Breaking the Fan part 7; The Dying Men

 Once I was back on my feet after my loss to Tyler, I set to examining everyone's wounds. Kallaway's injuries wound slow him down a bit, but he could still fight. He needed some stitches put in, but that was about all he needed. Sera hadn't suffered any fatal damage either, but she had fractured a collar bone and several ribs. She'd likely need to sit out the rest of the conflict.

Tony had it a lot worse.

"You don't need to tell me," he said, as I looked him over. "I'm smart enough to know when I'm useless in a fight."

"You came dangerously close to bleeding out," I informed him. "You're gonna wanna eat a lot of meat, beans, and greens after all this."

"And rest up, right?" he asked.

"No shit, sherlock," I replied. "So Kallaway says you summoned a demon?"

"Azail, the Enabler," he explained. "One of the ten Daemon Lords. Made his acquaintance a few years ago, on a case.  He's dangerous, but generally pretty agreeable, if you can avoid pissing him off."

"And he accepts shoes as payment?" I asked.

"Spent most of his existence barefoot," Tony replied. "Footwears a bit of a new concept to him. He seems to enjoy the extra protection against the rocky hellscape he calls home."

"Checks out," I said. "I take it this isn't a trump card we can play too often?"

"Oh, no," Tony agreed. "He is an absolute last resort."

"Good to know," I said.

"There you blokes are!" came a familiar voice.

We all turned to see Professor Malkator approaching us, both Myrir and Puppy Dog following. Puppy Do was noticeably restrained. Myrir, noticeably, wasn't.

"Heya," I said. "Hostages, I take it? Why is one free?"

"We've agreed to a temporary truce," Myrir said, refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

"That's right," Kallaway said. "Dawson left you guys behind, didn't he?"

Myrir didn't answer, but Malkator nodded silently. Puppy Dog, however, just started chuckling to himself. Something wasn't right.

"Well, okay then," I said. "So why's happy pants here tied up?"

"I um... I think HELLFIRE should ask him," Malkator said.

Kallaway seemed to have a sudden realization, and uttered an "Oh shit..."

"Something up?" I asked.

"Um, yeah," Kallaway said. "Maybe HELLFIRE should talk to him..."

I turned to Puppy Dog, and let HELLFIRE take the wheel.

See what's up, I instructed.

HELLFIRE approached Puppy Dog, and locked eyes with him. His eyes were grayer than I remember.

"Good morning, motherfuckers!" he said.

"Language," HELLFIRE scolded. "What is your name, shard?"

Now I understood. Peppy Dog was being possessed.

"Name's Flyt," the Shard said.  "Been a whiole, Kieda."

"Have we met?" HELLFIRE asked.

"Not quite," Flyt said. "Haven't seen you since to left me to rot in that fucking corpse!"

HELLFIRE seemed confused for a few moments, before a sense of realization set in for both of us.

"You're the part of me I lost when Emily dies," HELLFIRE said.

"Yeah!" Flyt snapped. "You cared so much about that bitch that you stripped me away from you, and cast me aside to expire!"

He started chuckling again.

"Fortunately, the Archangel found me," he continued. "And he had a whole list of reasons to want you dead! Busting into the Brute's domain, risking awakening it, stealing power from the Burning Bride, bringing that monster Silvermist into existence, and then killing one of his Apostles!"

He then stopped laughing and stared daggers into HELLFIRE's eyes.

"Lucky for me, we shared a common enemy," he said. "So we made a deal. He gave me a new host, and even a bit of his power. And I agreed to help him kill you."

HELLFIRE immediately drew my sword and sliced through Flyt's restraints, much to everyone's surprise.

"You're welcome to try," HELLFIRE said.

Flyt suddenly lunged at me, grabbing me by the throat, and I felt him pass from Puppy Dog into me. I managed to throw Puppy Dog off of me, as war erupted inside my own head. I fell to my knees, clutching my temples.

"Oh, fuck this!" Puppy Dog said, before taking off.

"Daniel!" Kallaway cried out. "Are you okay?"

"Hard to say," I said. "I've got two Dying Man Shards duking it out in my head. I... I need to get involved. See you in a minute."

I dove into my own subconscious, and found myself witness a fight that was kind of weird to describe. HELLFIRE appeared as he normally did, as a mass of black flames in the shape of a human body. Flyt, however looked more like a cloud of black mist, that was randomly sprouting wings made of blades and weapons made of feathers. The two of them were darting all over the place, repeatedly crashing into each other and throwing power back and forth. No wonder I was getting a headache.

I raised my finger gun and waited for just the right moment, before shouting "BANG!" and firing a bolt of lightning directly into Flyt's path. The blast hit, and Flyt stopped in place and let out a cry of pain. HELLFIRE seized the opportunity, and expanded into a mass of black flames, that completely surrounded Flyt and began enveloping him. I saw glimpses of feather-weapons and blade-wings attempt to break free as HELLIFE shrunk down to his normal size, but they faded away as HELLFIRE reutrned to his normal form. HELLFIRE's energy shuddered for a few moments, as Flyt put up one last fight from within him, but that soon came to an end. HELLFIRE opened his familiar eyes, and turned to me.

