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?

Breaking the Fan Part 2; The Fight

 Kallaway here.

The fight had already begun by the time we arrived. We parked the bus a distance away from the action and filed out.

Kraken, the White Comet, and the AMU were firing at each other. But there was another group there that I wasn't expecting. And they had a moose with them.

"Seems like Trias has joined the party," Daniel said. "This might make teleporting a bit tricky for me..."

"How will this effect the plan?" Tony asked.

"Not at all," Daniel said. "Our targets remain the same. Bring down the White Comet and Kraken, and provide support for the AMU and Trias."

"What if Trias and the AMU come to blows?" I asked.

"Cross our fingers and hope that doesn't happen," Daniel replied. "If it does, either stay out of it or break it up."

"What's our first move?" I asked.

"First," Daniel said, aiming his finger gun at the sky, "We let 'em know we're here."

And with that, he fired a lightning bolt directly into the sky.

That got a lot of peoples attention, but more than a few were too preoccupied with the fight to notice. Those that did notice were either confused by our ragtag little group, or showed signs of terrified recognition at a few of our members.

"Let's go!" Daniel said, teleporting directly up to a Kraken agent, who was conveniently far away from the moose, and freezing his skull solid.

We charged in after that, joining the conflict. A lot happened. I can't recall all of it, and I'm couldn't see much of what the others were doing, but we made it out of it okay by the end of that first struggle. The White Comet forces seemed to bail at some point, but Kraken decided to be all stubborn and shit, and stuck around until we brought them all down. The fighting drew to a close after that, as we all pulled ourselves together from all the chaos.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Not by a long shot," the Biker said. "Those weren't all of Kraken's forces. They're bound to pop up again at some point."

"So, battle's won, but war... not yet," I said. "Perfect..."

There wasn't much time to rest after that. Not long after, I sensed a powerful eldritch energy approaching. Soon after, a flock of birds emerged from the forest. The air around them was crackling with energy.

"The Convocation?" I asked.

"Yep," Tony confirmed.

The birds were joined by two more Fears, a woman made of wood, moving like a puppet on strings, and a large black dog. Didn't take too many braincells to realize who they were.

Not long after, someone emerged from within the AMU's forces. An old man. And as he moved, I slowly became aware that he had an eldritch aura of his own, which was gradually growing, as if he'd been keeping it suppressed this entire time, and was finally drawing it out.

He exchanged some words with some of the AMU members, before removing his dark glasses, revealing his disturbing lack of eyes, confirming his identity. The Blind Man. A Fear.

All of the AMU's Martyrs kneeled before him. All but one. My cousin, Professor Ben Malkator, stood a distance away, looking distracted.

The Blind Man gestured for the Martyr's to rise, saying something else to them, before turning to the other Fears. The Black Dog grew to a larger size, snarling. Then two more Fears showed up. A young boy, who seemed to freeze everything around him, confronted the Black Dog. I noticed Jane, who was a short distance away bandaging Kimiko's arm, visibly flinched when he appeared.

And then that cunt Valravn showed up and started attacking the Wooden Girl. Daniel growled angrily, but managed to restrain himself from going after her. Then Ben appeared at my shoulder.

"So, obviously, things are about to go to shit," he said. "But, I need to borrow David and Damien. We're needed elsewhere."

Daniel nodded.

"I can handle myself without them for a while," he said. "Don't take too long."

"No promises," Ben said.

He turned to face the Biker.

"Damien," he said.

"Benjamin," the Biker replied.

he tension between them was palpable...

"I hear Daniel brought Sylvia back," Ben said.

"Yeah," the Biker said. "And no, I'm not anywhere near forgiving you."

"Understandable," Ben replied.

"But...," the Biker said, averting his gaze, which was admittedly kind of pointless, as he was still wearing a blindfold. "I'm not tempted to kill you where you stand. So, that's something."

"Good to hear," Ben said. "And... I am sorry..."

"Shut up," the Biker said. "Now, where we headed?"

Give me a minute," Ben said, taking both of our shoulders. "You're gonna love tis.

And then, the world around us began to slowly fade away, as a new location began to fade into reality to replace it.

"A little slow, yes, but energy efficient and completely painless," Ben said. "I call it 'Fading'. Suck it, Prius."

He released our shoulders after we finished fading into the new location, somewhere at the edge of the city.

"And the best part?" Ben added. "The moose can't do jack shit to stop it."

