Topaz vanished out of the way just a split second before Phyra could crash into her. It seemed like every time her mother rushed at her she was getting harder and harder to react to, and she couldn't keep using Flicker like this, or else she would tire herself out. But… she honestly didn't know what else to do right now.

"Look out!"

Cole moved in, tackling her out of the way before Phyra could run into her. An unsuspecting knight in Lucitor armor ended up taking the hit, yelling out as his body was set ablaze. Phyra winced as she watched him roll around and try to put himself out, but then turned back to her husband and daughter.

"You two have to fight back! You can't just keep dodging me forever, and even if you could, other people are gonna keep getting hurt! Stop me!"

Both of them were clearly displeased with the situation. Topaz was more shaken than anything. But Cole looked irritated. This was unfair. He had already lost his wife once, and it had been terrible. When it had first happened the pain had been just… horrible. Like a part of himself had been ripped out.

The only things that had managed to dull the pain was being with Topaz and his job as warlord. Him having to be strong for his daughter, being able to share grief with her, and them comforting one another. Having his mind taken off of things with how busy being a warlord could be. As time passed he had learned to deal with her loss.

But now, seeing her stand before him right now, it was as if a floodgate of old feelings had been opened. He was happy to see her again. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't help but feel joy being able to actually see her face and hear her voice. But having to go up against her was just… it was just unfair.

He had already lost her once, and now he had to lose her again? And take part in it no less? He was going to kill Kruger the first chance he got.

Phyra moved at them again, and Cole stepped forward. "Topaz, stay behind me!" He raised his sword and got ready to strike out. He was nowhere near the warrior she was, even after all these years he didn't think he'd grown skilled enough to beat her head on. But they had sparred enough times that he could time his attacks to her speed.

As she moved towards him, he gripped his sword and tried to steel himself. One quick strike, that's all it would take. He needed to put an end to this before he lost his nerves and backed out. She wanted this. It was a mercy. She was being used, controlled, and he had to save her.

"I can't…"

He lowered his blade, a sorrowful look on his face. It didn't matter how he tried to justify it in his mind, he was still raising a real blade at his wife. "Cole!" Phyra shouted, mentally willing him to react or move out of the way. Right before she could strike him, Topaz moved in and yanked him backwards, just barely out of the way of Phyra's attack.

"You two HAVE to fight back!" Phyra shouted.

"I can't!" Topaz yelled back. "We can't! This is just… we can't hurt you!"

"I know! I know how hard this is for you, but if you don't fight me off I'll hurt you! And a lot of other people too! Do you think I want that?!" she asked.

Before either father or daughter could answer back, something rushed at Phyra from behind. She ducked and moved out of the way just before Char could grab her. "Dang it!" he shouted, looking annoyed. He should have known it wouldn't have been that easy to catch his aunt.

Phyra turned around and looked over at him. "Char, is that you…?" she asked, a smile slowly growing on her face. "Look at you. You got so big. And strong."

He smiled back at her and waved. "Hey auntie Phyra," he said happily.

Phyra then moved once more, just barely avoiding the whip Burnicia had lashed towards her. She cursed under her breath as Zafira landed down beside her. "Don't worry girl, we got this," she said, raising her own weapon. She knew that Topaz and Cole couldn't bring themselves to hurt Phyra, and she couldn't blame them.

"Hang back, we'll stop her without hurting her," Burnicia said, cracking her whip again. It wasn't gonna be easy, they knew how badass Topaz's mother had been. But they didn't have much of a choice. They weren't gonna kill her in front of them, and they knew they weren't gonna just leave either.

Topaz and Cole both looked concerned, and so did Phyra. Were they seriously trying to catch her without killing her? That might have been a mistake. If they let their guard down for a second, there was no telling what would happen. She looked over towards Cole and Phyra.

The former was gritting his teeth, frustrated at both the situation and himself. While the latter had a look of dread on her face. Her mother and friends were about to clash with one another, she couldn't even bring herself to step in and stop them.

Scorch roared as he swung at the tiny figure before him, who had once again leapt out of the way. "Stand still you short haired little wretch!" he shouted as he charged again.

