Azure flames burst forth from the ground underneath Angel’s cage. The blue fire consumed the black structure and everything inside of it, erupting vertically and pouring into the colorful sky above. Karrel held his hands to the ground, maintaining the powerful blue blaze for as long as he could. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, and he gritted his teeth to the point where his mouth began to bleed.
What felt like a minute passed, and he sensed his power dwindling. With it, the conflagration he had caused also began to weaken and diminish. Panting heavily and nearly out of breath, he released his hands from the earth. The azure tower of light vanished.
As Karrel collapsed to the ground, the protective orange shield that surrounded him disappeared as well. He was naked now. A gut-wrenching realization came over him. If his opponent so much as glanced in his general direction, it was game-over. He hoped that that last attack had solved that problem. Luck was not on his side.
Unbelievably, where the pillar of flame had just been, Aerozthcz remained standing. Its scales were heavily charred, and there was no longer a piece of its body that was not black. It remained motionless, completely stunned by the damage that it had just sustained, but still alive.
However, the assault had not stopped there. Four gigantic slugs of chrome metal smashed into the overwhelmed creature. The attack easily toppled the demon, sending it flying backwards before it skidded across the pavement to a halt.
Johnny noted the impeccable accuracy of the four chrome weapon emplacements at his side, as he regrouped with the others. Karrel, Angel, Johnny, and Puck all saw the same image in front of them: their opponent struggling to its feet, its legs quivering and arms shaking as it wrestled with the injuries scattered across its form. Its wings had been shattered, one of them completely destroyed, and many of the horns on its body had missing pieces. It had fallen completely silent. There was no energy left in the creature to speak.
“The things ready to topple,” Johnny observed. “All it needs is a little help.”
“Well,” Karrel wiped the fresh blood from his mouth and beckoned his pyretiff to rejoin him, “let’s give it a push.”
Johnny patted his belt. There was a surprising amount of its brown color revealed. “I’m almost out of metal,” Johnny relayed, “I’ve only got enough for one last attack, and a flimsy one at that.”
“That’s okay,” Angel joked. “We all know I’ve been carrying this team anyways.” Johnny attempted to smack Angel with his missing arm, before realizing what he had done. He switched to the correct appendage and continued his rebuttal.
“One final strike,” Puck announced. “We’ll put everything we have left into it.”
Their plan had been decided. Come hell or high water they were going to put an end to this fight. Too much had been sacrificed to do any less. Johnny dropped his last chrome polyhedrons onto the ground. The MAITs began constructing themselves into three separate turret emplacements with wide extended barrels. Puck covered himself in rock once more, this time wrapping a large quantity of stone around his dominant hand, effectively turning it into a makeshift sledgehammer. For Karrel, there was only one variable left in his book that was not blue. “Discharge” remained a bright red color.
Always trust the classics, Karrel thought to himself as he wrapped the red text around both of his wrists. Angel stood by his side, preparing his own attack. Swirling black clouds had begun to coalesce around his arms.
An ear-piercing shriek filled the air. Aerozthcz had regained enough strength to present its anger. Its wings and limbs were still crippled however, and as Karrel looked to his comrades, he saw that their determination was resolute. They were prepared to end this.
There was no order to go forth. None of them wasted the words. They all jumped into action, simultaneously organizing their attack. Angel took to the sky, Puck and Karrel flanked to the sides, all the while Johnny ordered his turrets to open fire.
Chrome shells blasted into the creature, whose only option was to block with his already broken wing. Angel rained death from above, his pitch-black smoke encasing the creature where it could, further holding the demon in place. Puck moved the earth beneath him to his advantage, propelling himself forward with rapid speed. He leapt, took aim, and swung with his gigantic, rock sledgehammer. The attack connected with the wind-demon, almost knocking it off of its feet, had it not been able to lift its arm to block the blow.
Karrel was not far behind. He whistled for his pet, and in moments a blue pyretiff that had been trailing him soared forward. He grabbed hold of the friendly demon, mounting it as it shot down the street, its powerful legs not losing any speed in the process. The pyretiff leapt into the air, launching itself and Karrel right at Aerozthcz.
The air-wielding creature saw the bloodlust in the pyretiffs eyes as it flew through the air. In its final desperation, the winged demon let loose a final screech of terror. It flexed its arms and whipped them around in a circle. Blades of air burst forth in every direction, smashing into whatever they could. Puck’s armor of rock and stone burst apart as he bounced across the ground, and Angel was sliced in two, erupting into a cloud of navy-blue smoke.
The sharp winds came for Karrel, but his pyretiff had different plans. It rotated itself upward, placing its body between Karrel’s and the attack. The blades of air sliced into its body. It had finally sustained too much damage. In seconds, the blue pyretiff vaporized into sparks of azure flames, and Karrel was thrown forward from its now non-existent body.
With an agile twirl, Karrel righted himself in mid-air. His trajectory was heading straight for his target and the terrified expression of his opponent was easy to see. It knew it had no time to block.
