Come to Blows
Little of the previous night's tension had faded by the time Roland and Alexa awoke the next morning. The doors of their respective rooms opened in unison, like the drawbridges of two opposing castles mustering their knights for battle. Roland emerged, glasses skewed and hair even messier than usual, the result of a night of less than sound sleep. Alexa greeted him with a scowl and puffy red eyes, a two size too large black shirt slipping off one shoulder.
"Alexa."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Roland." The Meister wouldn't allow himself to flinch at her venomous tone. The situation was quickly devolving into a war of emotional attrition, one that Roland intended to win.
She stomped out into the kitchen and Roland followed, leaning against the counter as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. After a dirty look, she sat heavily at the table, angrily gulping the juice down as Roland roughly shoved his hands into his pockets.
"You could've really hurt me you know." He said, almost nonchalantly, as if the fact that his partner had tried to take his head off wasn't cause for any great concern.
The last of the orange juice disappeared down Alexa's throat as she lowered the glass.
"Yeah, I could've. You probably could've done the same with your wavelength, considering that our soul's a pretty much incompatible."
"Probably." He agreed, shrugging slightly.
She rose with a huff, taking her glass to the sink to wash it out. Roland walked to her side, but she avoided his eyes with a frown, putting great effort into making sure the glass was absolutely spotless.
He raised an eyebrow as he watched her run the glass under the faucet.
"How's that glass doing? Clean yet?"
She gave a sarcastic laugh, turning off the faucet and toweling the glass off. She placed it next to the sink, giving him a false smile only to find that he was looking with concern out the kitchen window. Only then did she notice the sounds of sirens drifting up from the street. He blinked in surprise, and then spun on his heel, making for the door. Alexa looked at him, confused.
"What is it?"
He pulled his boots on.
"Get your shoes on, we need to go and see if we can help."
"Help with what?" She frowned, walking over to the window.
She gaped when she looked out the window to see dark pillars of smoke rising from blasted buildings across Death City.
"Oh...shit."
She ran to get her shoes and followed Roland out of the apartment, rushing to catch up to him as he charged down the stairs to the ground floor. What happened last night?
The pair burst onto the street, finding what would have been a peaceful scene save for the smoke stained sky and the distant chortle of countless sirens. Roland swung his head right and left, face taught with smoldering intensity as he searched for someone in need of aid.
Alexa tugged at his hand.
"We need to go to the school, they'll know what's going on."
Roland nodded in agreement and they started towards the crimson tipped towers of the DWMA, and it was not long before they spotted two battered warriors from the night's battle.
Maka and Soul were sitting on a bench near a gaping hole in the cobblestone street, reclining amongst piles of rubble. Maka smiled weakly when she saw Roland approach.
"What happened?" He asked, stepping over a handful of shattered bricks.
Maka's smile disappeared, and she averted her gaze to the hole in the street.
"She won Roland. We couldn't stop her." She said bitterly.
"Couldn't stop who?" Alexa said, looking between them in confusion.
Maka's face darkened, she shook with anger.
"Medusa."
Alexa 's breath caught in her throat, Roland ran a distraught hand through his messy brown hair.
"What do you mean? Medusa is the school nurse, how could she be responsible for this?"
"She was a witch, only posing as our school nurse to get close to the Kishin that Lord Death sealed away beneath the DWMA." Soul growled.
Roland's brows furrowed.
"A Kishin? Beneath the academy? And Medusa released it?"
Soul nodded grimly. Maka perked up, looking at Roland.
"Oh, that reminds me. Sid was looking for you two, he said for you to meet him at the Dispensary as soon as you could."
Roland nodded, beckoning to Alexa as he started off towards the academy.
"Thanks Maka."
Maka watched the pair run off down the street, and looked at her feet, still trembling with anger. Soul threw his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. I'll kill her for this.
Roland and Alexa burst into the Dispensary, breathing hard. Sid sat, clad in his battered battle regalia, on a hospital bed. Isabelle, Kyla, and Chris were also present with their Weapons.
Sid nodded to Roland as he entered, and waited a moment for them to catch their breath before speaking.
"As you all know, the release of the Kishin Asura by Medusa, our former school nurse, will have catastrophic consequences for not only the academy, but the world itself if the situation is not soon rectified. But..." He paused.
