Usual Disclaimer: we own nothing but ourselves

The low roar of the TV greeted Lashana's return to consciousness, the sound making her instinctively roll over and pull a pillow over her head, her usual reaction to being woken up. It took her muddled thoughts a good two minutes to reorient themselves before she remembered where she was, and another minute before she remembered that she wasn't alone.

Sighing, she shoved the pillow off of her head and propped herself up on an elbow, pushing her unruly bangs out of her eyes before looking around the room, her gaze passing over the small colour TV in the corner to the small dragon that was lying on the table, draped over the remote control as he slept, an empty container of shrimp overturned next to him. In the end, her gaze was mostly drawn to the human male that was slouched in the chair, his elbow propped on the tabletop as he rested his head against his fist and slept, only his head free of the black and white symbiote that covered him, letting the long unkempt bangs of his dirty blond hair fall into his eyes, and she smiled a little when she realised that this was as peaceful as she'd ever seen him.

Groaning a little at the aches in her bones, she slowly sat up and rose a hand to her pounding head, her memory quickly reminding her of why she was in this state. Damned spell. There's gotta be an easier way to weave it.... Sighing, she threw the blankets aside and swung her legs over the side of the bed, her headache increasing as she shakily got to her feet, using the nightstand to steady herself when her knees threatened to buckle.

Alerted by the sound of the nightstand wobbling unsteadily, Akhor roused himself out of his dreams and cracked open an eye to investigate, snapping his eyes open when he discovered that Lashana was awake and mostly upright. ::Mommy!:: Wings unfurling, he launched himself off the table and barrelled into her with enough momentum that she was forced to sit down or be knocked over. ::You're awake! Are you alright?!::

Shh, shh. Not so loud, she winced, holding him in her arms as she looked down at him, meeting his worried golden gaze. I'm okay, considering.

Having already been informed of what was happening by the symbiote, Eddie merely opened his eyes and watched the two interact, smiling when he saw Akhor hug the woman's neck in obvious relief as she enveloped him in her arms and kissed the top of his head. He waited a few moments longer before straightening in the chair, immediately drawing Lashana's gaze when she heard him, her cheeks flushing red when she realised that he had been watching her. Deciding not to embarrass her further, he leaned forward in the chair and rested his elbows on his thighs, smiling at her gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Don't ask," she whispered raggedly, smirking a little. "You?"

"Other than the shoulder, we can't complain," he answered softly, able to tell by her eyes that she had a headache. "Do you need anything? There's a pharmacy nearby, we could go fetch something for you."

"Could you? Oh, thanks a lot. There's a wad of bills in the inside right pocket of my jacket...." she paused and winced as the pounding in her head increased, then sighed. "Gatorade, painkillers and chocolate. Get whatever you want, I have enough money."

He went to retrieve the money and counted out a good thirty dollars before sending a silent request to his other, glancing down at himself as the symbiote reformed itself into the guise of street clothes. Satisfied at his appearance, he looked back at Lashana and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We'll be back soon. Try not to move around too much."

She smirked crookedly and gave him a mock salute, seeing him roll his eyes in exasperation before he slipped out the front door, closing it quietly behind him afterwards. Alone, she carefully relocated Akhor to the pillows and lay down again, smiling a little when the dragon shifted to rest his head against her throat, a bad habit he had picked up when he was a hatchling. I'll be okay, she sent to him, trying her best not to project her headache to him as she did so. A few painkillers and I'll be back to normal.

Worried, he rose his head and shifted so that he could meet her gaze, the thrum of a purr leaving him when she rose a hand to stroke his back, fingers gliding over snow white scales. ::I don't think you should go after the demon again,:: he whispered in her thoughts, cutting her off when he felt her start to protest. ::Look at you! Twice now that thing's won, and each time you got hurt! This Mazoku's stronger than the others, it's different. What if you can't beat it?::

"That's not an option," she frowned, gently chucking him under the chin with a knuckle. "I'm not gonna lose, littling. Not when it means that this entire world will be destroyed."

