Aidan jumped to avoid the explosion that cracked the tile underneath him. It seemed like everywhere he moved was trapped with a only reason why he wasn't ripped apart by a bomb was Horus calling out the hidden traps' locations. The duo wasn't able to counter attack with all the dancing they were doing. Charmcaster watched the man, who previously attacked her, dodge all of her pre-placed magic traps. She wondered how he had such information and her eyes wandered over to the blind-folded man standing in the sole place she hadn't boobytrapped. He was calmly calling out directions for his partner to land.
The fire demon grew tired of bouncing around like a jumping bean in such a tight space. Aidan inhaled deeply before blowing out a large stream of flames at the woman. He smirked when the floor underneath her cracked from the immense heat before completely giving way. Charmcaster dodged the falling debris as she freely fell for a couple seconds and glanced down to see a granite floor approaching quickly. A simple spell of flight prevented her from crashing into the ground, she gracefully floated down into a defensive position. Horus held tightly onto his comrade's arm as Aidan navigated them to their enemy's location using his powers.
Aidan always hated the look of the massive mess hall but he must admit that the new bloody-murder vibe wasn't doing it for him. They lost a lot of staff during the attack earlier, he didn't even understand what happened during that time either. He was in a meeting with his squad then screaming and explosions filled his ears, when he stepped into the hallway there were shadow creatures running around on killing sprees. He lost two of his squad members when the beasts overran them in the admin hall. He'll never get over the part where he needed to show up at their families' doors. Aidan shot forward when fire exploded from his palms, he was going for a swift kick to the witch's chest. The soldier sailed over Charmcaster's head as she bent backwards to narrowly avoid the combat boot. Aidan grinned wickedly at the woman's predictable move and he flipped mid-air to land an overhead axe kick. The man winced when his heel connected with a light purple shield. Aidan sprung off the bubble towards the ceiling.
"I'm not done yet!"
The fire demon unleashed a disastrous amount of flames from his hands, the fire rocketed downwards to engulf the small shield. Horus had to jump behind cover to avoid being swallowed by the inferno. What was that moron thinking? He thought. The plan was to distract her long enough for him to place her under his spell. Horus didn't understand how such a simple idea was going down the toilet, at this rate they'd all be burned alive. Aidan's eyes widened when the flames disappeared and the bubble was unharmed. Smoke slowly rose off the surface as the witch put her shield down.
"Is that all you got? That was like a virgin blowing his load for the first time. And it left me rather bored and unsatisfied," she taunted.
Horus gulped anxiously at the woman's comment, because doubting Aidan's masculinity is one way to get your ass cooked. He downright blows a fuse anytime Ruby talks to him like that, so Horus couldn't imagine how the fire demon felt about a wanted criminal doing so. But then again that might be her plan, he told himself. If Aidan blows up here then anyone or anything that isn't extremely fire resistant will melt, and that includes Horus and the space station they were aboard. The hothead gritted his teeth and took aim at the witch with another flame attack, which was casually blocked by Hope. Aidan's attacks were getting faster, along with the speed of the fire. He was compressing a fireball whilst spinning it in place, creating a type of thrust for his attacks and using air as his fuel. Aidan was creating relative jet propulsion in his attacks and firing them like cannonballs at Charmcaster.
Horus silently watched them from behind cover and waited for his time to strike. He noticed how even though Charmcaster was busy performing a gymnastics act to avoid the weaponized fire, she always kept an "eye" on him like a mama bear watching her cubs from afar. She was waiting for him to make a move so she could switch targets and take him out. Horus knew he had to wait for literally the perfect moment. As he was playing his plan out in his head, he coughed as if he choked on air, or lack thereof; the air had become very light and was quickly thinning.
Charmcaster fell onto one knee and was clutching her chest, she was breathing heavily as her lungs screamed for woman was starting to hyperventilate once her body noticed the thin air.
Control your breathing, girl.
The tightness in her chest wasn't going away and she found it even harder to breathe.
I won't allow for us to fall out now.
Charmcaster squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate but the wheezy laugh of Aidan broke her focus.
"I thought you said you were unsatisfied," he choked out happily.
