Maru, Mary, and Sandy might have gotten separated from Aster and Gin, but they made it all the way to the top. Now that they have, they found Yukina with Phatar and Johnson. They may have made it to the top floor, but they still have to deal with those two if they want to get Yukina out of this.
"Yukina, you're not hurt, are you?" Maru questioned.
"No, I'm okay. I'm glad to see you guys." Yukina said as she had hope she might be able to get out of there.
"It would seems your attack didn't work as much as you thought, Phatar." Johnson said. "Still, it looks like you managed to thin their numbers."
"Fine with me." Phatar said as he popped his knuckles and his eyes on Maru. "I've got a little unfinished business with this bird." Maru stood ready to face him.
"I heard you're the one that messed up our guildhall. On top of that, you kidnapped our friend and held her captive." Maru said as he wasn't going to let Phatar getaway with what he did. "I'm going to make sure you answer for what you did."
"Whatever." Phatar said. "Light and darkness are opposing elements. They're always going to face each other, and always be at conflict with each other. Everyone knows that much. It's just that this time, you're not going to be lucky enough for me to leave."
"Oh yeah?!" Maru called as he jumped right at Phatar and made the first attack. "Divine Hammer!" He smashed his fist against Phatar. Phatar attempted to block it, but the force of the attack still sent him skidding across the floor and crashed into the wall. "Get up! I know you can take more than that." Phatar got back up and dusted himself off. He also grinned with excitement. There might really be no getting out of this fight this time. Since Maru knocked Phatar away, Mary and Sandy hurried over to Yukina.
"Hey. You okay?" Mary asked.
"Yeah. Thanks for coming." Yukina said.
"Of course we would." Sandy said.
"Now let's get out of here while Maru keeps these creeps busy." Mary said.
"What?! You would leave him to fight alone?!" Sandy said. "Besides, the staircase is blocked off! We won't be able to clear the way!"
"There are a few opened windows, so just take Yukina out through there." Mary said, but she then suddenly felt some dark power. She looked to see Johnson was standing near them with him radiating a dark power.
"As if I would let you leave with what's mine." Johnson said. "She's my daughter, and she belongs here."
"Yours?! Are you her father?" Mary questioned.
"What do you mean by that?!" Sandy argued. "She might be your daughter, but don't talk like she's a piece of your property!" Talking back was a bad idea. Johnson fired a blast of magic from his hand and hit Sandy with it.
"Sandy!" Yukina called with Maru looking at their direction.
"You should know better than to look away!" Phatar called. He leaped right at Phatar and smashed his knee right into his gut. After he did that, he unleashed a blast of darkness and sent Maru flying across the room with him smashed against the wall.
"Maru!" Mary called.
"A big of advise. Don't try anything." Johnson said. "It's obvious that out of all of you, the boy is the one with most power. I'll let Phatar do what he can with him, and then I'll step in and finish if I must." This did look rather bad for them. The staircase is their only way out, but it's blocked by the ruble and Johnson won't let them leave. They can't get out through the window without Sandy. Their only hope to get out of this is if Maru can beat Phatar, and hopefully Johnson.
"Don't bother. This will be over before you know it." Phatar said as he held out his hands. "Grand Dark!" He fired a massive ball of darkness right at Maru, but Maru was able to jump out of the way with the attack blasting right through the wall.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Maru said as he charged right at him. Phatar met his attack with the two of them clashing fists against each other and trying to overpower the other.
"Oh man." Sandy said. "Those other guys could hold their own, but this Phatar seems to be on a whole other level."
"Not surprising. He's probably the best in this whole guild." Yukina said.
"I expected more from someone that uses light magic. Is that really the best you got?" Phatar taunted.
"Not quite." Maru said. He build power right in his fist and unleashed a blast of light that knocked Phatar back. After that, Maru jumped in the air for another attack. "Solemn Strike!" He came down with the attack, but Phatar jumped out of the way with Maru leaving a large mark in the floor.
"Maru has some power, too." Sandy said. "He might not be the strongest in our guild, but he can hold his own."
'Maru is rather interesting.' Mary thought. 'He seems pretty kind and benevolent, but he becomes so serious when he fights.' She's right about that. Maru might seem like a nice guy, but when he fights, he goes at it like he's trying to win.