"Thanks for the assist," he said.

"That's you, right HELLFIRE?" I asked. "Did you just fucking eat the other guy?"

"Language," HELLFIRE said.

Good. He was still himself.

"And yeah, I've absorbed him," HELLFIRE said. "And..."

Blade mist emerged from HELLFIRE's hand, which took the form of a black longsword.

"...His power," he finished.

"Huh," I said. "Neat. We should wake up now..."

I came too, to see everyone standing over me, worried.

"Hey guys," I said. "Good news. HELLFIRE won."

"And how the fuck can we be sure of that?" Kallaway asked.

HELLFIRE took over for a moment, morphing my eyes as he did.

"Stop swearing. you prick," HELLFIRE said.

Kallaway nodded.

"Yep, that's our shard," he said.

"Had a feeling it would go that way," Malkator said.

Not long after, a young girl entered the scene, accompanied by s couple of Martyrs. She spoke to Malkator first.

"I found the AMU soldiers, as you asked," she said.

"And who's this?" I asked her.

"My name is Molly Gordon," she told me.

"She's a white mage," Malkator said. "And my new apprentice."

"eat," I said, turning to the Martyrs. "So where are we going?"

"We're preparing to regroup with th others," one of them said. "You are Dr. Ferris, correct?"

I nodded. They nodded back.

"We would appreciate your assistance," they said.

"Sure thing," I said, rising to my feet, and leaning on my cane. "I'm a little tuckered out, but I'll try not to slow you guys down too much. I kimashiyo."

"He means 'let's go," Kallaway said.

"Oh good!" I chuckled. "You're learning!"

Breaking the Fan part 6; The Thorned Prince

 The Biker and I sped through the forest at top speed. It was a bit of a struggle for me to stay on the bike. Dude rides like a fucking madman. Which I guess is fitting...

I focused my gaze ahead of us, and felt a sinking feeling as I recognized someone in the distance.

"Tony...," I muttered.

He was lying face down on the ground, blood leaking from a wound on one of his arms. His blades were drawn from their sheaths, and were discarded a few feet away.

As we got closer, a black portal suddenly opened up in front of us. I instinctively released my grip on the Biker's shoulders and fell backwards. The Biker, however, was unable to stop his forward momentum, and went straight through the gateway, which promptly closed behind him.

"That's one more nuisance out of the way," Tyler said, stepping out from behind a tree. "Hey, Kallaway. Nice seeing you again."

"Tyler," I said. "What happened here?"

"This fool here thought I'd like to talk," Tyler said. "He was wrong."

Tony let out a cough, and began to stir.

"K-Kallaway?" he asked.

"Quiet, you!" Tyler snapped, as his arm rapidly greww, scooping Tony up and flinging him away.

I teleported in time to catch Tony before he could crash into anything.

"So you've figured out the Doc's party trick?" Tyler said. "Hm. I guess Dawson's guess was right."

I glanced at Tony's discarded weapons.

"You two fought?" I asked him.

"I'm sorry," Tony said. "He didn't give me much of a choice."

I could feel the Brute's fury building up again, but I took a deep breath, ignoring it. I stood up, facing Tyler.

"Please, stop this," I said. "Come back to us. We just want to help you."

Tyler simply laughed at my request.

"I don't want help," he said. He raised his wooden right hand in front of him, clenching it into a fist. "What I want... is power!"

"By hurting other people?" I asked. "Innocents? Daniel's an unscrupulous bastard, but even he wouldn't go as far as you're going."

"You think I care?" he asked, before pointing at Tony. "People like this so called detective mean nothing to me."

"He means a lot to Daniel," I said. "And he's not going to be happy about it when he gets here."

"Good," Tyler smirked. "I want him angry. That's the entire reason I took some time out of my busy little day to go bully the new kid."

Kai...

"What did you do!?" I demanded, feeling the Brute's power welling back up.

"The same thing I'm going to continue to do," he said.

His body was suddenly covered in an inky blackness, and he vanished. I then felt his presence behind me, and his massive wooden hand gripped my upper body, clutching me tightly.

"Whatever the hell I want!" He finished, tightening his grasp.

I unleashed the Brute's power, and felt a surge of strength flow through me. I broke out of Tyler's grasp, and drew my sword, which became wreathed in fiery smoke. I spun around, slashing at his arm. I left a deep gash in his expanded forearm, and he reeled back in alarm and pain. The wound healed itself a few moments later, and his arm returned to its normal size.

"That's new," Tyler noted, wiggling his fingers a bit.

"I don't want to fight you," I said, gripping my sword with both hands. "But I will if I have to."

Tyler smirked, as a large thorn sword emerged in his hand.

"Good," he muttered.