"Neat," I said. "Won't be too useful in battle, though."

"I can use the God's Way if I absolutely have to," Ben said. "But Fading's better if there's enough time for it."

"So, what's the deal?" I asked.

"Yeah," the Biker asked. "Why are you taking us away from all the real action?"

"Oh, don't worry," Ben said. "There'll be plenty of action. You see, while the others are dealing with the forest itself, we'll be dealing with Dawson."

"The shadow punk?" the Biker asked. "Alright."

"What about Tyler?" I asked.

Ben shook his head.

"I can't foresee everything," he said. "But I believe Tyler will be going off on his own."

Exactly what I was afraid of...

"As for who Dawson does have with him," Ben said. "He's got two human followers, as well as at least one Dying Man shard. And... a Mana user..."

"That's the same weird magic power you use, right?" I asked.

"That's right," Ben said. "We need to be on guard."

He stretched out a hand, and a Japanese short sword appeared in it. The sheath seemed to have been sliced in two at some point, and glued back together.

"Let's get this show on the road," Ben said.

Breaking the Fan Part 1; Setting Out

Before we left, we all took care of some personal stuff.

Elie decided his place was the classroom, not the battlefield. He chose to stay behind with the rest of the AMU students, to help support them. He'll be looking after the Biker's sister as well. As for Jane and Kimiko, they both signed on with the AMU's forces, as a medic and fighter, respectively.

Tony arranged our transportation. One of his former clients was a teacher at a school, and managed to procure him a fucking school bus. I don't know what exactly he did for her, but apparently a lot of students would have died without his actions. He brushed it off, saying he was just doing his job.

Terrence and I made a couple modifications to it. I gave it its own mobile hotspot with some damn good range, as there are bloggers among us. And Terrence... did something to the engine. I'm not sure what exactly, but he promised me it won't explode...

I had a talk with Kai as well.

"You gonna be ready for this?" I asked.

"I think so," Kai replied. "So, what's the plan, exactly?"

I chuckled.

"The hell makes you think I've got one of those?" I asked.

Kai seemed a little shocked at that answer. I let out another soft laugh, before taking on my serious position. Legs at shoulder width, both hands planted on my cane in front of me. I closed my eyes for a second, taking a deep breathe as I did, and exhaled as I opened them again, making eye contact.

"The AMU has their own plan," I said. "We go in providing them support. Malkator is on their side. I may not trust them entirely, but I trust him. He leaked the time and place to me because he trusts me back. Furthermore, he can predict future events, at least to some degree. He knows we need to be there. So we'll be there."

Kai nodded.

"This is war," I went on. "You can't plan for war. Not easily, anyway. You need to take what you know about every side involved, and make the best of it. I know the AMU pretty well. They're the lesser of each evil, as far as I can see. They're the ones out to stop the forest for good, and they have the best odds of succeeding, so we back them up. And if they fail..."

I drew the sword from my cane out a couple inches, gazing at the Newborn infused steel.

"We go with my backup plan," I said. "And hope it works..."

I re-sheathed the blade, and continued.

"As for the enemy, we've got the White Comet, Kraken, and the Green Men," I said. "Kraken is well equipped, and has a few Demi-Gods in their ranks, but has proven to be incompetent. We exploit the incompetent part as best we can. We don't know much about White Comet, but they're human as far as we know. We have a bunch of Demi-Gods with us, giving us an edge. And if we're wrong, and they end up being stronger than we expect, we adapt to it. If either of those forces get in our way, we take them out quickly. As for the Green Men..."

"Those are the weird plant monsters from the forest, right?" Kai asked. "They're gonna be a bigger threat, aren't they?"

I nodded.

"They're strong, fast, and instinctive," I said. "At least, that's what I've gathered from everyone else who've encountered them. If we come across any of them, focus on staying alive first, and getting them dead second."

"Okay," Kai said.

At that time, my phone started ringing. Agent Touckshriek. Perfect...

"'scuse me," I said. "I'd better take this."

I answered the call.

"Hello, Rachel," I said.

"What?" She asked, taken aback. "When did you...?"

"Tony," I answered bluntly.

I heard her sigh from the other end.

"Of course...," she replied. "So... are you seriously going to go through with this?"

"Of course," I said.

"I see," she said, a little nervously. "Did you receive the package?"

"Armed and ready to go," I said.

"Good," she replied. "Do me a favor."