::But at what cost?::

She almost replied with her usual 'any cost', but stopped herself, knowing that it wouldn't help the situation. "I won't lose, Akhor. And I won't leave you. When this is over and we're back home, I'll bring you and your brothers to the lake for a few days, how's that?"

::Promise?::

He sounded so pitiful that she rolled onto her side and gathered him to her, sighing when he pressed his chest against her heart, seeking comfort. "I swear it, my little one." Knowing that he needed to be held, she cradled him against her and carefully propped herself up with the pillows, leaning her head back on the headboard as she lightly scratched his scales.

In the end, when Eddie returned, he discovered that she had fallen asleep again, and this time, instead of letting her sleep, he carefully approached her and shook her lightly, catching her fist in his left hand when she took a swing at him. "Hello to you too."

She blinked, then flushed. "Sorry. I'm a little on edge."

Chuckling, he shifted his hold on her so that he was clasping hands with her and gently pulled her to her feet, ignoring the annoyed hiss from Akhor as the dragon relocated himself to her shoulder. "We got what you asked for," he told her as he helped her over to a chair, concerned by how weak she seemed. "We hope you don't mind, but we got ourselves some choco bars."

"So long as you give me a few of them I don't care."

"Deal," he agreed, digging through the bag for a moment before producing a bottle of Gatorade and some Tylenol, frowning at her when she immediately tore the cap off the drink and downed four extra-strength pills. "You becareful."

"Yeah, yeah."

Rolling his eyes, he dumped the small pile of chocolate bars onto the table, feeling the symbiote's hunger. The chemical phenethylamine that the other needed to stay healthy and sane were found in human brains, it was also found in chocolate. And it was a lot more socially acceptable to pig out on choco bars than the alternative. Even before he had grabbed the first bar, the symbiote had flushed black, the white emblem appearing on his chest as the other formed it's mask over his face, long tongue already curling around one of the bars.

Knowing that they weren't alone, both he and the symbiote tried to keep to good manners, though more than once he caught Lashana hiding a snicker or Akhor grimacing in disgust. It wasn't until she tucked her hair behind her ears and snagged a bar that he really looked at her, the symbiote licking the chocolate from their fangs as he frowned at her curiously, seeing her pointed ears for the first time. "You said you were half-human."

She paused in mid-chew of a piece of chocolate and returned his frown for a moment before sighing. "Elven. I'm half-elven"

"Elven? As in, elves?" He paused, then chuckled and shook his head. "Oddly enough I'm not even surprised by that."

"Good," she murmured, breaking off a piece of chocolate and holding it up to Akhor, who quickly grabbed the sweet treat and sunk his fangs into it.

"You sound a little bitter."

"Well.... y'know, being a halfblood...." She shrugged and took a drink of her Gatorade. "Too human to be with the Elves and too Elven to be with the humans."

He sighed at that, the symbiote picking up on his sympathy as it removed itself from his face. "We know a little of that," he told her, seeing her glance at him warily as she nibbled on her bar of chocolate. "You know of the other's history, of why it is an outcast to it's own kind."

"It.... didn't believe in taking over it's host. It sought to join, to belong rather to dominate."

He nodded in agreement, then glanced away and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'm not exactly accepted amongst humans either. It's.... lonely, isn't it?"

"It used to be," she whispered as she rose a hand to scratch Akhor's head. "But I've learned to live with it. It's worth it, because when you think about it, if things hadn't happened the way they had, and if you hadn't made the choices you did.... would you have been proud of what you would have become?"

"We didn't think you were the philosophical type," he mused.

"I'm not. Not really. I just.... I've seen a lot is all." She swirled her drink in the bottle and chuckled wryly. "I don't think I've ever had this sort of conversation with anyone. Looks like you got under my radar. I'll have to fix that."