Magman hummed in disappointment. "You long haired warriors. All of you are all brawn and no brains. But you must be even more idiotic than the average lot if you think I'm going to go down so easily. Or at all." She nimbly avoided every swing of his sword, almost dancing around him.

Scorch balled his fists up. He could understand her being quick and nimble, but how was she moving like she was while carrying that metal box on her back? Speaking of which, it had been slowly growing more and more red since the fight started, and he could feel intense heat coming off of it. What kind of trick was she up to?

"Are you wondering about my box?" Magman asked, pushing her glasses up. "Have you noticed the heat coming off of it? Well, contrary to what a hulking fool like you might think, I don't plan on hitting you over the head with it."

Scorch snorted towards her. "I could care less about what pathetic little plot you have stirring in that head of yours. It won't matter, because I'm going to crush you and whatever you have hiding in there," he said as he began stomping towards her.

"I very much doubt that. But hey, see for yourself. It's done warming up anyway," she said as she set the box down on the ground. Scorch stopped for a moment, less curious and more weary. What was she about to do? Was this some sort of expressive? A weapon? Some kind of creature?

Magman banged on the side of the box, and suddenly it opened up. A wave of molten lava suddenly shot out of it, towering into the air before arching over and rushing towards Scorch. He quickly moved out of the way before it crashed down, and the lava melted a hole into the ground, creating a pool of magma where he once stood.

He stumbled back, a scowl on his face, before turning towards her. "Hm, was that supposed to be your ace in the hole? Pathetic. But considering what and who you are, it's no wonder your battle tactics are so-"

Magman waved her hand, and suddenly a stream of lava shot out from the ground and towards him. Scorch just barely managed to duck out of the way, but Magaman moved her hand downward, and the lava once again mimicked the movement. He leapt from underneath it, rolling out of the way.

Magman moved both of her hands, and another stream of lava shot out from it and began going after him. "What the-?!" Scorch quickly began moving to avoid them as they rushed towards him, and Magman laughed.

"That's right, dance you meathead…"

Scorch kept moving back and jumped away from the lava, slashing through the ones that got too close with his sword. The heat coming off of it was intense, even by fire nymph standards. Even if it didn't melt through him, it would surely burn chunks of his skin away.

But how was she controlling it like this? It was true that most nymphs could create and manipulate lava, but to create it this hot and manipulate this accurately was… it was unheard of. "What's the matter you brute? I thought you were going to crush me like a bug? You look like you're struggling," she said.

Scorch grit his teeth as he kept avoiding the lava. He dodged once more, and then began making his way towards Magman. It was obvious she was the one controlling all of this, so if he just finished her off there was no need to worry about the magma. "What a fool…" Magman raised her hands, and suddenly another burst of lava shot from the ground between them.

He could tell this one wasn't as hot, and got ready to swing through it and try to cut her down, when suddenly it hardened. His down bounced right off of it, and he was sent stumbling back. "Did you really think the only lava I could control was the one in the box? Did you really think I couldn't make more?"

Scorch leaned back just in time to avoid another blast of lava, and then jumped away as more was created right underneath his feet. It seemed like everywhere he moved there was more and more lava popping up around him. "Of course you did. You tiny brained long hairs are all exactly alike…"

Magman leaped up, forming a tower of hardened magma for her to stand on. She moved her hands and fingers, causing more of the lava to swirl around her. "You're all just so… weak," she said before moving a loud magma up above him. It began raining down, and Scorch quickly rushed away to find cover.

"You whelp! You dare call me weak when you hide up there like a coward?! Everyone knows that those blessed with long flames by the great volcano are destined to be great warriors! To be the most mighty of-!"

"It's a fucking volcano," Magman said, narrowing her eyes at him. "And it's pathetic you'd worship it and think that because you got a long flame from it that you're special. You're not special. You're just another brute," she said before raising both of her hands. Globs of laval rose up, and then took the shape of sharp spears before hardening.

She swung her hands forward, sending them flying at Scorch. He managed to avoid the first few, and knocked the last away with his sword. The force it had sped at him with sent him tumbling to the ground however. Not willing to give him a moment to breathe. Magman sent more lava his way.

