John was launched over the counter from the sheer force of the blast. He could feel the explosion with every bone in his body, pushing him through the small distance between his stool and the open ordering station. Unfortunately, his body was in a vertical position when he made it to the opening, causing him to slam upside-down against the wall above and below it. Needless to say, he fell and landed on his face.
That all happened in three seconds. The fourth second was punctuated by a scream of fear. It sounded like Casey's voice, coming from right beside where John landed. He didn't bother to look up, body was now even more sore than when he woke up. Just the thought of moving was enough to make his arms ache. Plus, he could feel something heavy weighing down on his back, so he resolved to just stay still and listen.
A deep, animal-like breathing sound was coming from somewhere on the other side of the bar. Even without seeing what was making it, John could hear the murderous rage coming from it. Accompanying it were light footsteps from creatures that had to be small and high-pitched growls. It sounded like whatever smashed through the front door had brought friends.
"Right on schedule," John heard Vriska say somewhere to his left. Had she avoided the explosion? "A biiiiiiiig Crude Ogre and eight Shale Imps."
John felt whatever was crushing him being lifted, freeing him to move. But, he didn't want to move. He would rather jump into a bottomless pit than get up and see whatever those things were. Someone didn't agree with him, though, and rolled him over onto his back with her foot. John looked up to see Vriska standing beside him, holding up the menu board that had fallen on him.
Her expression was a smug grin as she kicked him in the side. "Get up, Egdork."
"No," he said defiantly.
"Just get up."
"No, I won't do it."
"Yes, you will."
"Make me!"
"Jegus Christ, John! Just get your sorry ass up before I-"
"ROOOAAAR!" The tremendous roar from the other side of the counter interrupted Vriska, followed by a table flipping over it and smashing on the wall. It instilled enough fear in John to make him bolt to his legs in a burst of adrenaline. Apparently, nowhere was safe, and if he was going to die, he might as well meet his death head-on and- oh hello, monster.
The creature that stood on the bar counter was a sight to see. Obsidian black skin, pure white eyes, and sharp teeth that looked like they could cut through anything. It was maybe three feet tall, but looked dangerous enough to rip out every organ in his body. On instinct, John balled his hand into a fist and jabbed it in the face. It let out a yelp before falling off the bar and revealing to him a greater monster.
The beast was so tall that it couldn't fit inside the diner, so it decided to stand guard at the gaping hold in the wall. Its color scheme was the same as the little guys' around him, but that's as far as the similarities went. It was a hulking tower of muscle with two tusks coming from the sides of its mouth, and fists that could, well, knock down a wall, apparently.
"What...the hell...are those?" John asked, backing up to the wall.
Vriska face-palmed. "Oh my gog, were you not listening to me? Those are Shale imps, and that's a Crude Ogre. I literally just said that."
John glanced at her to see that she was completely calm. How? HOW?! They were under siege by a Hulk wannabe and his little minions, and she as just taking another sip of her smoothie like it was no big deal?! Even Casey, who he discovered was on his other side, was shaking like a leaf in fear. Was he missing something?
Vriska drew his attention again when she spoke. "Alright, Jonny boy. Time to see what you're made of. Are you ready to fight these goons?" She was now holding a set of dice, eight of them by John's count, and each one had eight sides.
"Are you kidding?" he replied. "I'm finding the back door to this place and getting my ass out of here!"
He turned to run for the kitchen door, but an impressively strong hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Oh no, you're not! I'm not letting you abscond like some dagger-lance flailing pansy. It's either you help me beat the grist out of these weaklings, or I beat it out of you and then out of them. Your choice, Pupa."
To John's surprise, he actually had to think about it. On one hand, he could just let her knock him out and avoid learning the true meaning of the words "Hulk smash." Sure, she could break his bones, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't kill him. On the other hand, there were nine monsters patiently waiting for him to come out and let them end his life. Such polite creatures, though they probably just knew that there was no way for him to possibly escape.
He sighed and stopped resisting. "Okay, Vriska. You win."
"I aaaaaaaalways win, John. You should take note of that fact."
"Just one question."
"What?"
"How? I don't even know how to fight."
