It feels great to be back on form. I haven't written anything like this in a while and it feels great. Just really great. I needed some good Raikim. And I've been so inspired. I've had this fic planned for a while now because ADELE is an absolutely amazing singer and I had it just about finished yesterday. Then I went to actually see Skyfall today to get the proper feel of it (BTW kiddos, never go to a late night showing of anything. It's a bad idea. You think it's a good idea because there won't be issues with parking, but then you get out and realize that you have no idea where you parked, and your friends don't remember either, and every car looks like yours and the parking lot is creeptastic) and I could go on and on about how wonderful that movie was, but I won't because then I'll just look like I'm trying to pad my word count. Which I would never do. Ever. Anyway, to make a long story short, I really hope you guys like this because it was so great for me to write it and I want you to enjoy it just as much.

Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At skyfall

"This is it isn't it?" she said, looking up at the boy kneeling beside her.

"Yeah. I guess so," he wheezed. He'd burned himself out with their escape to this stone spire. This time, there would be no last minute burst of wind to carry them to safety. It would only be a matter of time until the spectres came.

She forced herself to her hands and knees. She knew she still had some power left, not enough to hold their position, but just enough to take some of them with her when the time came.

"You think they made it?" she asked. They'd been separated from Omi, Clay, and Dojo in the initial assault.

She could still remember the way the earth bucked and split before them in the burning twilight, the swirling vortex to world's unknown just below the surface. She remembered how the black shapes poured through, their supremely inhuman hissing, shrieking cackles, how they twisted and writhed in the dying sunlight in sick rejoicing of their freedom before descending upon them. She remembered their touch, so cold it burned, as they fought against the black tide, remembered how even with their powers, they barely made a dent in their numbers.

"I don't know," he said. She did her best to ignore the way blood sprayed across the stone as he spoke. She hoped they did, but there wasn't time to dwell on it.

"They'll be here soon," she said. Even now, glancing over the edge, she could see a rippling swathe of black moving up the spire, covering it like a silk cloak.

"Yeah," he said, his arms shaking as he struggled to hold himself up. "We can't give them the satisfaction..." His words trailed off as he coughed.

"Shh. Don't try," she said, placing her finger on his bloody lips to silence him. "Save your strength."

"For what?" he replied, taking her hand in his and holding it to his cheek. "Kim, you know I don't do quiet." He gave a dark laugh. "If they drag me to hell, it's going to be kicking and screaming the whole way." His hand fell away to support his weight. She mirrored his movements moments later as pain flared through her leg.

"You know what we have to do right?" she said. Rai nodded, the pain in his emerald eyes just short of tangible.

"Let me help you up," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and hauling the both of them to their feet. She winced and bit her lip to keep from crying out. She couldn't show weakness now. "Is it bad?"

"I'll be fine," she lied, glancing at the gash in her thigh. The blood had dyed her off white leggings a deep, almost black, red. Her leg shook and blazed with pain as she tried to put weight on it and instead she turned to Rai for support. "You?"

"Same here," he said. She felt his deformed ribs through his robes, how they shattered and splintered, destroying him from the inside. "Kim, before they get here, I just want you to know that I..." She felt the fragments shift as he broke out in another coughing fit.

"I know," she said, burying her nose in the crease between his shoulder and neck. He wrapped his other arm around her body, pulling her close. Even so weak, he felt so strong to her. "I wish we had more time."

"We could blow this joint, save the world, then wash, rinse, repeat next week," he said, caressing her hair.

"Sounds like a plan," she murmured, pulling away from him a bit, but not enough to support herself. "Here's another. When they come, when they surround us, there's going to be a fire storm. If I don't get all of them, you know what to do. Right?" He pulled her close again, taking one of her hands in his, before stepping back.

They turned so that they were back to back, so as not to be taken by surprise. Her leg ached, but she would have to stand. She would meet her fate standing tall, her back straight, the true warrior she was. She still held tight to his hand, they'd already lost so much, they couldn't afford to lose each other.

For a while, all she noticed was the spectres shrieking getting closer and closer by the moment, Rai's ragged, catching breaths and the sky around them, a flat sea of storm gray clouds. Then they came. It was slow at first, one or two hanging above them like great black bats, waiting for the rest of the hoard. Then more joined them and the more adventurous of the bunch would swoop in for a close pass. Each time, that same impossible chill would blaze through her body. Finally, they were surrounded by a dome of black, writhing forms. It was almost time. They weren't quite close enough yet, if she moved too soon she might use up her power for nothing.

For a moment, the shapes stopped their shrieking. If anything, the silence was worse. She understood the shrieking at this point, she could shut it out, make it into white noise, but the silence was empty, a void that anything could fill. It was the anything that scared her. This wasn't something she could control, it was wild, unpredictable. It was all she could do to hold onto Rai's hand and wait for them to dive.

Then all at once, in a great convergence of black, they flew at the warriors. And she waited. She couldn't miss this, couldn't misjudge the timing, if she did then she would expose the world to more of these abominations. When they were so close she could touch one if she were so inclined, she said, "Wudai Mars, Fire," and the flames leapt from her body, scorching the spectres, turning the vanguard to dust before their eyes.

For a moment, she could see nothing but dancing flames and she rejoiced. They would succeed, they would win this, patch each other up, find the others, go back home, and wash, rinse, repeat next week. She tipped her head back slightly and she laughed. Laughed like a woman who lost everything and then gained it back by the same stroke of cosmic irony. Laughed like a mad woman. Her raucous laughter echoed against the crackling of flames and dying shrieks of the spectres, proclaiming her jubilation to the dawn sky. Everything was going to be alright. This time, everything was going to be alright.

Then the fire died down and so did her laughter for she saw the still seemingly endless wall of black surrounding them. She'd done nothing, made no progress. They wouldn't go home and see the others, correct Omi's slang, talk to Clay about books, wash, rinse, repeat their fight against evil. She wouldn't hear Raimundo laugh again, put up with him pulling her pigtails, she'd let herself hope and gone too far. There was only one option now.

She turned to face him and clung to his body, ignored the coppery scent of blood. It didn't matter now. Nothing mattered, only him. Rai was here. They would be together. They wouldn't give the spectres the satisfaction of beating them. He held her tight and together they jumped from the ledge and fell until their lives became naught but a rush of wind.

So...What do you think? Have I returned to form as the destroyer of feels? There is a box full of movie popcorn and turkish taffy right by that review box if you're so inclined.