"Let me take a guess here. Your ability is something stupidly simple. Upping your physical strength, speed, or maybe even… burning something," she said, waving her hands mockingly. "They always are. You may have brute strength, but your powers lack any flexibility. At least compared to people like me."

She made two large arms of lava to emphasize her point, punching downwards and sending them both flying at him. Scorch once again found himself on the run, and the knuckles of the lava arms hardened as they descended upon him. The first just barely missed him, and the second nailed it right in the back, sending him into the ground.

He winced, feeling that more than a few bones had been broken. "I'm sure a brute like you has never noticed, but try to put that tiny brain to use. Perhaps if you think back, you might notice those with short hair have powers that are far more unusual or quirky? It had been my theory that while your lot were born with sheer strength and more simple combat based abilities, that those with short hair were 'blessed' were more diverse powers. And obviously more brains," she explained.

One of the lava arms reached down and grabbed Scorch by the leg, lifting him up into the air. "Of course this wasn't always a given, and in the end it was just that. A theory. But imagine what could have happened if instead of shunning those with more odd abilities, we nurtured them? How many advantages we would have held with an army of strong close combat focused soldiers and those with more advanced magical abilities? We could have topped the Lucitor family."

The arm slammed Scorch down, and then grabbed his leg again. "But of course, when I proposed my theory to the Warlord, it was rejected. And when I challenged his strongest warriors to prove my point, and beat them, I was banished," she said as she raised Scorch up to face her. "Because you brutish, unintelligent long hairs can't handle the idea of anything breaking your fragile little egos."

Scorch groaned in pain. He had managed to keep his grip on his sword, and swung it towards her. But the lava hand pulled him away so she was just out of reach. "You're a fool. Trying to trick yourself into thinking you're more than you are," Scorch choked out. "We who were blessed with longer hair have been blessed with power. More power-"

Magman squeezed her hand, and the lava arm tightened its grip on Scorch. "Do you feel powerful right now, fool," she said glaring at him. "You're living proof that the tribe hasn't learned anything. And while I'm not thrilled to be used as a puppet, I can at least take some joy in wiping as many as you meatheads out as possible."

Scorch grit his teeth, anger shooting through his entire body. The way she was looking at him, as if he were some insect to just be stepped on. It was how he looked down on the weaklings in their tribe. It filled him with rage. He roared before busting out of the molten arm, reaching out and grabbing her by the face.

Scorch quickly began heating up his hand, attempting to melt her arrogant face right off of her head. Magman looked surprised, clearly not expecting him to be able to break loose. And reached up and grabbed his wrist, trying to pry his hand off. "Rattle on about that nonsense all you'd like! It doesn't matter anymore, weakling!"

He turned the heat in his palms up as high as it could possibly get, and Magman let out a scream. Scorch smiled to himself, until suddenly her screams slowly turned to laughter. "It's adorable that you thought someone who could manipulate magma at my level could be burned. Really, it is."

Scorch's eyes went wide, but before he could react, Magman made a blade out of hardened magma and slashed him across the chest. Scorch fell back, falling off the pillar and back down to the ground. Magman smiled as she watched him fall. More magma appeared around her, forming an arc around her whole body.

"Pathetic. I guess you should be mad at the Great Volcano for 'blessing' you with such weak abilities though," she said as he jumped down to finish him off. "But that's something you can lament over in the afterlife!"

Scorch grit his teeth and reached for his blade, but he wasn't sure he would be able to react to her in time. Right as she was about to reach him however, another figure leapt out at them. Salvo had his weapon raised and was trying to blindside Magman, who narrowed her eyes. "You cockroach…"

She moved her hand and sent a flow of lava Salvo's way, but the second she took her attention away from Scorch, he swung his sword, slashing her right at the waist.

She looked stunned as her body was cut right in two, falling to the ground on either side of Scorch. He struggled to catch his breath as he sat up, glaring down at her. "A real warrior wouldn't have left themselves so open, or been so easily distracted," he spat.