"Why?" Avoiding her gaze, he grabbed another chocolate bar and waited until the symbiote had covered his face before taking a bite out of the bar. "We won't tell anyone. Besides, it has been a while since we.... since I could talk to someone who understood."

"Ah, well, I have far too many people sticking their noses into my business as it is...." she paused for a moment, then shook her head a little and smirked. "But I'm willing to listen, so long as you don't butt into my affairs."

Eddie chuckled at that and saluted with a chocolate bar. "Deal. Now, to business - and not yours. What are we going to do for tonight? After last evening, we think that a change in plans is in order."

"Ditto." Sighing, she swept some chocolate bar wrappings into a wastebasket and frowned at the map she uncovered, feeling Akhor shift so that he was draped across her shoulders. "But I'm running out of ideas. I have to stop that thing, and soon. Tomorrow's the last day I have!"

"A direct assault is out of the question, at least, it is when we're on it's turf. Is it possible to lure it into a trap?"

"I dunno. Normally, I'd say 'yes', but this isn't a normal demon. I've never fought one that was so.... intelligent."

"Oh?" Curious now, he leaned forward and shook a chocolate bar at her. "And how many of these 'demons' have you fought?"

Akhor shrugged as she looked at him. ::Don't look at me. I lost count after fifty.::

"Well alot of help you are," she teased as she gave him another piece of chocolate. "Anyway, truthfully, I can't say. I lost count after seventy. But I've been dealing with the majority of them in the past year."

"Impressive! But why all in the past year?"

"Mazoku - the demons - are attracted by power," she said evasively. "My best friend and I.... we're the most powerful sorceresses around."

"Ah, another secret you won't tell us. Hardly fair, considering that you know all about us!" He saw her wince and continued. "But that's a conversation for a later day. So! The trap? Is it possible or not?"

Lashana frowned down at the map, eyeing the next section of town that the Mazoku would most probably strike in, the last chance they had to stop it before it finished the pentagram. After a moment, she shifted her gaze to her right hand as she magicked up a sphere of golden light, staring into it curiously for a few heartbeats before fisting her hand. "I might be able to trap it with magicks. Magicks more powerful than my everyday spells, more powerful than you've seen. It will be drawn to me...." she paused and rose her gaze to those pale markings on the symbiote's mask. "If I Heal you, will you be able to hold it off while I weave the spell?"

A rather evil grin spread over the symbiote mask, rows of fangs glinting hungrily. "We'll do that and more! We owe it pain, and we intend to repay ten fold!"

"Um.... right. And speaking of that...." Satisfied that the Tylenol had wiped away the majority of her headache, she placed her hands on the tabletop and slowly pushed herself to her feet, sighing in relief when no pain pounded through her head. Yatta. "Alright, let me see your shoulder. And don't drool on me."

"We resent that," he muttered as the symbiote flowed away from his face and chest, baring his wounded shoulder. Even with the other blocking his pain receptors, he could still feel the dull ache of it, and he tried his best to hide a wince when she gently touched the inflamed bite mark.

"It still hurts that much?" she asked in surprise, having seen his slight grimace. When he nodded, she frowned and gathered her magicks. "Alright, hold still. This'll go a lot easier than last time." Taking a deep breath, she mentally ran through the incantation and lowered her hands to his shoulder, watching as the warm blue light that emanated from her palms seeped into his flesh, the spell knitting the wounded skin and tissue with ridiculous ease.

She pulled away less than a minute later, smirking in satisfaction, and he frowned curiously as he twisted to look at his shoulder, eyes widening in wonder as he rose a hand to touch the knitted flesh. Even the symbiote seemed a little shocked as it flowed up to cover his torso again, fluttering over his shoulder as if checking the job Lashana had done before settling down.

"We're impressed," Eddie admitted with a smile. "Thank you."

"No prob," she shrugged, looking around the room for a moment before locating her boots an going to retrieve them. "What time is it anyway? Other than 'dark'."

