoughts were hatred for me.

That he hates you means that you did something right.

There my little voice was. I'd missed it for a second there.

Jasper rapidly dissolved, his essence torn to shreds. The last part of him that remained after the majority of him was whipped away were his smoldering, blood-red eyes.

Still full of hatred for me.

What a sad way to die, really.

"...And then we're caught up in the arms race - an involuntary addiction - and we're shedding every value our mothers taught. So will you please show me your real face? Draw a line in the horizon, 'cause I only need your name to know the reasons why I fought..."

Poets of the Fall, "War"

Bree

Two Douglases?! The world wasn't ready for that!

Douglas, though, was. He just crossed his arms and grinned. "Sneaky little-"

"Whoa," Lovett started yelling desperately. "You can't hurt me, remember? Azazel's Bane? I still have it." He pushed the second Douglas out in front of him. Dougie Two dug his heels in, but was forced forward anyways. "Eat him instead! He's a horrible man!"

Joraed - Bree was relieved that the thing wasn't coming in their direction anymore - then seemed to laugh. When it spoke, its voice sounded like a hundred people, all speaking at once, neither male nor female. "Man? I see only a smiling imp."

As Lovett frowned with confusion, the second Douglas began to blur and shrink until Yahn wrapped his hands around Azazel's Bane and Joraed's Call, retching them away violently with a shit-eating grin.

Bree suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. "Speed him over here!"

Upon Mr. Davenport's orders, Bree sprang forward at well over a hundred miles per hour - accidentally launching Oly backwards off of her shoulders - and snatched up Yahn when she reached the stage and delivering him back to the wall a split-second before Joraed's massive hand came down on the screaming Lovett, silencing the man forever.

It was strange how she actually felt sorry for the villain. No one should have to die like that, she thought with bile rising in her throat as she slid to a stop before Douglas.

Yahn jumped out of her arms and handed the artifacts to his master. "Nice thinking, Ajiiyahn!" Douglas congratulated enthusiastically as he took them and handed the Call to Adam. "Adam, it's important that you do this perfectly," Douglas began. "Right when I point at you, you snap the Call in half. Got it? If we mess up, Joraed's going to still be here." Adam nodded grimly, holding the Call in both hands, ready to break it. "Everyone," Douglas said to the rest of them, "keep one hand on Azazel's Bane."

Bree wrapped her hand around the chain with everyone but Adam, who could only touch it with his shoulder due to holding the Call. Yahn hid behind Adam's leg as Douglas started to chant gibberish again. Silently, Leo and Mr. Davenport held each others' free hands (not that they would ever admit it later). Tasha hugged Bree with her free arm.

That's when the severity of the tactic became fully clear to Bree. This all hinged on Douglas and Adam's perfect timing. If one messed up, they would likely all die.

Bree wasn't very religious, but she found herself praying to anyone who would listen, begging the world's various deities to give them a little good luck.

A moment later, Douglas pointed at Adam, who snapped the Call right when Douglas said one last word and fell silent.

Nothing.

Bree thought her heart had literally stopped as panic began to fill her. Oh, god: They failed! Everyone would die!

Then a strong wind tore through the room, causing her to shrink back into Tasha to shelter a bit. A loud, ear-splitting roar sounded as Joraed seemed to fly back into the portal like it was attached to a rope that was hauling it back. The second it was out of the room, the portal vanished without a sound, leaving Chase as the only thing in the air. The room filled with silence for several long seconds. It was over. People had survived. They were going to live.

Chase let out an inhuman victory roar from above before yelling, "We made it!"

That triggered the flood gate. Cheers erupted all over the room as the crowd did everything from laugh giddily to embrace and cry, their imps rolling their eyes.

Bree found herself laughing like an idiot and suddenly hugging Tasha. She wasn't going to die today! Leo and Mr. Davenport were actually engaged in a victory dance while Adam and Yahn high-fived one another. Douglas - still holding Azazel's Bane, since everyone else had let go - was meticulously avoiding fragments of the ruined glass floor as he made his way to Chase, who had landed in the center of the room. Bree watched the two embrace with massive grins on their faces.

A sudden kick to Bree's shin made her jump and look down only to find a disgruntled Oly looking back at her with her tail lashing. "Next time you speed off, make sure I'm not sitting on you! Seriously, a warning would have been nice."

Bree just smiled and rolled her eyes.

There it is, Lovett's plot foiled and everyone safe.

Luckily, we still have a few loose ends to tie up before this ends.

But the end is nigh. :(

Anywho, feel free to review. Or don't. Your lives. :3

And enjoy.

*Bows and exits*