Salvo made his way over to check up on him. "Are you alright man?" he asked. He had seen much of the battle, but with all the lava being thrown about he hadn't had a chance to get close until now.

"I'm fine…" Scorch said, feeling frustrated. How could he have been pushed into such a corner by such a weakling? It was madness. "This little whelp is- Uh!"

Salvo went wide eyes as a hand shaped string of lava grabbed Scorch around the throat. They looked down at Magman, who looked furious. "You overgrown piece of shit! You cut me in half!" she shouted, fury in her eyes. "How dare you, you cocky flaming musclebound lowlife!"

"Let go!" Scorch grunted, trying and fail to pry the hand away.

"Do you have any idea who I am?! What I might have done for the tribe if not for mediocrities like you constantly getting in my way?! If generation after generation didn't keep sprouting the same nonsense about these outdated traditions!" Scorch could feel the magma getting hotter, starting to burn through his skin.

Despite her tantrum and death grip, Magman's body was clearly starting to crumble away and vanish. "I promise that everything they've taught you is a lie! You're not special! You're nothing! Garbage! Put up on a pedestal to keep the real genies like me down!" she yelled, tightening her grip again. "And you better believe that there's an afterlife too!"

She pulled him closer, looking him in the eyes. "And when you die, whatever level of hell you get sent to, I'll find it! I'll find it and I'll be sure to make sure you die twice! You and every other pompous ignorant fuck that ever held me back!" With that, she suddenly crumbled away, her body turning to dust and blowing away in the wind.

The lava dispersed, going to the ground and allowing Scorch to back away and rub his sore throat. He breathed heavily as he looked down at the spot where Magman had vanished. "Are… are you okay?" Salvo asked.

"I'm fine…"

She was just… another weakling. Another short haired weakling he had crushed. And she was uttering nothing but nonsense. That's all it was.

Nonsense.

"Guys, you can't keep this up."

Phyra looked around worriedly as the others tried to surround her. Char, Burnicia, and Zafira had been trying to pin her down for some time. But between them being tired from their brawl with Bang, and just how fast and agile she was, it was nearly impossible. "She's too fast…" Zafira muttered.

Char grit his teeth. "Damn it, if we could just slow her down a little." A single opening was all he would need to just grab her and hold her down. Then Burnicia could restrain her for good and they could get her off the battlefield.

Phyra sighed. "You all have to stop this. If you keep on fighting half-heartedly then I'm seriously going to end up hurting one of you. You have to start fighting seriously and take me down. The longer this goes on the longer-"

"No way auntie Phyra! We got this!" Char shouted. "We just need to get a single chance to catch you! Then we can figure out where to go from-"

Before he could finish, Phyra came flying at him fist first. Char quickly hardened his body, but the speed and power behind the blow still knocked him back. Zafira moved in to cover him, but Phyra turned towards her and rushed at the half-breed. Zafira flew up into the air to avoid her, and Burnicia snapped her whip at the older woman.

She kept swinging and Phyra easily avoided them all, and then weighed herself down just before Burnicia crashed into her. Phyra kicked off of her and back flipped back onto her feet. "There's no way you can catch up to me! You're already too worn out! Just… just go get someone who can stop me!"

"We're not giving up!" Zafira shouted.

"Not a chance in hell!" Burnicia agreed.

Before she could try and talk them out of it again, she heard someone creeping up behind her. Cole tried to grab her, from behind, but she ducked down and moved away from him. "Damn it! So close!"

She looked at Cole with a bit of surprise on her face. "You… almost snuck up on me. You'd gotten better." In both combat and with his magical ability in general.

Cole sighed and then looked at her with determination in his eyes. "I can't just let the kids do all the work. It kills me to have to fight you, but… well, I'm not letting you go again after all this time. I don't care what the risks are, I'm going to find a way to stop you without killing you. We'll figure something out."

"Cole…"

He moved in towards her again, and the others did as well. Topaz watched as her father and friends and all swarmed around her mother. Phyra was moving around to avoid all of their attempts, but they were covering one another well enough to avoid her counterattacks. She gripped Star Inferno in her hands, still hesitant to jump in herself.