Then he charged. I tried to fight back, but I still hadn't fully recovered from the previous conflict, and his speed proved to be overwhelming. Plus, he fought dirty, targeting the same wounds Flyt had inflicted earlier. I found myself on my knees in a matter of moments.

"You've gotten stronger," he noted. "But not nearly strong enough."

Then, without warning, his sword was knocked out of his hand. Seraph had suddenly arrived, and disarmed him. She then proceeded to lay down a beating on him, getting several strong blows in. But before she could knock him out, he pulled that weird inky teleportation trick again, appearing behind her. He expanded his arm rapidly, slamming her against a nearby wall, and pinning her there.

"Congratulations," he said, wiping some blood from his lip. "That the most damage I've taken all day. That being said, though... I have to kill you now."

A second later, a blur of blue and silver light whipped through the air, and Tyler's wooden arm was cut off midway along the forearm. Tyler stepped back, crying out in pain, as his arm shrunk back to its normal size.

Daniel was standing above the severed arm, sword can in hand. He sheathed it, supporting himself on it as he turned to Seraph, who was now free of the limp, still twitching hand.

"Are you alright, Sera?" he asked.

"I'll... I'll be fine," she gasped.

He nodded slowly to her, before turning back to Tyler, who had managed to regrow the severed part of his arm.

"Finally arrived, eh Doc?" Tyler said.

Daniel closed his eyes, then inhaled slowly through his nose, and exhaled even slower out of his mouth. When he opened his eyes again, I could tell by his expression that the moment I had been dreading was upon us.

He was no longer facing his intern.

He was facing his next target.

Without saying a single word, he raised his hand, making his usual gun gesture, and fired a bolt of lightning at Tyler.

His complete silence was the most haunting part of that moment. There was no exclamation of "BANG!". No quips. No threats. Even when he busted out the nightmare tentacles against Valravn, he still screamed at her in rage.

That wasn't the case here. He wasn't wasting a single breath. This was a rare instance of him taking a fight completely seriously. And he was dead set on ending Tyler's life.

Tyler managed to evade the lightning bolt, and the fight that broke up between them was... honestly difficult to keep track of. They were both going all out. Daniel was using every trick he had up his sleeve. Valravn's wings, his crazy razor petal, his super loud whistle, even powers I didn't even know about. For instance, I had no idea he could shoot streams of water from his hands, and then manipulate that water, until that fight.

Tyler, to his credit, was actually able to hold his own. At numerous points, he triggered numerous traps he had set around the battlefield, causing thorns to shoot up out of the ground and nearby walls, which Daniel barely avoided. He made full use of his weird teleportation method, even bringing in some his thorn zombie "Saplings", as Daniel calls them.

I wanted to get involved, and try to break them up, but before I could even pick my sword back up, I felt Seraph's hand on my shoulder.

"Don't," she said. "Trust me. You do NOT want to get caught in the crossfires when he's like this."

So all I was able to do was watch on in horror as the too relentlessly tried to murder each other. And unfortunately, in spite of all his badassery, Daniel was the first to collapse from sheer exhaustion. He fell to his knees, as Tyler, who still had some breath left in him, chuckled.

"Well, well," he gloated. "Look who's the strongest in the room now! But then again, you're a smart guy. I'm sure you'll have one last trick up your sleeve!"

He grabbed Daniel by the hair, and lifted his head up to meet his gaze.

"So let's see it then," he said. "Your second wind. Your last stand. Show me what you got, Doc!"

"Sorry, pal," Tony's voice rang out. "I'm afraid he's beat. You won't get much out of him."

All of our eyes turned to Tony, who had recovered somewhat, and had drawn some kind of symbol resembling the letter A with his own blood.

"I got something for you, thought," he said.

He then lifted his head to the sky, one hand hovering over the symbol, and cried out.

"I call upon the wrath of the Crimson Circle!" he shouted. "Azail, the Enabler! I beg for your aid in glorious battle!"

He then narrowed his eyes, locking them with Tyler's.

"I offer you my sneakers as tribute," he said.

After a few seconds, a humanoid, but wrong looking being appeared where Tony's symbol had been drawn. He was well over eight feet tall, with bronze skin, and several disproportionate features. He processed an eldritch aura, but it wasn't Mana or Fear. It was something completely different.

He took a quick look around, widened his eyes, and asked a question in a deep, booming voice.

"What the FUCK happened to Seattle!?" the being demanded.

Tyler expanded his arm rapidly, reaching to attack the creature, but the being just shot the incoming arm a disinterested glance, and the majority of it exploded into splinters. Tyler collapsed, screaming out in pain, as the being continued to observe the surroundings.

"Ugh... the Algernon again... of course," he muttered, before turning back to Tony. "As much as I enjoy the comfort of shoes, Im afraid we must put that form of payment off until next time. For now, you may repay your debt for my intervention by at least contributing towards cleaning up this mess."

"Already working on it," Tony said.

"Good," the being said, turning back to Tyler, who had once again regrown his arm. "Now, as for this 'glorious battle'..."