::Around nine,:: Akhor guessed, sinking his talons into the material of her shirt as she slipped her boots on and knelt to tie the laces. ::CSI just started.::

"Aww, I'm missing my favourite show!" Sulking slightly, she stood again and tugged her shirt back into place before pushing the sleeves of the shirt up to her elbows, exposing the small black runes that adorned her arms where the spines usually extended from, glancing at Eddie when he made a small noise of surprise. "I.... uh.... recently got an upgrade in power. It came with these." As she spoke, she tensed the muscles of her arms and pulled on a bit of her magick, wincing when the spines ripped out of her arms, glinting wickedly in the light of the room.

"That must hurt," he murmured, frowning when she shrugged and went to start rolling up the sleeves of her jacket. "How long have you had those?"

"Little over a year," she told him, sighing when he made a small hum of interest. "Oh hush. Leave me alone, will ya?" Satisfied that the sleeves of her jacket were high enough not to interfere with her new weapons, she concentrated and watched as the spines along her arms shifted and lay flat against her skin, allowing her to pull the mid-thigh duster on without damaging the leather. Once her arms were through the sleeves, she let the spines rise again, wincing a little at the slight pinch the movement gave her.

"Are we not allowed to be curious?" he asked innocently, arching an eyebrow at her quizzically when she turned to look at him.

"You are, just not about me. There are things I can't tell you. Not without...." she paused and tried to think of a way to make him understand. "Not without telling a secret that must not be told. Not here. I don't want to endanger this dimension any more than it already is. Ever since the demon broke through the barrier to get here, this world is on the knife's edge. Until the demon is returned to it's proper dimension, I have to be very careful of what I say, and of what I do. I'm not native to this world, what I say or do could either save it or annihilate it."

He frowned at that, raising a taloned hand to stroke his chin thoughtfully. "That gives us an idea. Instead of trapping the demon, is it possible to merely portal it to another world? A place where, as you mentioned before, you could go 'all out'?"

Akhor's eyes widened. ::Why didn't we think of that?::

"That's brilliant! But where to portal it to?" Mind whirling, she folded her arms over her chest and paced the length of the room, her eyes gaining a 'far away' look as she ran through the numerous dimensions she knew of. "Bringing it to a different dimension would still leave me with the problem that it'd be immune to my spells.... unless...."

::Unless you send it to the astral plane!:: Akhor finished her thought for her. ::It'd still be hard to beat, but spells would affect it!::

"Yes!" Grinning, she smacked her right fist into her left palm, then headed for the door, yelping in surprise when a lasso of webbing curled around her hips.

"And where do we fit into all of this?" Eddie asked as he stood and walked over to her, ripping the webbing from her jacket. "Are you planning to merely leave us behind?"

She frowned. "I was thinking about it," she admitted. "It'd be safer for you if you stayed here, in your own dimension."

"Safer in what sense, exactly? Besides, we promised to help you destroy this thing, and you, whether you want to admit it or not, need all the help you can get."

::He's got a point,:: Akhor whispered to her, falling silent when she glared at him.

Still frowning, Lashana rose a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Alright. Alright. You can come along. But the instant I think you're in over your head I'm sending you back to San Fran!"

He held up his hands as if trying to defend himself from her and smirked. "Fair enough."

"Good. Great. C'mon!" Aura flaring, she turned and tapped a finger against the door, smiling slightly as a portal illuminated the doorway as it snapped open, swirling with golden black light. Grabbing his wrist, she proceeded to drag Eddie after her as she stepped through, grimacing as the cold winter air hit her full on as she walked out onto the street where she had meet Justin those few nights past. "Ugh, I hate winter."

"It's not that cold,"he admonished her as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

"Elves hate winter," she muttered. "Some more than others."

"You mean you more than others."

"Shaddup."