"Other developments dictate that we not devote all of our resources to finding and destroying the existing Kishin."
Roland saw Isabelle tense out of the corner of his eye.
"What could possibly be more important than killing Asura?" The Axe Meister demanded.
Sid sighed grimly.
"We've begun to analyze those documents that you recovered in Ireland, and the implications are grave."
There was a moment of stunned silence before Sid continued.
"According to those documents a witch named Raena, who some of you are familiar with, aims to create a powerful construct. We're not sure of the exact nature of this construct, but we gleaned enough from the scrolls to determine that this development warrants preemptive action on the part of Shibusen."
Roland felt Sonya sidle up to his side, clutching his arm for comfort. Alexa fumed silently, crossing her arms over her chest and taking a deliberate sideways step away from her Meister.
"The schematics included in the research call for two very powerful Magic Tools to be incorporated into the construct, the Eye of Vengeance and the Omni-Resonator. So naturally keeping these tools out of Raena's hands is our top priority."
Isabelle cleared her throat.
"So what do you want us to do Sid?"
He took a breath before answering.
"You'll be split into two units, each with a different objective. Isabelle and Chris will go to Japan to secure the Omni-Resonator, while Kyla and Roland will be sent to Egypt to retrieve the Eye of Vengeance."
Nygus entered, holding a stack of manila envelopes. Sid nodded to her and addressed the group.
"We will reconvene in two hours at the city gate. Pick up your brief on your way out, and go straight home to pack. We'll be leaving immediately."
They filed out, each grabbing a manilla envelope before stepping into the hall. Sonya hesitantly released Roland's arm to follow Kyla away while Alexa stomped her foot impatiently, glaring unseen daggers at the Demon Hoop. She ground her teeth as his eyes lingered on her shrinking form.
"Can we go?" She hissed through clenched teeth.
"Go on without me. I need to talk to Stein."
With a huff she turned to go, livid strides rapidly carrying her away from her Meister.
"Don't be late."
He watched her disappear down the hall, then hung his head with a sigh of defeat. Obvious as it was to him that she was being immature about the whole situation, her reproach left a bitter taste in his mouth. It seemed painfully ironic to him that, just as he began to believe he was less than completely inept with women, he'd had such a severe falling out with his partner.
After several minutes of searching Roland found Stein in his classroom, straddling his rolling chair and staring idly at the black board. His lab coat, already barely held together by countless stitches, sported several new gashes and cuts.
"Roland." The Swordsmen felt a shiver crawl down his spine at the professor's unnerving monotone. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his blood stained clothes. The chair creaked as Stein spun to face him.
"I suppose there's something on your mind?"
The young Meister took a tentative step forward.
"There's something I wanted to ask-"
"Let me guess..." Stein interrupted. "Your attempt to correct your resonance with Alexa failed miserably?"
Roland frowned. "How did you know?"
"Do you really think I couldn't feel all that angst from here?"
"That's..." Roland's eyes fell. "Not what I came to ask about."
"Oh?" Stein raised an eyebrow, resting his chin on his hand. "Then what is it?"
"It's just that, before I partnered up with Alexa, I visited Medusa to figure out why I couldn't resonate with any Weapons."
Stein slid a hand into his pocket, drawing a box of cigarettes. "Go on."
"She told me it was because I had a special wavelength." Cigarette safely tucked between his lips, Stein produced a lighter from the same pocket.
"Considering recent events I wanted to make sure her diagnosis was...honest."
"Hmmm." A wisp of smoke rose from the glowing end of the cigarette as Stein tucked the lighter away, chair groaning in relief as he stood. "That seems like a reasonable request."
The professor turned back to the black board, scooping a piece of chalk from the top of his desk and simultaneously adjusting the screw in his head. After clicking the strange device into the desired position he raised the powdery nub to the board and quickly sketched an eye, opening as a vertical slit with four stick-like legs. He pondered the image for a moment before speaking.
"I knew your parents you know."
"What?" Roland blinked, taken aback by the sudden change of subject.
Stein, apparently ignoring Roland at this point, took a drag from his cigarette, savoring the smoke before letting it slip out from between his lips in a hazy cloud.
"They were a year ahead of Spirit and me, and they married soon after Spirit became Kami's Weapon." His hands seemed to fall into the pockets of his lab coat. "If I remember correctly their Weapons never got along, despite their Meister's intimacy."