"Fuck this!" Tyler snapped, opening up a portal and fleeing through it.

"Oh," the being said. "He fled."

The being turned back to Tony.

"Promise me an actual challenge next time you summon me," he said.

"If I can't, I'll throw in some socks," Tony said.

The being simply nodded.

"I shall take my leave then," he said.

Then, the Biker suddenly reappeared, panting.

"God, I hate the stupid Fear shortcut!" he complained. "Hurts like..."

The Biker and the hellish being seemed to notice each other.

"...Hell...," the Biker finished.

The being narrowed its eyes as the Biker.

"Damien," the being  said, with some obvious aggression behind his voice.

"Azail," Damien said back, showing an equal amount of resentment.

"I'll be going now," the being said, vanishing.

"Tony?" I asked. "The fuck was that?"

"Daemon Lord," he replied. "Best not to ask.

Afterwards, we saw to treating everyone's wounds. We were all shaken up after all that. But the battle was far from over.

Breaking The Fan part 5; Kai

 After my meet up with Kallaway, I teleported off to find the source of the energy spike we had felt. Unfortunately, I ended up being off a bit. I could still feel the energy, though, so I ecided to begin walking towards it. I had used the God's Way a lot when talking Kallaway down, so I'd need some time to recover before using it any more.

Eventually, I stumbled upon something I hadn't been expecting to find.

Kai was sitting down, back against the ruins of a building surrounded by trees. I couldn't tell from a distance, but as I got closer, I realized he had been injured.

I approached him and examined his wounds. Thankfully, they weren't too serious, and I was able to patch him up easily.

"Doc...," he said, as I was working on treating him. "It was..."

"I know," I told him.  "Just take it easy."

I finished my work, and rose to my feet, turning to face the direction his energy was coming from.

"What are you going to do?" Kai asked me.

I let out a sigh, before straightening up, and putting on my game face.

"I'm afraid I have a pink slip to hand out," I said.

I then began marching forward, mentally preparing myself to confront my intern.

Breaking The Fan Part 4; Wrath

 

Ben, the Biker and I walked through the ruined city, keeping our eyes out for Dawson and his allies.

“You sure they'll be around here? The Biker asked.

Ben stopped in place and looked around for a moment.

“Yes,” he said. “This is the place. No we just need to wait for-”

“YO!” shouted a voice out of nowhere. “WHAT'S UP, FUCKERS!”

A tall woman, at least a head above me, stepped out from an alleyway, waving us down. She had jet black hair, and gray eyes. I'm not talking about that one shade of blue that some people's eyes are, that looks kind of gray. Her eyes were a more literal shade of gray.

“Not... quite how I was expecting them to make themselves known,” Ben said. “But... okay...”

Dawson phased emerged from the shadows on a wall nearby, sighing. With him was a younger girls, carrying a wooden staff. She seemed... out of place? Like she didn't really belong on a battlefield.

“All I asked of you was subtlety, Flyt,” Dawson said.

“Pfft,” the tall lady, or I guess Flyt, said, brushing his words off. “Whatever, man. Who gives a shit?”

I heard movement behind us, and turned to see that Dawson's other allies, Myrir and Puppy Dog had also entered the scene behind us. Ben turned to acknowledge them as well.

“Myrir,” he said.

“Benjamin,” she replied, somewhat bitterly.

“You two know each other?” I asked.

“It's complicated,” they both said.

“So!” Flyt said. “You know that bitch Kieda, right!? How's that cunt doing!?”

“Kieda?” I asked. “You mean HELLFIRE, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Flyt said. “Whatever that jackass is calling himself now.”

“Less than a minute, and I'm already furiously annoyed with this chick,” the Biker said.

“So I'm guessing you're the Dying Man shard,” I said.

“You got it!” Flyt said, raising a hand. “And don't go thinking that old man Kieda is the only shard wielding another Fear's power!”

With that, a pair of black wings sprouted from her back, and a sword formed from black mist manifested in her hand.

“The Archangel,” Ben murmured.

I drew my sword, growing my own wings and gauntlet as I did.

“Oh, this oughta be fuckin' fun,” Flyt said, grinning back at me.

“Oh, would you shut the bloody hell up?” the Biker said, stepping forward. “I'll take the big guy.”

“Ah, yes,” Dawson said, stepping forward as well. “Just how easily is your loyalty bought, mercenary?”

“I ain't cheap,” the Biker said, drawing his falcion.

“I'll take the shard and the sorceress,” I said, nodding to Ben. “You, uh... settle your personal history or whatever.”

Ben looked toward Puppy Dog and Myrir, and let out a sigh.

“Let's not do this, love,” he said.

“Sorry, Benjamin,” Myrir said, drawing her blade and shield.

“No choice, mate,” Puppy Dog said, arming himself with a khopesh in one hand, and a sawed-off shotgun in the other.

Ben sighed again, and drew his wakizashi in a reverse grip.

“I guess this is happening,” he said. “BURN!”