Karrel put both of his hands forward. As he slammed into the beast’s body, placing both of his palms upon its scaled torso, he unleashed all of his stored power. The red text dispersed from his wrists, and purple and blue energy exploded into the stunned creature. The recoil from the attack was heavy, and Karrel felt like his shoulders were going to be ripped off, but he held fast with every ounce of his remaining strength. Aerozthcz cried out in pain, its screams echoing across all of Infernum, and then… nothing. Its howls stopped. It collapsed to the floor, succumbing to the basketball-sized hole where its chest should have been.
Karrel rolled backward, onto his knees, recovering from the backfire of his own attack. The clouds of dirt from the assault washed over him, and for a moment, he could see nothing but the shadows in front of him. As the dust settled however, he got to see the results of his action. His target lay motionless on the street. Slowly, its body evaporated into ash, until finally there was nothing more than a charcoal outline of its former self.
Karrel remained on his knees. Devoid of breath and unable to move, he stared at his accomplishment. They had done it. It had seemed bleak at times, and one of his friends would have to get used to only having one arm, but in the end, they had done it.
With a heavy thud, Angel landed on the ground, navy-blue smoke still reforming his torso and head from the attack he had sustained. Regaining his mouth, Angel disclosed what was on Karrel’s mind.
“This…” Angel stammered, “this is huge… For so long… After so much work… I have no words…”
For a long moment, the others said nothing. Their words had become lost behind their sense of victory.
“I do,” Johnny broke the silence, his eyes still locked onto the cindered remains of Aerozthcz. “We did it… After all of the training and effort we put into this, we did it!” He brought his attention to the others, pointing at the charcoaled remains in front of them. “This is going to be the first step forward that mankind has had in a long time. Without the violent winds bearing down on Earth, rebuilding will become more than just a fantasy.”
“Yeah,” Angel joked, “Now they only need to worry about the meteors, acid rain, and earthquakes.”
“Of course,” Johnny admitted, “but all that means is that our job isn’t over. We’ve inaugurated ourse
lves and proven that we are capable of accomplishing this task. People will take the absence of the violent winds as a sign of hope, and with every one of these demons we slay, that hope will cultivate. It will evolve into a movement of regrowth that humanity desperately needs.” Johnny let loose a heavy breath of air, patting his armless shoulder. “For now, though… I think we all deserve a little rest.”
There was a moment of pause between the group. Silence filled the air.
“Really?” Puck smirked. “You couldn’t have said something motivational like that at the beginning of the fight?”
Johnny gave Puck a weak, one-armed shove and Karrel and Angel burst out laughing, falling to the floor from their fatigue. An iota of humor returned to the group. After their long and hard-fought battle, it felt like heaven to just relax and laugh for a bit. They enjoyed their moment of peace for as long as they could, before weariness began to take its hold.
“I hate to be the one to bring this up,” Angel sat up, struggling to do so, “but, what are we going to do about the city?”
Johnny thought for a second, while Puck handed him another cylinder of painkillers. He shook his head. “I don’t have any idea how to bring this place back from Infernum. The amount of power and materials that I would require are unthinkable.”
“Besides,” Puck added, “the citizens were what was important.” His voice darkened, “And, we all now know what happened to them…”
The air began to feel heavy. With those words, Karrel could not help but think that this victory of theirs had come at an extremely high cost. There was nothing that they could have done, and he knew it. It did not change the fact that yet another city had been lost to the demons. He tried to recall the triumphant feeling he had had just moments ago, but the weight bearing down upon the group was too much.
In fact, the thickness of the air began to feel tangible and got much worse. The weight that Karrel and the others were feeling got heavier and heavier, and slowly, it was becoming harder and harder to stand. The feeling was too familiar.
Karrel dropped to one of his knees, struggling to maintain an upright position. He swore, and as he did, all four friends began to scan the skies. It was impossible… They had just put the bastard down.
A thunderous, grumbling voice filled the city of Flarepoint. The tone carried the slightest hint of joy within it, “…There you are…”
Fear seized the boys’ minds. The voice they were hearing was far too distinct from the shrieking wind-demon. This was something different. Scouring the skies, Karrel finally found what he hoped not to find. The silhouette of some strange entity was getting larger and larger. It was incredibly high in the sky but was getting closer by the second. The distance was throwing his perception off, but he made out whatever was coming to be approximately ten feet in height. It had become obvious that it was another demon, but because of the range it was too difficult to make out any details. Karrel was sure his fatigue was interfering with his vision however, because what he did see seemed to be injured beyond belief. The bipedal individual was missing its legs and one of its two arms. Book-sized holes had been punctured straight through its muscular body to the point where one could see the sky through its flesh. No living creature could survive this kind of abuse. Karrel was sure he was seeing wrong.
Once again, the grumbling voice thundered down to the streets below. It had grown much louder, assuring the others that despite what looked to be a half-dead, crippled demon, the powerful voice was coming from the entity above.