Roland seemed to sway unsteadily at the mention of his parents, his original query forgotten.
"You knew them?"
The professor shot him a slightly irritated look.
"Didn't I already say that? Of course I knew them, don't be foolish." His eyes returned to the spider on the board, and he took another calming lungful of sweet smoke before speaking again. "Madeline was partnered with Sasha, and David was partnered with DeSoto. The four of them made for a truly fierce team..."
With a sigh he left his spot at the board and gestured for Roland to approach.
"But that's enough reminiscing. Let's have a look at this so-called special wavelength of yours."
Stein took hold of the young Meister's shoulders, keeping him still as the towering professor stooped to get at eye level with him. He met his elder's faded gray eyes with his own resolute brown ones but Stein seemed to be looking right through him, brows furrowed in concentration.
They remained like this for several minutes before Stein spoke again.
"Well..." He muttered, pulling himself to his full height and stepping back to his desk. "It looks like you've nothing to worry about."
"Wait!" Roland called after him. "That doesn't answer my question! Do I or don't I have a special wavelength?"
"Roland..." Stein took a calming drag from his cigarette. "I find that the term 'special' wavelength is rather vague and ambiguous. Every soul is unique, with its own strengths and weaknesses, its own special attributes. To separate souls into rigid categories based on their characteristics is folly."
He placed a hand on Roland's shoulder, guiding him towards the door.
"You'll find your strength in time, but the best thing you can do towards achieving it is to settle things with Alexa. Without mutual trust, you're both going to flounder."
He gently pushed him into the hall, pausing a moment before retreating into his classroom.
"Always remember, the Meister is only half the warrior."
Isabelle and Chris stood before the gate leading into the monastery garden, panting hard. On the stone path behind them floated the souls of two dozen monsters.
They had reached the gate just before Raena's forces had, and were forced to cut down the entire group to prevent them from getting inside to the Magic Tool. Their numbers had been so great that Chris, despite his dominance in ranged combat, had been forced to beat the last few enemies into bloody pulps with Claire's stock, unable to shoot fast enough to hold back the wall of gray clawed limbs that swept up the hill at them.
And despite the fact that they held off the entirety of the small army sent to retrieve the Magic Tool, a single person had slipped over the wall while Isabelle and Chris battled desperately to hold the gate.
After taking a moment to catch their breath they dashed into the garden, hoping they weren't too late to retrieve the tool.
There, under a cherry tree full of pink blossoms, stood a small altar, behind which there was a pond filled with lily pads. And in front of the altar stood a witch, the black leather of her jacket and pants gleaming in the moonlight.
She didn't seem to notice them enter, her attention totally invested in the object that sat on the altar. Chris held his breath as he took careful aim, but the sound of the trigger being pulled gave the witch enough warning to duck out of the way with a cry. She spun to face them, the countless leather belts wrapped around her waist and arms shifting with a faint hiss, an accusing finger pointed at them as she gawked.
"Hey! W-watch where you point that thing mister! You could've killed me!"
"That was the point." Chris sighed.
A look of total shock paralyzed the witch, before she broke down in girlish laughter. Chris's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the witch composed herself.
"You think that you two can beat me? I am Lila, the mongoose witch!" She gave them a fierce, confident snarl. "And I'll tear you both to shreds if you come any closer to this Magic Tool!"
Isabelle adjusted her grip on Jackson, speaking quietly to Chris. "She may act like a joke, but she's still a witch. Let's get the Tool and go."
Chris nodded in agreement as Lila gaped at her.
"A j-joke? Do you even know what the Omni-Resonator does!" Isabelle took a step towards her, causing the witch to jump a little before continuing. "Well, since I'm gonna win anyway, I might as well tell you. The Omni-Resonator allows its wearer to resonate their wavelength with any inanimate object, essentially letting them turn anything within reach into a deadly Weapon! And with it, our -!"
Claire's thundering report silenced the witch, a wavelength slug catching Lila in the shoulder and sending her staggering backwards with a squeak.
"What the hell kid! Didn't you see I was in the middle of a monologue? Where are your manners!"
Chris allowed himself a smirk.
"My apologies, I must have misplaced them when you were boring the hell out of me."
Lila's face contorted with fury as she took an impossibly low stance, fingers taught in claw like fashion, and shouted her mantra.