The blade of his weapon burst into flames, and he took up a fighting stance. I turned my attention back to Flyt and the younger girl. Flyt chuckled.

“Leave all the heavy lifting to me, Molly,” Flyt said, confirming the young girls name. “Just cover my ass when I need it.”

Molly nodded meekly, and muttered a soft “Okay.”

And then the fight began.

Flyt and I took to the air and began clashing blades. It didn't take me long to realize the problem with wielding a sword as large as mine in midair. Without being able to plant my feet, I couldn't put as much force behind my attacks. Flyt, on the other hand, was wielding a much lighter weapon, and could make up for the lack of force with speed. She was able to dodge or deflect all of my attacks and land a couple slashes of her own on my chest. They didn't cut very deep, but it was enough to drive me back a bit.

Flyt chuckled a bit before slashing at me again. I was able to block her attacks, but it was clear she was beginning to toy with me. I needed to come up with something fast. I couldn't risk fighting a Dying Man shard unarmed. There was only one other trick I could think of at the time. I swung my sword upwards as quickly as I could, which didn't accomplish much, aside from making her back away from me for a second, but that was all I needed. I beat my wings quickly, ascending higher into the sky.

“Oh?” Flyt chuckled, as I continued flying upwards. “You trying to get away?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said. “Let's go with that.”

She seemed confused by my response. Good. Having gained what I felt would be enough altitude, I allowed my wings to vanish, and I began falling. I let myself go limp as my body entered a free fall. This further caught them off guard, and it took them a bit too long to realize what I was doing. I couldn't deliver much force on my own.

But I could always let gravity do the work.

I straightened myself out a couple yard before coming within range of them, pointing my sword forward to deliver a stabbing attack. She panicked for a second.

Then she smirked, as a force field suddenly manifested between us. It seemed Molly was able able to throw up a barrier just in time.

Vibrations rippled through my arms as my blade collided with it, and I nearly dropped it. Flyt then vanished, reappearing right beside me. Using the force field as footing, she planted her feet, and punched me in the gut, sending me flying, I crashed into a nearby building, and began falling to the ground from there. I managed to sprout my wings again in time to slow my descent and hit the ground softly.

Flyt appeared a few feet in front of me, grinning sadistically. I immediately took note of two facts. First of all, she hadn't bothered transferring to my body when we made contact. It seemed she was intent on keeping her current host for the time being.

Secondly, she was making use of the God's Way. I know Fears can use the God's Way freely, and Daniel could use it extensively with minimal harm, but normal humans suffer extreme pain if they spend even a moment there. I've experienced that myself. And while the Dying Man is a Fear, the same can't be said about their hosts.

I had a plan.

I rose to my feet, gripping my weapon tightly.

“Neat magic trick,” I said. “Let's see how it holds up!”

I charged at her, swinging my sword. She teleported behind me as I did, which I had predicted. I spun, swinging my sword sideways at them. They vanished again, appearing a few feet away. They shuddered slightly, but only for a second, before straightening up.

“So, that's a replica of the legendary Fear-harming sword, right?” Flyt asked. “The one the Ace of Cunts used?”

I felt a surge of Mana flourish in the air around me. My first thought was that Molly was doing something, but my instincts new otherwise.

“Not very useful if you can't land a hit with it!” Flyt said, mockingly.

“Don't get too cocky!” I said, stabbing forward at her.

Another force field went up between us, and Flyt smirked. She then teleported behind me, grabbed me by the throat, and slammed me against the barrier.

“Same goes to you, bitch!” she said, tightening her grip.

I suddenly heard the voice off my ancestor, the Ace of Chaos, in my head.

The God's Way! He said. Use it!

“Wh... what?” I uttered.

You're part Fear! He said. You can manage it!

I looked Flyt in the eyes and manage to get out a “Fuck you!” before closing my eyes and focusing. I remembered the time Daniel dragged me through there, and focused on that feeling. I suddenly shifted out of the physical world, and felt that same pain again. It through me off, because I wasn't expecting it to actually work. But I pulled myself together and thought about the battlefield I was just at, and I was instantly back there, a few feet from where Flyt was standing. The pain of entering the God's Way subsided a bit as she turned her attention to me.

“Well shit,” she said. “You can do it too.”

She teleported up to me and kicked my sword away. Her body was noticeably quivering, but she didn't seem to notice. She grabbed me by the throat, and lifted me up to look me in the eyes.

“Too bad you aren't used to the pain,” she gloated.

Then, she spun me around, and threw me directly upwards. I crashed into something that took me a moment to recognize. I spread my wings, regained my composure, and glanced backwards. I couldn't see anything there, but I could sense the presence of Mana there. The first barrier Molly had thrown up was still there. She had seemingly neglected to dispel it.

My sword then returned to my hand, surrounded by the presence of more Mana, and I heard the Ace of Chaos's voice again.

Show this bitch what happens to shards who disrespect my title, he said.