Even the fire demon was suffering from the low oxygen count in the room but it was all a part of his plan to eat up the air. He was used to thin air because of his powers but the witch is trying to cope with the oxygen level you'd find on top of a mountain. Now he can land a hit on her.
"I'm going to break that pretty face of yours," he taunted as he approached Hope.
If only you went all out from the start then we wouldn't be in this mess.
Charmcaster remained quiet as she gasped for air like a drowning animal.
You and your weak body are going to get us killed. I'm taking over.
No! I can handle it!
Charmcaster tried to stand at this point but to no avail.
You were too eager to use my powers without any self control. You were selfish and undisciplined. I am taking control, girl.
"No. Please," Charmcaster murmured to herself aloud.
Aidan walked right up to the witch and blew her backwards with a quick explosion from his hands. When she crashed against the wall and her head slumped forward, he grinned at his handy work. The fire demon lifted his hand and all the flames that had previously engulfed the room were quickly sucked into his palm. All that remained was light smoke and scorch marks.
Horus removed his scarf blindfold and moved over to the girl with haste. He slowed down when he got closer and made a couple silent steps over to her. Now that she was within the meter limit of his powers, he noticed the next 10 seconds were black. Horus didn't think anything of it as the woman groaned and began to lift her head up.
"Sorry but you're too late, sweetheart."
Horus looked into the now orange slitted eyes of Charmcaster to seal her fate. The moment they locked eyes was probably the scariest in his entire life. Sheer terror jumped down his throat and he completely froze on the spot. Beyond Charmcaster's eyes were death, misery, destruction, and chaos. He didn't know if he was hallucinating or not, but a terrible beast in the form of a shadowy dragon head appeared behind the woman; it stared at him with the same orange eyes the woman has.
"Hypnotization? What a joke," Drak said in Charmcaster's voice.
Horus tried to move back but was still petrified by the horror he just witnessed. Charmcaster raised her arm above her head and her hand transformed into midnight black claws. She was about to shred the soldier when her senses alerted the witch to a presence. It was a blur that lasted half a second but Drak was able to clip the person with his claws. Blink held her side that was gushing blood and the other hand was on Horus' shoulder. They were standing next to Aidan who was just as surprised by the scene unfolding before them.
"We're leaving," Blink groaned.
The trio disappeared from Drak's sight without another word.
"Cowards," she spat.
"Hope?" a voice from behind her spoke.
Drak turned to see a man with black attire on, he had a number ten on his front jacket pocket.
**PAGE BREAK**
In a secret bunker deep inside Plumber HQ was the black ops group that Captain Rick commanded along with Ben and Carly. The panel leaders were the first to escape in ships back to Earth, leaving their subordinates behind to die. They told Rick to deal with the situation as quickly as possible. Once the captain found out that the intruder was wanted criminal Charmcaster, things got interesting. Rick pulled out ordinary security forces and prompted everyone to evacuate anyway they could, while he and his team stayed behind to sort out this mess as ordered. The Plumbers wanted her alive so he sent out Horus and Aidan to incapacitate her.
"Bring me back right now!" Ben shouted at the young asian woman.
Blink ignored him and stepped over to her commander for a report.
"Last I checked, you weren't in charge, Tennyson," Rick stated.
"I retrieved Tennyson and Jetson, sir. It seems that Jetson came in contact with the target and was injured. The medics are tending to her now. It's just as you said, the intruder is Charmcaster."
"Thank you." Rick nodded at Blink before turning to Ben. "You want to tell me why a criminal came to visit you?"
"I don't know," Ben replied quickly.
"That's rich."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Your ex-teammate shows up completely undetected by high-tech security features and kills 34 people before anyone even knows what the fuck is going on. Then immediately heads to your hospital room without any prior knowledge of the faculty layout or you being there."
"How about you come out and say what you're trying to say?"
"Face it Tennyson! There's no way she'd be able to pull this off without some type of inside help!" Rick shouted, slowly losing his temper.
"And that type of help is me, right?" Ben laughed.
"Maybe."
"And tell me something, sir? How would I be able to pull a stunt like this off with you watching my ass all the time?"