"Weasels, weasel, mongoose!"
"Not very impressive." Isabelle chuckled at Lila's fingertips, which now bore a bright purple glow.
The witch's pupils dilated, her face took on a distinctly feral appearance.
"Cobra Flayer!" With a flash the purple energy tipping her fingers wrapped itself around her arms up to her shoulders. From each elbow and shoulder trailed three ribbons of ethereal violet energy, each hand twisted into a vicious glowing talon. She gave her claws an experimental flex.
"That's better."
The witch covered the distance between them in a single leap, shots from Chris's revolver zipping harmlessly past as she swiped at Isabelle. The startled Meister raised her axe in time to deflect Lila's clawed hand, which scored gashes into the stone beneath them before Lila forced her back with an arm thrust.
Face a mask of determination Isabelle brought Jackson down over the witch's head, only to have the blow stop short as Lila caught his blade between her glowing palms.
"Isabelle!" Jackson warned.
The Axe Meister's foot buried itself in Lila's gut, forcing her to relinquish her grip on the Demon Axe before Isabelle drew him back and smashed his blade into Lila's raised forearms. The force behind the blow was enough to send her skidding several feet across the courtyard, but the energy sheathing her arms kept them intact despite the direct hit.
The witch crouched to spring back at her opponent only to be knocked off balance by two of Claire's wavelength slugs, an opening Isabelle was quick to exploit. She charged, Jackson's blade splitting the air with a whistling horizontal chop. Again Lila halted the attack by catching the offending edge, but it was a move Isabelle had anticipated.
"Soul Resonance!" The Meister and Weapon cried out in unison, wavelength's meshing seamlessly.
In a blur she spun, pulling Jackson free and slashing her heel across the witch's jaw in a textbook roundhouse kick while Jackson's haft extended and his blades grew.
"Fimbulvinter!" She brought Jackson up in a chilling uppercut, jagged icicles erupting from his blade's icy path and forcing Lila to jump back to avoid the blow. She did a graceful back flip, successfully avoiding a withering volley of Chris's wavelength bullets, and landed with palms leveled at the Axe Meister.
"Pin Missile!" A flurry of glowing foot-long quills burst from each of her hands, each embedding itself in the cobblestone and ice that surrounded Isabelle, a pair of quills even lodging themselves in Jackson's raised blade. After a moment of delay each quill erupted into a brilliant violet explosion, sending Isabelle tumbling across the courtyard and showering her with the glittering remains of her icicles.
Lila ran serpentine towards the prostrate Meister, weaving between glimmering blue wavelength bullets as Chris tried in vain to slow her advance, quickly closing in on Isabelle as she struggled to her feet. Jackson gritted his teeth from within his weapon form.
"Get ready Isabelle!"
She swung her axe only to have Lila duck out of the way, dragging a claw across her side as she rolled past. Bright red blood splashed across the stone as Isabelle fell to one knee with a cry. In a flash of blue Jackson returned to human form, face adorned with a snarl and a gleaming half-circle blade protruding from his forearm as he crouched defensively over his wounded Meister.
Lila rose to swat the Weapon aside only to be struck by two shots from Claire, but before Chris could unleash anymore she had already sprung into the cherry tree, knocking several pink blossoms from their branches.
They floated peacefully to the ground as the three stood still, Chris with Claire trained on Lila, Lila perched in the cherry tree, and Isabelle catching her breath with a hand pressed to her side, blood seeping between her fingers as a distraught Jackson clenched and unclenched his fist in anticipation.
"Not very impressive." Lila cackled from her perch.
A shot from Claire forced her to jump down from the branch, and as her feet touched the ground she leapt at the crippled Isabelle, claws poised to meet the Demon Axe who had planted himself between the witch and his wounded Meister. But Chris anticipated the attack, and caught her in the side with a slug that sent her tumbling across the garden and into the far wall. She rose to her feet, shaking the dirt from her jacket.
"Why are you Shibusen brats always so goddamned stubborn?" She hissed.
Isabelle tried to stand without success and Jackson stooped to her side, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't push it Isabelle, you'll only make it worse." He cautioned.
She started to protest, but went silent as Chris stepped forward.
"Jackson's right. Fighting in your current condition would be detrimental to our cause." His left arm hung loosely at his side as he assumed his gunfighter's stance, eyes not leaving the witch as he continued to address his teammates. "Leave this to us."