She groaned and reached into one of her belt pockets. She pulled out a green card with a jagged corner. It had a pixelated image of a hammer in a big light-green box in the center and a smaller box on the bottom with a miniature construction hammer. She handed it to him and tapped the smaller box. Suddenly, a real hammer appeared in John's hand, surprising him.
"That is your Strife Specibus," she explained. "Sorry, but it's the only one I could snag before leaving. You're stuck with Hammerkind."
"But...how..."
"Stop asking questions and hit the stupid imps with it! I'm going after the Ogre." With that said, she hopped over the counter and into the fray.
John watched in awe as the alien girl dashed out of the diner. She easily dodged the imps, even kicking a few out of the way for the hell of it. She was outside within seconds, stopping in front of the Ogre and smirking. With a flick of her wrist, she dropped the dice in her hand, allowing them to clatter to the pavement. Her smile broadened as the last one settled into place. But John didn't see that. All he saw was the dice fall-
-and suddenly erupt into a tornado of fire. Vriska jumped back as the flames exploded out of the dice, engulfing the monster in a vortex of heat. It roared and tried to swing it arms to make the fire stop, but only managed to burn itself. Somehow, Vriska had her dice in hand again and made for another roll. This one resulted in the tiny prisms merging into a large scythe, which she picked up without hesitation.
By then, the tornado had dissipated and the ogre was glaring at her in hatred, it charged her, shoulder out and ready to crush her like an egg. Vriska, on the other hand, casually lifted her bandana to cover her mouth and leaped higher into the air than should've been physically possible. Landing on the behemoth's back, she swung the scythe down with the momentum from her fall and cleanly severed the beast's arm. It howled in pain, blood pouring from its new wound, and tried to reach behind itself and grab her. It failed, though, because Vriska was already running up its back. She used its neck as a spring board and leaped again, this time propelling herself horizontally forward. She brought the scythe over her head with a mighty swing , effectively flipping herself and forcing the tip of the blade up through the Ogre's chin.
Its last roar died with it as the metal cut through its head. Vriska let go of the handle and dropped to the street, landing as gracefully as a ballerina. The ogre collapsed behind her, bleeding all over the asphalt. As she retrieved the scythe, turning it back into the die, she turned to see how John was doing.
John had stopped observing her fight around the time her dice changed the first time. He was alerted by a scream that suddenly came from Casey. When he looked over at her, he was met by the sight of three imps attacking her. She was trying to fend them off with a shattered coffee pot, but it was useless.
John was enraged by the little creatures and, with a burst of courage, ran over to save her. He swung the hammer at the first imp, who was biting her leg, catching it in the forehead with a satisfying crunch. It let go, leaving him to strike the one standing on her stomach. This time, his stroke was upward, and he sent the imp flying into a far wall with strength he didn't even know he had. For the final one, he twisted the weapon around and brought the claw-end down on the it. It pierced the base of its neck, causing it to scream in pain and fall to the side.
He stopped to make sure Casey was okay. She was bleeding from several wounds, but none of them were bad enough to be fatal. "Wait here, okay?" he said in a calm tone.
She nodded slowly, and he stood up again to face the remaining foes. He was high on adrenaline, and killing these things seemed to be the only way to feed it. Bounding over the bar, he caught another imp in the cheek with the hammer. He quickly dodged an airborne one, who'd jumped off one of the tables, and bashed it in the spine to ground it. It all came so naturally, as if he had done this a million times. Swing, dodge, punch, duck, kick, jab. His body moved fluidly of its own accord.
As he crushed the skull of another, he saw that there was only one left. It skirted around the edge of the room, growling and hissing like it was about to strike. Without thinking, John reached out his free hand toward it, palm out. He felt as sudden surge of wind around the diner as he gradually retracted his fingers into a clenched fist. The imp stopped moving and started to scream in agony. Blood started coming out of its mouth and nose until it died on the spot. John didn't know it, but he just killed the imp with air pressure.
He was snapped out of his adrenaline high by the sound of slow clapping. Vriska was walking toward him now, a huge grin on her face.
"Congratulations, John" she said. "You are officially the Heir of Breath."
(Please review. I think I may have cut the fight scene a little short. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't.)