"So what? You're still part of some loser guild." Phatar said. "You're too scared to use your magic to it's fullest potential because you are too scared to get in trouble with that stupid Magic Council."
"Not true. We just don't believe in using magic to hurt people or to get what we want." Maru said.
"Why not? Your power. You should use it however you please." Phatar said.
"That does it." Maru said as he was getting really annoyed with him and attacked one more. "Angel Wing!" He swung his attack at Phatar, but Phatar jumped right over it and avoided the attack. Then, Phatar blasted darkness right at Maru from above.
"Maru!" The girls called as he was really afraid of he might be seriously hurt.
"That hurt a little, but I can take it." Maru said. He tried to stand back up, but Phatar stomped down on his head and kept him down.
"You're not going to beat me because I'm not afraid to use my magic to it's full potential." Phatar claimed. Phat certainly did appear to be on another level than the other three. This one might not go as well as the others would. Still, Maru wasn't backing down. He tried to move to push Phatar off, but Phatar shot at Maru in the back and kept him from squirming around so much.
"Maru!" Sandy cried.
"Stop it! Please!" Yukina pleaded.
"No problem." Phatar said. He did that by removing his leg only so he could kick Maru as hard as he could and sent him flying across the room. Maru took some heavy hits, but he was able to get back up. "You want some more? Fine with me." Phatar unleashed a series of dark blasts once again and kept attacking him.
"Stop it!" Yukina pleaded as she hated seeing this happen to her friends.
"Yukina, you brought this upon them." Johnson said. "By joining that guild and running away from home, you were the one that brought this on all of them. You should have never been so selfish. All the pain those poor people in the guild are going through are all because of you. If you hadn't think only of yourself, this wouldn't be happening."
"No, it's not. None of this is your fault, Yukina." Sandy said. "None of us think that. You can't listen to him." Yukina was already believing this was all her fault. As nice as it was for Sandy to say those things, it wasn't making her feel any better.
"Quiet down. I'm trying to enjoy this." Phatar said. He fired another blast, but Maru used his arm and was able to deflect it.
"You're a real piece of work." Maru said with him getting back up. "Yukina clearly doesn't want to be here, but you are the one that won't let her go. You're the one that's forcing her to stay. She's not the one being selfish! That's all you! You couldn't care about what she wants, and that's no way for a father to act towards their own child!"
"Maru..." Yukina muttered as she and the others were amazed he's getting back up. Yukina was also impressed he was standing up to her like that.
"We're here because we chose to be. Yukina is one of us, and she clearly wants to be with us." Maru said. "That is why we're here, and it's why we're taking her home!" Maru doesn't care how powerful these guys are. This is just another challenge for Phoenix Flame, and they care for their members.
"Put a sock in it." Phatar said as he fired another dark blast, but Maru rolled out of the way. "Don't forget that you're dealing with me at the moment and I don't like to lose. All that talk sounds nice, but it sounds like garbage to me. You should keep your focus on this fight."
"It's garbage to you, is it?" Maru said.
"Yeah. It is." Phatar said as he had darkness form around his hands and brought them together. "Black Shockwave!" He fired a shockwave from his hands and it smashed right against Maru with him being smashed right into the wall again. "All that stuff about togetherness and friendship is for sissies. I've been on my own, taking care of myself, and I've been doing just fine. So do me a favor and just shut it. Right now, it's about you and me. Besides, you guys are just another weak and mere guild. What exactly is it that makes your guild so special?"
"Come on, Maru. Get up." Sandy said as they can't have him lose.
"Maru..." Mary said under her breath as she can't imagine him actually losing. Maru doesn't see that himself. He tried to get back up. After how Phatar talked, Maru can't let him win. His words had him thinking about back when he joined the guild.
...
Flashback
It's been many years since Maru joined the guild. He was just a kid when he joined. The first time he had his eyes on the place, Master Velvet himself brought him to the guild. Maru was amazed by it.
"Wow. So this is a guild? I've never seen a real one before." Maru said.
"That's right, and this guild is called Phoenix Flame." Master Velvet said.