This elicited a girlish chuckle from Lila, to which Chris responded with a tired sigh, cherry blossoms swirling lazily past him on a slight breeze.
"Come on Claire..." Moonlight glinted off the Demon Gun's chrome barrel.
"Let's show her the power of a Two-Star Meister."
Roland, Alexa, Kyla, and Sonya stood at the crest of a sand dune, the raging sun beating down on the scorched Egyptian desert. Before them rose an immense pyramid, towering ominously over the vast emptiness like a monument to some long forgotten deity, seeming untouched by the creeping decay of passing time. At the pyramid's base was an opening framed by a simple arch that lead to its interior, and it was before this entry that the students stood.
Both Kyla and Sonya had abandoned their hoodies in the heat, the Meister wearing a plain orange tank-top while her Weapon wore a powder blue one. Despite this change in attire, Sonya still found the climate to be uncomfortable and oppressive. Even Roland and Alexa were in foul moods, though the Demon Hoop suspected that it was not due to the heat. In fact, Alexa had spent the entirety of the flight to Egypt and the ensuing trek to the pyramid glaring angrily at either Sonya, Roland, or whatever else was unfortunate enough to be directly in her way. The Demon Hoop could not help but feel that she was to blame, Alexa had sent her clear signals to stay away from her Meister and she had ignored them, now Roland was suffering for it.
"Well, I'm not picking anything up." Kyla said, still peering into the inky passage. "We should get going before that changes."
"Yeah." Alexa huffed, brushing past the Hoop Meister and stomping into the tunnel. "Let's get this over with."
Kyla rolled her eyes as the rest of the group started out to follow the simmering Demon Sword. Drama queen.
The impenetrable darkness of the passage welcomed them into its shadowy embrace, stifling the heat and forcing hands to reach for the cool stone of the tunnel walls for guidance. Sand shifted silently under their feet as they proceeded ever deeper into the impenetrable murk, the sound of their level breathing thundering in the enclosed space.
Roland let his subconscious keep him on Alexa's trail while his thoughts returned to his earlier meeting with Stein. Instead of dwelling on the professor's infuriatingly vague and ambiguous answer to his query, they fluttered like timid birds around his mention of Roland's parents. The four of them made for a truly fierce team...
A seven year old Roland peeked into the hall leading to the front door of his childhood home, wide eyed and ruddy cheeked as he absorbed the deep and melodious tones of his parent's conversation. He wore a dull green T-shirt and cargo shorts, small brown boots laced tight around his feet. Even now his mahogany hair is irreparably mussed, but his glasses are nowhere to be seen. It will be another three years before the framed landscapes on the walls and his mother's smiling face begin to blur into poorly defined blotches of pastel.
But for now he can clearly make out his parent's features; the generous dash of freckles beneath his mother's deep brown eyes and across her soft nose, the creases that stretched from the corners of his father's piercing hazel ones. A modest blue sun dress clung to his mother's form while sandy brown hair tumbled down around her shoulders, framing a face that harbored only loving smiles and tender kisses. His father stood across from her, beaming with ropey arms crossed over his chest. With a muttered word and a gruff chuckle he stepped out through the open front door, Roland's mother turning to gaze at her half-hidden son with twinkling eyes.
"Hello darling."
"Hello mother." Roland shuffled out from his hiding place, rushing to his mother's side and burying his face in the soft material of her dress, voice muffled by the smothering garment.
With a soft laugh she placed a gentle hand atop his head, running her fingers through his messy hair. "Why don't you go say good morning to father? I'm sure he'd love your company."
He looked up at her with eyes still bleary from a morning spent sleeping in. "What's he doing?"
"He's working with Mist." Hands on his shoulders, she gave him a gentle push towards the still open front door. "Go on now, go say hello."
Uncertain steps carried Roland through the gaping portal and into the morning sun. Before him stretched the plains, hushing him with their own silent immensity, and above him hung a sky of piercing blue, cumulus clouds crawling along the southern horizon. Some distance from the house's modest porch stood his father, the sleeves of his red plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows while his hand rested on the neck of a docile gray mare, moving in slow circles as he whispered soothing words into the great animal's ear.
Though he was turned the other way his smile widened as Roland crossed to him, as if he had anticipated the boy's approach.