"Oh please!" King scoffed and crossed his arms. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you have it out for the captain. You want revenge for the Galvan inventor's death. We can all see that."
Ben walked up into King's face until their noses were inches apart and looked at him with seething green eyes.
"There is nothing in this universe that I'm afraid to go against. If I wanted revenge. Then I would have gotten revenge."
"UGH! Can we stop the pissing contest and focus on the problem at hand here?" Ruby complained loudly.
"You basically beat her with a fraction of your power back on Galvan Prime. Horus and Aidan are probably on their way back with a body already," King commented.
"Never underestimate magic."
Ben walked up to Commander Rick with a determined look on his face.
"You want me to prove my innocence? Send me back with Blink and I'll stop her."
"I already sent out two soldiers-"
"They won't be enough. Something was different about Charmcaster when I saw her, the look in her eyes was unsettling to say the least. She was standing right in front of me and her presence felt far away like something was blocking her out…"
Rick pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed,"Blink, I want you to go retrieve our men. And take Tennyson with you, if he tries anything then send that watch to one side of the galaxy and the boy to the next."
The black haired woman nodded before grabbing Ben and disappearing.
**PAGE BREAK**
"Hope?" he repeated.
Those piercing orange eyes seemed to soften and in the moment he swore he saw a flash of purple. Ben stepped forward with his hands outstretched to show he wasn't armed. The silver-haired witch was on edge but allowed him to approach her. When he was close enough, he gently touched her cheek with his palm. She watched him with curious eyes as he caressed her soft skin.
"What happened to you?"
"You keep asking that question like something's wrong and if that's the case then I assure you that there's nothing to worry about."
"I was talking to Hope, not whoever you are," Ben harshly countered.
The agent was thrown back by a gust of wind emitted from a hidden wand inside the woman's sleeve.
"Hope and I are one and the same. We're willing to do anything to accomplish our goals," Drak answered with pride.
"Is that why you manipulated her into attacking this place? You forced her to kill innocent people!"
"That was actually her plan and she willingly executed it."
"Bullshit. Hope would never do something like this."
"Then you must not know much about Hope at all."
Ben stayed quiet. He was right for the most part. As much as he wanted to, he didn't fully understand Hope and the things she was going through. He only knew about Hex through common goals but other than that he was kept in the dark. And maybe that was his fault, maybe he had too much of a one-track mindset with her. The agent forced her to throw all her other problems aside like they didn't matter, and place Hex right at the tippy top. Then when her uncle was dealt with, the hierarchy came crashing down on top of her.
"And to think that she did all this to rescue you. How she must feel that you're ridiculing her with false identity claims and bashing her methods. But onto more pressing matters, I firmly believe that you're going to be an obstacle in our goals and for that, I'm going to remove you from this plane."
"Why not just kill me?"
"Because doing so would cause an emotional disconnect with the girl and that's something I can not afford right now. So I'll just put you in a spot where you can't interfere, and if she still wants you after this is all said and done then she knows where to find you."
"You know I won't let you do that," the agent objected as he slid his hand toward his watch.
"You don't have any say in the matter-AH!" Drak roared as he clutched his head. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
"IT HURTS!" Hope screamed in a deep feminine voice, collapsing to one knee.
Hope and Drak were in a mental battle for control and it was anybody's game at the moment. The moral clash was threatening a rejection of ALL occupants from Hope's body. The contract they created was like none other, fusing mind, body, and soul through an agreement. Drak was no longer a familiar but rather a part of Hope's identity. It was like having a ghost possess you and getting invisibility and flight in return. Something that was thought of as complex and high-level magic was done amateurly through an exchange of words. That left them vulnerable to the possibility of being fractured, two separate entities reigning over a singular body; such a thing would only put lethal amounts of stress on a body.
"Hope!" Ben ran forward only to be blasted back again.
"Stay away from me, child! This is your fault! The emotional attachment she has to you is preventing her from moving forward!" Drak yelled as he swung his wand around. "Forget it, I'll just kill you after all."
Hope dropped her wand and screamed in pain, her head was a bomb that was going to explode any second. This was nothing like when she fused with Charmcaster, this spirit held so much hatred that it was almost impossible to handle.