He chuckled and let the symbiote cover his face with their Venom visage before looking around, spotting a good rooftop to watch from almost immediately. Not bothering to ask, he grabbed Lashana around her waist and shot out a webline, effortlessly slinging them up onto the ledge and smirking when Akhor hissed at him in annoyance. He completely missed the glare that the Elf sent him as he released her and turned to survey the street again, the symbiote fluttering over his skin in anticipation of another chance to fight the one that had harmed them so badly.

In the end, when the demon finally did attack, he could have cursed himself for his stupidity of taking his gaze off of Lashana for even one moment. He should have known that she would have done some sort of spell to attract the demon, some sort of damnable belief that she had to protect him for his own good. Even before he had fully turned to look towards her, she already had a portal open and was forcing the demon back with savage punches and a few spells that she sent right into it's face at point-blank range.

She glanced at him then, and he felt his stomach bottom out when he suddenly realised her plan. She had never even thought about bringing him along through the portal, instead she was going to leave him behind while she risked her life to take out the demon on her own. Or is it that she doesn't want us to see her go all out, no holds barred? Pushing his internal musings aside, he made a mad dash for the portal as she finally flying tackled the demon, sending them both tumbling through the glowing doorway, and he made a last ditch attempt to reach it in time, only to have it snap shut at his talontips, leaving him alone on the rooftop.

~*~

::Are you insane?!:: Akhor shrieked into Lashana's thoughts as he threw himself into the air, looking back at the portal as it closed, cutting them off from Venom's help. ::Why?!::

"Because this is something only I can do," she whispered to him as she closed her eyes and called upon her power as an Avatar of Chaos. Immediately, golden warmth flooded her senses, a quiet gasp leaving her as she tilted her head back and smiled, overwhelmed by the sensation of sheer power flooding her every cell. When she opened her eyes again, they were pure gold with elliptical iris', her hair shining brilliant golden black, and she gave the demon a fanged grin as she smirked at him. "Well, I don't think you're going to be much of a problem after this."

It hissed at her lowly, eyes narrowing. "More of a problem than you think, Avatar!"

"Oh?" she mused as they began to circle each other, Akhor a worried presence at her back as he kept pace with her. "And why's that, hmm? I've reinforced the dimensional barriers, there's no way you can get out of here."

The Mazoku chuckled darkly and morphed into a humanoid form, dark black hair hung into blood red eyes, the slim yet athletic figure hiding the demon's true strength. "I don't want to escape. In a few minutes, I won't have to. You're going to willingly help me leave."

"Oh, I don't think so!" she laughed, cracking her knuckles as she dropped into a fighting stance. "I would never let someone like you jeopardise an entire world."

He tilted his head to the side and smiled. "Who said you're going to get an actual say in the matter?"

Her eyes widened in surprise and bafflement, those few seconds of confusion costing her dearly as the Mazoku phased, moving faster than lightning as he slammed his elbow into her gut, winding her as well as sending her flying backwards. She hit the 'ground' hard, rolling shakily to her feet and clutching at her ribs with her left hand as she glared up at him, wanting nothing more than to rip that smirk off his face with her bare hands, an urge that she happily followed through on as she lunged at him.

To her shock and horror, he moved just as quickly as she did, making them evenly matched as they traded punches and kicks, each seemingly knowing eachothers moves perfectly, enabling them to counter every move the other made. To her, this was impossible, she was the Avatar no Mazoku should have been able to do this! She had trained under the best, fought against demons that put this one to shame, how was he able to match her so effortlessly?!

Panic slowly took her over as she spun and landed a solid roundhouse kick to the demon's chest, forcing him backwards a bit before he grabbed her ankle and threw her aside, leaving her to slam to the ground. Dazed, she forced herself to her feet and grabbed her sword out of a portal, forcing herself to calm down as she took a ready stance, her gaze darkening when the Mazoku copied her and formed his own katana blade. Not willing to give him the upper hand, she attacked first, blinding him with a spell before she swung her blade and literally sliced his right hand off, blade and all.