Flyt flew in a beeline towards me, weapon ready to deal a finishing blow. But I was prepared. I twisted myself around, planted my feet firmly against the barrier above me, and turned to face her, gripping my sword tightly. She had used the God's Way multiple times, wearing her host's body down. And I finally had some proper footing in midair. As she charged a me full force, she realized too late that she'd lost the advantage.

I swung my sword full force, shattering hers, and cleaving her across the chest, sending her flying. And, in an oddly convenient twist, Malkator, at that same moment, managed to kick Puppy Dog into the path of her descent, causing the two of them to collide. Puppy Dog was instantly knocked out, and Flyt's wings faded away into black mist. She struggled to rise to her knees, clutching her wounded chest. I felt the barrier behind me vanish, as Molly realized I had managed to take advantage of it being left up.

Flyt coughed up some blood, and barely managed to utter out “Ow... fuck...”

Molly rushed over to her to try and help, but with no warning, the Biker's chain flew towards her, wrapped around her throat, and lifted her into the air.

“You are so! Fucking! Annoying!” the Biker exclaimed, as he slammed her down into the middle of the road, completely splattering her entire body all over the asphalt.

Molly reeled back in alarm and horror, and Dawson glared at the Biker furiously.

“That was my most useful ally,” Dawson hissed.

“Well, now its a useless stain,” the Biker retorted, withdrawing his chain. The biker then charged at Dawson, in a blur of crimson and steel, and shouted at me to “Deal with the magic bitch!”

Okay. Sure.

I landed on the ground, and let my wings vanish again. I returned my sword to it's place across my back.I turned and began approaching Molly.

“Stay back!” she said, raising her staff.

“Look,” I said. “Molly, isn't it? This can be easy, or difficult. Your choice.”

She closed her eyes, focusing on me. I suddenly found myself elsewhere. I was in a burnt down forest, with several of the scorched trees still smoldering. A pair of dragon-like creatures circled the sky above me, letting out distorted shrieks.

I looked up at them calmly. I was expecting something along these lines. Not this specifically, but whatever. I planted my vision forwards again, and activated my super eyes.

“Not bad,” I said. “But I've trained with Dyson Malrick.”

The world around me melted away, and I was back at the battlefield, still facing Molly.

“His illusions are way more convincing,” I mentioned.

I took a couple steps forward, only to be met with another barrier.

“I mean it!” She said. “Stay back!”

I raised my gauntlet up, examining the energy in front of me. I could always break through Dyson's barriers, but his were always pretty weak. This one was different. This girl was clearly gifted when it came to defensive magic.

I sighed, and slipped into the God's Way yet again, appearing before her. It still hurt, but I was ready for it this time. She stepped back in alarm.

“For the love of God, woman!” Dawson's voice cried out. “Fight back!”

She hesitated for a moment, before pointing her staff at me, and channeling mana through it. I raised my gauntlet, palm facing her, as a ball of fire errupted from the end of her staff. I caught it, and held it in place.

“You're playing for the wrong team,” I told her, before crushing the fireball, dispelling its magic.

Her staff cluttered to the ground as she stared at my gauntlet.

“H-how did you...?” She stammered.

I raised my gauntlet calmly, showing her.

“My gauntlet's grip can contain any eldritch energy I catch it it,” I explained. “Useful for stopping magic attacks.”

“You okay over here?” Ben asked, approaching us. He had apparently managed to restrain Myrir with some handcuffs. Didn't even know he had those.

“All's good over here,” I said, kicking her staff u into the air and catching it.

“And her?” Ben asked.

“Oh. Molly?” I asked. “She's gonna need a teacher.”

I tossed her staff back to her. She looked u at me, confused.

“Her white magic is on point,” I said. “She seems to be a natural at it. Her blackmagic game could use some work. Think you can handle it, Ben?”

“So what, we're sparing her?” Ben asked.

“Sure, why not?” I said, stepping forward and patting her on the shoulder. “My instincts are pretty trustworthy.”

“But... I...,” Molly said.

“What?” I asked. “Do you have any objections?”

She hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head.

“No,” she said. “I suppose not. But... what about Dawson?”

“Oh, you won't have to answer to him much longer,” I told her, before nodding to Ben. “Let's go back up that rival of yours.”

Ben nodded, and we went to go assist the Biker.

Both the Biker ans Dawson were standing across from each other, kneeling down and panting. The Biker chuckled, and spoke up.

“You're tough, old man!” he said. “Unfortunately, you've lost.”

Dawson noticed Ben and I approaching, as well as Molly standing off to the side, no longer taking part in the conflict.

“Oh, you traitorous bitch,” He muttered before straightening up. “You're wrong though. My defeat is far from set. I still have a trump card left.”

“You mean Tyler, right?” I demanded. “Where is he?”

“Tyler?” Dawson chuckled. “I've no idea where he went. He's his own Demi-God, with his own goals and aspirations. I'm not his baby sitter.”

A glowing crimson energy Cell, one of the ones they had stolen from Daniel, appeared in his shadowy hand.

“This is my trump card,” He said.