"Phoenix Flame? Why is it called that?" Maru questioned.
"It stands for what our guild believes in." Master Velvet said. "We're a wizard guild that takes on challenges. It doesn't matter to us what challenge it is, we just take them on. If we fall, we'll just get back up and try again. It's just like how the mighty phoenix falls only to rise again from it's own ashes to be reborn anew with mightier flames."
"I don't really get it." Maru said.
"That's fine. Why not just hang around and see what it's all like." Master Velvet said. Maru remembered seeing all the people he met and how they all looked relaxed and calm like they were at their home. "Here's someone about your age that can give you a better insight if you decide to stay." He said as he introduced a kid.
"Hey. I'm Gin." Phoenix Flame is how he met some of the friends. After getting to know the place better, Maru became amazed with it. After spending a whole day at the guild, it amazed him more and more that he felt like he never wanted to leave.
"So, what do you think of the guild so far, Maru?" Velvet questioned.
"It's amazing. Everyone seems so nice." Maru said.
"And you know a bit of magic yourself, don't you? If you stay here, you could become a stronger wizard." Velvet said. "You may still be just a child, but you wouldn't have to worry about finding work. You'll also never be alone. All you need is the courage to keep going to face whatever lies ahead, and that courage will bring out greater strength."
"Greater strength? I could become stronger?" Maru said as he gripped his pendent, the same pendent he wears to this day. All that was about seven years ago. Ever since Maru first came to Phoenix Flame, not only was it the first wizard guild he ever saw, but it's also brought him so much. A lot can happen in seven years. It helped gave him a home, he met with the friends he has now, and it gave him strength that he's been looking for.
End of Flashback
...
That is why Maru is fighting for the guild and for others. He's upholding what his guild stands for by getting back up no matter how much he's knocked down. He also can't allow himself to be defeated. As he gripped his pendent, there's something he has to fight for. It's all his light while Phatar's solitude and cruelty is his darkness.
"It may be just a guild to you, but it means much more to us." Maru said.
"Maru, please stop." Yukina said as she didn't want to see this anymore. She didn't want to see her friends get hurt anymore.
"No, Yukina. Don't plead and give them the satisfaction." Sandy said. "Maru isn't going to let you go with them because he knows you don't want that."
"But I can't be the reason he gets hurt." Yukina said.
"Oh please." Phatar said. "I'm getting really sick of you people being sissies. The fact is you can't win and I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart!" Phatar is a beast. He's doing all of this because he just wants to hurt people. Phatar went straight for the finish as he charged right at Maru for one more grand attack, but Maru caught Phatar's fist and stopped Phatar in his tracks. "What? How did he do that?"
"You just don't seem to get it because you care too much about yourself." Maru said. Maru fought back with him pounding Phatar as hard as he could with him being knocked back.
"What? He still has that much power?" Johnson said as he didn't expect that.
"What the hell? There's no way I can lose to him." Phatar said. "He's just a legal guild loser. A goodie-goodie that never had to struggle."
"You think we don't have our own struggles? You think we do what we do on a whim? You don't know anything!" Maru argued. "Three-Star Formation: Orion!" He unleashed his attack, but Phatar avoided all three shots of light. "You're not getting away! Halo Rang!" Maru formed the halo and tossed it. It hit Phatar while he was in the air and smashed him against the roof.
"That still means nothing!" Phatar called as he jumped down. "You still can't beat me!"
"Maybe not alone, but I've got Aster, Gin, Sandy, Yukina, and Mary." Maru said.
"Us?" Mary questioned. No one ever included her like that. Maru readied another attack as he formed another attack like Orion in the form of a pentagon. Each light representing a friend to Maru.
"Five-Star Formation: Sun!"
...
Aster and Gin
"We're really going all the way back?" Gin said as they made their way back down the building. "Can't we just bust through the floors or something?"
"We're here to save Yukina, not bring the place down on our heads." Aster said. "We'll just find another way around and..." He stopped in his tracks and that caused Gin to stop. They were met with someone making the opposite way and saw that it was Master Velvet. "Master! You're here!"
"Where are they?" Velvet asked. It's time for this small war between a light guild and a dark guild to come to it's end.