They were out there fighting against her mother, to stop her, for her. And all she could do was stand there and watch. As much as the idea of fighting against Phyra shook her, she knew she couldn't just keep standing here while they did all the work. She had to do something.

She moved in and rushed towards her mother, jumping in front of Char just as she was about to slash at him with her sword. She blocked the blade with Star Inferno. "Topaz, you don't have to-!"

"Yes I do!" Topaz said, staring Phyra down. "I'm not just gonna sit here and let you guys do all the work. If we're gonna stop her I need to help too. Besides, I wanna show mama just how much of a badass I turned out to be."

Phyra looked down at her, and then grew a small smirk. She knew now might not have been the best time, but she was feeling a lot of pride right now.

Topaz pushed her back, sending her stumbling. She moved forward and swung at her, but Phyra ducked and dodge, swinging back with her own blade. Topaz parried each of the blows, then used flicker to appear behind her. She swung at her from behind, trying to take out one of her legs, but Phyra sped away from her.

"She's too fast. I'm gonna have to turn it up to catch her!"

She used flicker to cut her off again, and Phyra just barely managed to dodge Star Inferno. She moved again, only to find that Topaz had already flickered about her.

"What is she doing. She can't use flicker that many times in a row," Cole said. It may have been helping her keep up with Phyra, but she would tire herself out too quickly.

Every time Phyra shot off to gain some distance, Topaz flickered and cut her off. It was definitely pushing her. She could feel herself getting more and more tired with each use of her power. But she didn't care right now. She'd push past all that pain and exhaustion and use it a thousand times in a row if it meant stopping her mother.

Phyra sped away from her again, keeping an eye for Topaz to use flicker again. But this time she swung Star Inferno towards her. Everyone was confused, until suddenly the head of her weapon went flying off. A chain made of flames kept it connect to the handle, and the head suddenly grew in size as it came crashing down towards Phyra.

"Whoa!"

"What the-?!"

"I gotta thank Puff for the upgrade later!" Topaz thought.

Phyra moved out of the war, but the explosion caused by the impact sent her flying through the air. Before she could hit the ground, Topaz suddenly appeared behind her. She grabbed her as tightly as she could. "Burnicia, now!" Without missing a beat, Burnicia swung her whip, ensnaring the both of them.

Topaz flickered away one last time, and Burnicia tightened the whip around just Phyra. She dropped to the ground with a grunt, and Topaz appeared next to her father. She stumbled forward, and he quickly moved in and caught her. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

She smiled up at him. "I… I did it. We did it. We stopped her," she said, looking more than a little exhausted. She let out one last breath, and then suddenly just drifted off.

Phyra looked over towards her husband and daughter as the other moved in towards her. "Be careful, she could still be dangerous," Zafira said wearily.

"I got her," Char said as he hardened his skin and moved in. He reached down and began pulling her up. "Let's get you out of here and somewhere we can keep you secure auntie Phyra. It could be dangerous for you and us to keep you around here."

As he carried her off towards the castle, Cole ran up beside them, carrying Topaz with him. The husband and wife looked towards one another, and Phyra smiled. "You know, when I came back I was really worried about how you two were doing," she admitted. "I mean, I figured you'd be alright. But… it's nice seeing it with my own eyes, you know?"

She looked down towards her daughter, her face practically swelling with pride. "Especially Topaz. Our daughter became such a badass."

"Well, she is your daughter. Hardly a surprise," Cole said, teary eyed.

"She's yours too dummy…"

A/N: Topaz and the others manage to pin down Phyra, and Scorch manages to take down the angry little lava bender known as Magman. Anyway, the theory behind the short haired nymphs having more odd abilities is something I just kind of made up so don't take it too seriously. Just seems like to me the ones with shorter hair tend to have more odd/less forward types of magic. My own little headcanon I guess.

I thought the idea of Scorch having a hard time with a short haired warrior and kind of shaking him would be fun. Like someone who he would totally look down on it looking down on him and it's angering/new for him.

Next chapter is Breeze vs Sun, and Margo and Higgs trying to take on Kruger! Let's see how that plays out!