"Good morning Roland." He said, winking over his shoulder as Roland drew near.
"Good morning father." Roland replied, taking his spot at the horse's head. They shared a few moments of pleasant silence, Roland staring into the gentle amber eyes of the mare while his father turned his own eyes up to the horizon.
"Beautiful day today." He murmured, to no one in particular. Roland nodded in ascent any way, a small smile brightening his eyes as the horse nuzzled his shoulder. "And that sky... you don't get a sky like that in the city Roland. Out here you can see the stars, you can see the rain and lightning turning the buttes muddy in the distance. It's a sky..." He seemed lost in thought for a moment, struggling for words.
With a chuckle he knelt, propping the mare's front hoof on his knee.
"It's a sky for shoeing horses under."
"What do you mean you didn't sense them?" Alexa's livid whisper jerked Roland from his pleasant reminiscences. He had fallen behind the group somewhat, and the girls were all huddled together near a bend in the passage. Flickering torches now lined the walls, casting a shaky orange light on the sandy tunnel."
"Soul Perception isn't perfect you know." Responded Kyla in an even tone, eyes narrowing at the Demon Sword. "Thick stone walls like these tend to scramble wavelength signatures, making them almost impossible to detect from a distance."
Alexa hissed an exasperated sigh, running a hand through her blood red hair. "Great, now we have no idea how many other people are in here with us!"
Sonya cast a distressed look at Roland as the other two continued to bicker, but just as he moved to intervene an echoing voice reached them from further up the hall.
"Please ladies, I assure you there is no need to be unpleasant with one another! You have my word, as a gentleman, that there are only three of us!"
The four exchanged wide eyed looks of surprise as another voice sounded its surly response.
"The hell are you doing Rafael? What ever happened to the element of surprise!"
"Marcus, please! The necessity for such vulgarity is absent!"
"Damn it, speak English man!" There was the sound of a scuffle and the dull thump of a body hitting the sand.
"Unhand me you louse!"
"HEY!" Alexa, her patience spent and eyebrow twitching in annoyance, had stepped boldly out from hiding. "Do you two work for Raena or what?"
The others followed her, and the opposing pair came into view. A boy of perhaps seventeen, with bleached blonde hair and faded blue eyes, pushed his partner aside and struggled to his feet, hurriedly brushing stray grains of sand from his nearly spotless white suit.
"I would never associate myself with that detestable temptress!" Face flustered, he raised his nose at the thought of the Raven Witch. "My loyalty is vested only in my Weapon, Marcus, and the Knight, my master and teacher."
"Raf, I hate to break it to you buddy..." Began Marcus, a towering boy with an atrocious slouch and raven black hair he wore spiked in all directions. "If we serve the Knight, and the Knight serves Raena, then we serve Raena by association. Sorry to burst your bubble champ."
The contrast between the Weapon and Meister was baffling. Rafael's formal white suit clashed hopelessly with Marcus's tight black jeans and T-shirt, not to mention the countless chains that hung from the Weapon's pants, neck, and wrists. His attire was so stereotypically "Goth" that it seemed impossible that the two had ever agreed to work together in the first place. But Roland was wary of their opposing personalities for he knew that some of the most powerful teams in Shibusen were polar opposites. Unsurprisingly, Black*star was the first example that came to mind.
Kyla interrupted just as Rafael turned to give his Weapon a hefty piece of his mind.
"You said there were three of you. Where's the third?"
"What?" Rafael blinked, his original train of thought effectively derailed. "Oh, the Knight went ahead to retrieve the artifact."
The blonde Meister's eyes widened in realization. The air was suddenly heavy with tension, the muscles of all present coiled in anticipation as the recent banter was lost to the reality that they were all indeed enemies. Eyes darted between bodies for a few electric moments before Rafael cleared his throat.
"You could always walk away and say we beat you here. There is no cowardice in tactical retreat."
Alexa gave a dry laugh. "Give up in the face of two to one odds? Not a chance pretty boy."
"Then it appears we've reached an impasse." He sighed, reaching a hand out to Marcus. "Such a shame to destroy such fine examples of female anatomy."
The Demon Sword dug in her heel, face a snarl as her forearm disappeared in a flash of white.
"I'm gonna make you eat those words."
A/N- Double cliff hanger. U mad?