“One of my lieutenants… eaten by his own meal?” The creature let loose a laugh that shook the very ground itself. “Hilarious…”
Karrel and Angel shot each other a terrified look. They recognized the voice. The UWP president had given a “sacrifice” to this creature, and now they had heard Aerozthcz speak to it as well. Whatever this being was, it was at the top of the food chain, and they were sitting right below it.
Karrel was panting hard, struggling back onto his feet. Waves of pressure continued to shoot down upon them. Just by being in the presence of this creature, it felt like the gravity had quintupled. To add insult to injury, everyone was still exhausted from their previous fight. They were in no condition to stand against this force, let alone engage another enemy. Yet, he did not believe they were going to have a choice. Karrel glanced back to his friends, all of whom were still staring at the sky, their butts firmly planted on the ground. They were frozen. They all knew that the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
Opening his pantleg pocket, Karrel grasped his green book. There was no sense in just bending over. If the others saw him ready for battle, he was sure they would rise as well. He knew that they had his back.
However, as he began flipping through his book, blue symbols mocking him page by page, he felt himself freeze. He felt his book freeze. He felt everything around him freeze. The most recently flipped piece of paper stood straight up, unable to fall over to the other side, and Karrel found that like the rest of the world, he had become motionless.
A dry, raspy, yet powerful voice filled Karrel’s subconscious once again, and for the first time, Karrel could physically feel that this voice was not his own. It was someone else’s. Something else’s. Something was spitting words into his head, and Karrel had no choice but to endure them ricocheting through his mind.
“No!” the voice slowly articulated its objection to Karrel’s actions. “This is not a fight you can win!” Though Karrel was trying with all his might to fight against these powerful words, he could not help but see the reasoning behind them. The voice took a deep breath before bellowing its final words. “Flee! NOW! You are not supposed to die here!”
Karrel whipped himself around one-hundred eighty degrees. He eyed his frightened friends as they struggled to their feet. He let his one thought escape him. “Time to go,” he ordered.
With a silent agreeance, Karrel, Angel, Johnny, and Puck began to flee. Their feet pounded dirt and their legs pressed against the ground as hard as they could. Only one thing was on all of their minds, “Get to the armored truck.” With how heavy their bodies felt from their fatigue and the omnipresent pressure that the demon above them emitted, they knew it would be their only chance of escape.
Sucking in as much air as he could, Karrel continued to sprint. His body had been pushed to the limit, and it felt like his blood had been replaced with pure adrenaline; it was the only thing keeping him on his feet. The four friends were keeping pace with each other, but their speed was not the problem.
A violent spray of light flashed overhead. The demonic figure in the sky had extended its one remaining arm, and from it, a thin beam of white light descended into the city. The light connected with a nearby building, and as the demon whipped its arm horizontally, the beam followed. It pierced through the metal frame of the building cleaving it in two with ease. Windows shattered, and red-hot metal melted away in an instant. The top half of the building began to slide off the bottom structure, tipping over to eventually crash to the ground.
Karrel, Angel, Johnny, and Puck brought their gaze upward, viewing the skyscraper that was about to topple down upon them.
“Faster faster faster faster faster!” Puck screamed at everyone, keeping his eyes on the descending tower of metal.
However, the legless-demon was not done yet. Three more times he whipped his arms around, cleaving his white beam of light into the buildings of Flarepoint, slicing his way through the metal as though it was warm butter.
In front and in back of them, Karrel only saw death. The city was collapsing one structure at a time, and no matter how fast the sprint, there was no way to outrun multiple buildings crumbling down on top of you. There was only one way they were going to get past the falling debris.
Karrel pointed to the windows of the office complex that was currently descending upon them. “We have to go through!” he yelled.
Angel understood immediately. He blasted out the windows of the collapsing building with
his black smoke and grabbed a hold of Karrel. Puck, recognizing what was happening, waved his arms rapidly, ripping a platform of stone and dirt from the ground. He pulled Johnny atop his platform and began to follow Angel.
Angel took to the sky, jumping up to the falling structure and into the building through the recently broken window. Karrel held on to him for dear life. Angel bobbed and weaved, dodging bent steel frames and old office furniture. He headed toward the connecting wall of the building, only to find that one of the neighboring structures was collapsing on top of the one they were currently in. He changed his course. Snaking in and out of the rooms, a black trail of smoke tailing him, Angel made a break for the opposite side of the architecture. Inch by inch, the adjoining building got closer and closer, until finally it slammed into the office complex. As though they were made of water, the two buildings violently merged together, sharing their snapped steel and bent beams. The roof began to cave in and Karrel could feel the sparks above him pelt his face. The window was only tens of feet away. Angel made a final break for what seemed to be their only exit. Karrel drew his book, chucking it at the already cracked window. The green book rocketed forward, smashing into the broken glass, and creating an opening for Angel to fly through. Calling his book back, Karrel glanced to his side, only to see the neighboring building inches away from his face. He let out a scream that was half filled with horror and half filled with hope as Angel propelled himself toward the newly created exit.
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