"Don't listen to him, Ben. He's just talking out his ass-" she winced as another wave of pain struck her. "I need you to promise me something!"
"What are you talk-"
"Promise me that you won't go down this path. Everything you've been doing- find another way, I know you're still a hero."
Hope was seizing on the floor with her arms outstretched at this point, she was in such agonizing torment. Her whole body was being poked with a thousand needles of poison. The witch tried to keep control but the pain was unbearable. She wanted to quit but if Drak took control then he'd kill Ben. Hope didn't want this to be their first meeting, she hoped it would be normal with a lot less blood. A flash of blue went off behind her and a familiar presence made himself known.
"Ah! There you are, missy! I'll have you know that you're very hard to track down," Paradox commented lightly.
Ben smiled at the scientist's punctuality and moved his hand away from his watch. The last thing he wanted to do was fight the witch. Now he had an excuse as to why he came back empty handed.
"Who the fuck are you?" Hope snapped at the professor.
Her bright orange eyes glared at him as she struggled to get up.
"What a nasty alternative. We'll fix that right up for you, don't worry about a thing."
Drak swung his claws frantically at the approaching man. It was futile because the blows just passed right through him like he was a ghost. Paradox grabbed the witch by the collar and tossed her into the portal behind him. He glanced over at Ben after he was finished with a questioning look.
"Take care of her for me," Ben stressed.
"I think I'll let you do that."
There was a moment of silence that lasted a millenia.
"I can't promise that the next time we meet that we'll be friends," the agent announced grimly.
Paradox only chuckled in response and winked at the younger man. He stuffed his hands in his pockets before entering the portal. Ben couldn't help but laugh at the professor for his expressions. It was always a mystery when it came to straight answers from him. Agent Tennyson glanced up at the prowling Blink crouched on a high support beam. She teleported down to him and they returned to the hidden bunker. The black ops team sat waiting for their return and they didn't look too happy to see Ben empty handed.
"Where's Charmcaster?" Commander Rick asked.
"Slipped away," Ben retorted quickly.
Rick only laughed at the bullshit thrown at him, while Aidan didn't take it so well.
"What the fuck do you mean she slipped away?" he shouted as he got in Ben's face.
"I mean she disappeared."
"And how do you explain you coming back unscathed?" Horus questioned.
"I was told to stop her and I did exactly that so why does it matter about the details?"
"You're dodging the question," Horus said.
"Because it was a shitty question."
Aidan grabbed the man's collar and locked eye contact.
"You remember what I said about traitors, Tennyson?" snarled the demon.
"You're just pissed you got your ass kicked by some crazy chick."
Aidan slugged Ben and pushed him away, he was about to charge him when he was blown against the wall by a beam of red. Ruby stood across the room with her wand pointed at Aidan with a scowl on her face.
"You have two seconds to cut that shit out," she snapped.
Aidan spat out some blood before sitting up against the dented steel wall. He shot the sorceress a dirty look and patted himself down for open wounds.
"You say something, fugly?" he chuckled as he dusted himself off and stood up.
"Say it again, I dare you."
"Stop," Rick announced to his soldiers. "Good job on the mission, Ben. On the other hand we have to return to Earth and meet up with the panel executives. So we'll be moving out shortly."
"Roger that," the team members replied.
"And get some ice on your face, Tennyson," Rick added.
Ben nodded and headed to the small field hospital that the surviving medics made. He saw Carly sleeping soundly on a cot and sat down in the chair next to it. The agent placed the ice bag firmly against his face and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.
"I'm sorry," a weak voice spoke.
Ben opened one eye to see his partner staring up at him.
"Yeah me too."
"I wish you could just trust me."
Silence from Ben upset the girl and she turned over in the cot to face the wall.
"There's something big coming, Carly. And I need you to be there when it counts."
The blonde played Ben's word over in her head until she fell asleep again. She was glad that he noticed it too. Whatever was coming was going to change everything they knew. Carly wondered where Ben fit into all of it. Where was he going to be when shit hits the fan? And who will he be standing with?