He then casually flicked it in our general direction before melting into the ground beneath him. I rushed forward, gauntlet outstretched. I new that I couldn't let the energy contained in that Cell out into the world. I managed to catch the Cell, but the glass shattered against my hand. I clenched my fist, trying with all my might to keep it contained. As I did, I felt an intense wave of anger wash over me.

I immediately realized which energy Cell this was. The Brute's.

The energy held in my palm spread through my body, and I fell to my knees, struggling to fight back against the overwhelming rage taking a hold of me.

“David?” Ben asked. “Are you okay?”

“Stay back!” I ordered.

I couldn't staay there. I knew if I lost control of this anger, I would hurt the others. So I did the only thing I could think of, and used the God's Way one more time.

I didn't pay much attention to where I wound up after that. All I new was that I was still in the overrun ruins of Seattle, and no one else was there. Good.

I focused all my willpower on resisting the Brute's influence, but it was useless. The rage was too strong. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't resist it.

As I was on my knees, head in my hands, struggling to keep myself in control, I became aware of a pair of feet in front of me, and a staff planted firmly on the ground in front of them. A part of me began to panic at the sight.

“What are you doing here!?” I managed to get out.

“Did you think I wouldn't notice the Brute's power suddenly erupting within the city?” Daniel asked.

My mind was being flooded with every bad memory I had of him. Every time I had seen him hurt or manipulate others. Myself included. I remembered the night I met him. How he had used me to gain more power. I remembered being in his Enhancer, and nearly dying from it. I remembered looking into his future, and seeing how much pain and despair he was destined to cause.

“You need to leave!” I yelled, knowing I wouldn't be able to restrain myself much longer.

“Not gonna happen,” he said calmly.

My body moved on its own. In spite of the pain I was still in from using the God's Way so much, I drew my sword and lifted it above my head, bringing it back down where he was standing. The blade struck the ground. He had managed to et out of the way in time.

I was seeing the world through a crimson haze. My body was being completely piloted by rage, and there was an obnoxious ringing in my ears. But I could still hear Daniel's voice. It was somewhat muffled, but it still managed to reach me. And the first thing he said to me was a little surprising.

“I'm not going to fight you, Kallaway,” he said.

I turned to where I had heard his voice and swung at him, yet again missing.

“You're going to overcome this,” he said. “I trust you.”

“I can't fight it!” I snapped, swinging my blade again.

“You shouldn't,” he said, from somewhere behind me. “I've been face to face with the Brute myself. Overcoming its influence isn't as easy as just fighting back.”

I spun around and swung my sword in a wide arc, that he still managed to avoid.

“The hell does that even mean!” I demanded.

He was silent for a few seconds before pointing something out.

“I know this place,” he said. “When shit hit the fan. This is where we were when we used the cards we got from Abdalin.”

My eyes darted around a bit. He was right. In spite of the angry haze I was viewing everything through, I did recognize the street we were on.

“I remember,” Daniel said. “When I got my legs back... I thought about leaving. Abandoning everyone and saving myself.”

He was right. That did happen. He had nearly left innocent people to die. I turned to where I had heard his voice, and raised my sword again.

But I didn't bring it down.

“You stayed...,” I said. As I did, I felt the rage controlling me... I don't know, shudder a bit?

“I did,” he said. “Because of you.”

I felt my grip loosen slightly.

“You encouraged me to do the right thing,” he said. “And I... I did.”

I felt his hand on my shoulder.

“Like I said before, I trust you,” he said. “Do you trust me?”

I released my grip on the sword's hilt, allowing it to fall to the ground behind me.

I did trust him. Despite everything he's done, or was destined to do... He was a good man, deep down. And I trusted him.

I closed my eyes, blocking out the crimson haze, took a deep breath, and gave him a silent nod.

“Then trust me when I say that you can do this,” he said. “I know how strong you are. And I've seen how strong the Brute is up close.”

His grip on my shoulder tightened.

“And it's pretty damn clear to me which of you is stronger,” he said.

I suddenly couldn't feel anything physically. I couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet, or Daniel's hand on my shoulder. It was like I was floating in some kind of void. I opened my eyes again, and before me was a massive, distorted creature, bound in chains. The Brute.

I looked down at my right hand, still in its gauntlet, still gripping the Brute's power.

“Daniel's right,” I told the creature. “I am stronger than you.”

The creature shrieked at me, and I felt a wave of anger wash over me, but I shrugged it off.

“And I'm not going to let your power control me,” I informed it. “In fact...”

I clenched my gauntlet's fist, embracing the energy it was holding.

“I'm claiming this power as my own!” I said. “And I dare you to fucking stop me!”

The creature cried out at me, but I simply closed my eyes and ignored it.

I opened them again to find myself back in the city, with Daniel standing before me.

“Good to have you back,” He said. “How are you feeling?”

I looked down at my gauntlet, which had changed a bit. The fingers were now tipped with sharp, serrated claws, the forearm was now more rigid, and had some spike running along it, and there were some violet lines mixed into the natural red of the chitin.