Instead of panicking however, he merely looked down at his chopped appendage, gave her a smirk, then calmly scooped up his hand and reattached it to his arm, rotating his wrist to test the range of motion he had afterwards. "Nice. Very nice."

She grimaced. "Happy to be of entertainment value," she muttered sourly, gasping when Akhor roared from above her and dive-bombed the Mazoku, fire belching from his jaws as he shot past the demon. Just as the Mazoku snarled and turned to attack the little dragon, she threw herself forward again and crossed blades with him, the two of them each trying to overpower the other in another test of strength. She threw every ounce of power into the fight, growling in amusement when she started to shove him backwards, overbalancing him enough to allow her to kick him away.

Starting to catch on as to how to beat him, she didn't allow him to recover, choosing instead to push on her attack, her aura flaring up around her as she gathered magick to herself and launched a full power fireball at him, the explosion rocking the ground around her as he was thrown into the air.

Just before he landed, black chaos power swirled up around her, lifting her hair off her shoulders as she murmured the incantation to a Giga Slave, one of the most destructive spells she knew of, and one of the most powerful as well. This she loosed at point-blank range, knowing that she was immune to the backlash of energy that washed over her as she chaos spell tore and ripped at the Mazoku, eliciting a shriek of rage and pain from him that sent a wave of relief and triumph through her. Maybe I can win this after all.

Instead of charging in like last time, she held back and waited for the smoke to clear, golden eyes narrowing as she scowled at the spot where she thought the Mazoku to be, her eyes widening when the smoke cleared to revel absolutely nothing. Startled, she raked her gaze over her surroundings, her heart skipping a beat when she heard Akhor scream of warning seconds before the demon landed on her.

"You still haven't caught on, have you?" the Mazoku laughed as he pinned her, his sword at her throat as he stood over her, the point of it drawing blood. "I wanted you to do something like this! I've been waiting ever since I felt you appear in San Francisco!" When she glared up at him and started to summon another spell, he hissed and her and dropped, slamming his knee into her ribcage with enough force to drive the air from her. "You see, you're my last sacrifice. And when I kill you tomorrow night, I'll absorb your powers." As he spoke, he grasped her throat and lifted her off the ground, reaching for the Dark Power within her with his own corrupted soul. "I just need you to obey me until you're no longer useful."

Coldness gripped her very spirit as she felt his thoughts pressing down on hers, her own soul fighting against the tendrils of control that he was wrapping around her. Her mind reeled as he coaxed the darkness within her to take control, to rise from the place in her soul that had previously contained it to run free, that dark presence joining with the Mazoku's to blast her thoughts into incoherency and grey unconsciousness.

She felt Akhor struggling to telepathically protect her mind, to boost her thoughts, but in the end it was the Mazoku that proved stronger. She had never thought that she was so vulnerable to telepathic attacks, and this was the worst time for her to discover that she was. But just as the last of her mind was blasted into darkness, she used that last little bit of rebellion within her to envelop Akhor in a bubble of magick that sent him rocketing through time and space, an unstable portal flaring open in the heart of San Fran to dump him onto a rooftop before the mystical doorway imploded onto itself.

Meanwhile, in the Golden Gate park, a black portal flared open, gently depositing the Mazoku onto a worn path as he stepped through it, his blood red gaze sweeping over his surroundings before he turned to gaze at the city. "The little whelp escaped. Well, no matter. There's nothing that little lizard can do to stop me now." Smiling crookedly, he turned and looked at the portal and held out a hand. "Come my little beauty, shall we paint the town red?"

Immediately, a black taloned hand reached from the portal to take his, allowing him to pull it's owner through the doorway. Black hair adorned the woman who joined him, fangs peeking out from between black coloured lips that spread in a bloodthirsty smile. Sharply pointed ears could be spotted under the long mane of black as she turned pure black eyes to regard the demon in front of her, a cool, emotionless voice whispering it's answer to the Mazoku's question: "I desire nothing else....Master."

TBC