“Stronger...,” I answered.

He chuckled.

“Good,” he said. “We could use some stronger right now.”

At that moment, we both noticed a sudden spike of eldritch energy nearby. A familiar energy.

“Tyler!” Daniel gasped.

Before I could stop him, he teleported away. I wanted to go after him, but I was too worn out. Damn it. I had to get there before things escalated...

I didn't have much time to think before the Biker suddenly zoomed onto the scene on his bicycle.

“Good!” He said. “Got to you. You better?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Did you feel-”

“That was thorn boy, right?” he said. “Figured...”

He gestured to the pegs on his bac tires.

“Hop on,” he said. “You want to beat the Doc there, right?”

I hesitated for a moment, before tightening my resolve and nodding.

Breaking the Fan Part 3; The Saplings

 As the Fears confronted each other, the rest of us entered the forest. It didn't take long for us all to get split up. i found myself wandering on my own through the forest, until I came across somebody else. There was a young woman, wearing an eyepatch, who raised a weapon against me when they spotted me. I calmly teleported up to them, knocking the weapon from their hand, and tripping them with the hook of my cane.

"Wait wait wait!" They said, raising their hands and pleading with me. "You're Dr. Ferris, aren't you? I'm Genome."

Of course. The AI turned robot turned flesh and blood. intriguing. Now that I was closer, i could sense the light presence of Eldritch Energy coming from them.

"We're here for the same purpose," they said. "Sort of... Sorry i pointed my weapon at you."

I nodded, and helped them to their feet. Then I retrieved their weapon and handed it back to them. I knew I couldn't fully trust them, but the enemy of my enemy and all that jazz. Plus, it was better than wandering the forest alone. 

We began moving forward. We chatted a bit. Going over our respective goals, and whatever else ended up coming up. I don't remember much of our talk, but I know i opened up to them about Tyler a bit. We were occasionally interrupted by some random mooks trying to kill us, but it wasn't a huge problem. Until we ran into... them...

I don't even know what to call them. Saplings, maybe? yeah, I'm not great with nicknames...

There were three of them, walking in a jerky motion. Their expressions were blank, and I felt a sinking feeling in my gut when I noticed the thorns and roots poking out from beneath their flesh.

Tyler...

Genome, confident from our last few victories, charged forward. the Sapling's movements suddenly sharpened. Their attacks and footwork were precise. Almost as if those weren't their movements at all. In little time at all, two of them had disarmed Genome and knocked them to the ground.

I immediately teleported between the Saplings and Genome, whistle between my lips and arms raised to shield them. I blew a blast of intense sound directly at the two Saplings in front of me, sending them flying. I then hurled an ice spear at the third Sapling, impaling it through the heart. But it didn't go down. The other two shortly got back up, blood dripping from their ears. That soundwave must have blown out their eardrums. But they didn't seem phased by it at all.

Suspicion confirmed.

They were already dead.

Lethal injury wouldn't be enough to bring them down. I'd have to do a lot worse.

One of the Saplings with the bloody ears charged at me first.

HELLFIRE? I thought.

GOT APLAN? He asked.

You got the fire? I replied.

ALWAYS, He confirmed.

Then give them hell! I told him.

I relinquished control over to him momentarily, and he hit the Sapling with a blast of fire that pretty much destroyed its torso. Its head and limbs fell to the ground, smoking, and still twitching.

The other two were coming towards me, and I teleported above them. The paused in confusion, unable to see me as i hooked my cane to the branches and dangled above the one with an icicle through its heart. I pointed my finger gun directly down at it.

"Up here, asshole!" I shouted. Asit looked up at me in alarm, I shouted "BANG!" and sent a bolt of lightning tearing through it directly from above. There wasn't much left of it after that.

I teleported back to the ground to confront the last of them. It faced me, and its thorns grew out even longer. I drew the blade from my cane. The Newborn infused steel gave of staticky blue light in the forest's presence.

The Sapling charged at me, swiping at me with its thorns. I teleported off to the side and sliced its arm off. It spun at me, swinging with its other hand, fully turning its head to face me before delivering the blow. It was using the fighting skills Tyler had learned from Kallaway.

It wasn't enough, though. I teleported behind it, severing one of its legs. It nearly toppled over, before bending its remaining knee, regaining some balance. But it wasn't fast enough. I took off its remaining arm, followed by its other leg. As its torso began falling as well, I sliced off its head , which rolled a couple feet away.

The individual pieces were still active, and twitching, but unable to do much in their detached state. I dropped to my knees, breathing deeply and trying my best to process what I had just gone up against. Genome must have slinked off at some point, because they were gone by the time I had pulled myself together. I decided to inspect the Sapling I had just dismembered, as it was the most intact. Or at least, intact enough to examine properly.

It was as I had feared. These people... these corpses, were being remotely manipulated through a series of roots spreading throughout their entire bodies....

Tyler...

What have you done?