"What would that be?" I asked.

"Don't get yourself killed," she said.

"No promises," I said. "But I'll try."

She stayed silent for a minute, before telling me to give them hell. Then she hung up.

"What was that about?" Kai asked.

"Every good backup plan deserves a backup plan of its own," I said, vaguely. "Anyway, Kallaway tells me your training is going well."

"Yeah," Kai said. "Even Tony thinks I've made a lot of progress."

"Good," I said.

Then without warning, I teleported behind him and tripped him with the hook of my cane. He fell properly, rolling into a crouch and turning back to me as my cane came down on him, colliding with his bracer, which he had already brought up to defend himself. He drew the bokken Tony gave him and swung up, but I had already teleported again, back to his other side. I put all my weight on my good leg, gripped my cane in both hands, and swung at him from the side. He spun around, planted his weight firmly, and deflected the attack. I brought the cane down one last time, clashing with his bokken. But this time, I put some weight on my bad leg, while triggering my red form as I did. As the pain rippled through my leg, a surge of strength went through my body, adding to the force of my blow. Kai was able to hold the full force of my attack back with his own weapon, and stood his ground. I smiled a bit, and relaxed my stance.

"Excellent," I said, backing off.

I turned away, and got my thoughts in order. I had been meaning to bring something up for a while now, but hadn't been sure how to go about it.

"You know," I said, glancing over my shoulder. "I recently had an internship open up..."

"Huh?" Kai asked.

"Just something to think about...," I said. "Anyway..."

I stepped away, picking up the crutch I had been using as a temporary replacement for my cane.

"You or Royce should hold onto this," I said. "Just ion case somebody gets hurt enough to need it."

"Good idea," Kai said, taking it from me. "Always good to have a backup plan, right?"

"Right," I confirmed.

Not long after that, we met up with the others. Kallaway was getting off the phone with someone I couldn't identify, Lance was prepping some weapons, the Biker and Phantasm were enchanging judging looks at each other, Sera was having a chat with Royce and Paris, and Tony as his crew were loading up some things onto the bus.

"We don't have much time," I said. "Everyone get things sorted, then we gotta move."

I went to talk to Kallaway, while everyone else stated wrapping up their preparations. I think I saw Lance approach Kai about something. I don't know.

"Sup?" Kallaway asked me.

"Oh, you know," I said. "Pre-war stress. Was that someone important?"

"Dyson," Kallaway said. "Trying to get some advice from him. Not much luck. Ben's being cryptic as all hell too."

"Makes sense," I said. "When you know things about the future, who have be careful what you tell to who."

"I know," he said. "Speaking of... I've tried looking into the future a bit. I can't make a lot of sense of it... but I saw Tyler. And... you."

"What did you see?" I asked.

"You were fighting," he said. "And you were both..."

He was scared. I could see it in his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You were both... actively trying to kill each other," Kallaway said. "It was as though... you'd given up on him."

I rested a hand on Kallaway's shoulder.

"I haven't," I said. "And I won't. I'm going to bring him back."

"And what if that changes?" Kallaway asked.

"You can't believe everything the visions show you," I said. "Sometimes you just have to believe things will work out."

He sighed.

"I trust you," he said. "I really do. But I'm still worried."

"It'll be fine," I said. "Besides. When you know something about the future, that gives you the opportunity to change it."

"I hope you're right," he said.

Yeah, I thought to myself. I hope so too...

"Let's get going, all right," I said. "We'll pull this off, somehow."

Kallaway nodded.

And with that, we got going.

Tyler... I'm coming for you. I will get through to you. Somehow...

The Doctor's Army

 Daniel returned earlier, with Justin and the Bloody Biker with him. I gave a nervous glance at the Biker before addressing Daniel.

"I don't see the Demi God Hunter anywhere," I noted.

"He prefers it that way," Daniel replied. "I'ma head inside and grab my spare labcoat."

"Does that one also have mustards stains?" I asked.

"Shut up," he informed me, and went inside.

Justin finished up attaching his scythe arm and followed him in, leaving me alone with the biker. He approached me, with a sadistic smile on his face. I stood my ground.

"Heya, buddy," He said. "How's that cheek of yours doing?"

"Fine," I said. "No thanks to you."

He chuckled at that, and grabbed my shoulder with one hand.

"You should be proud of it," he said. Then, he leaned in closer, right up to my ear, squeezing tightly, and added "I leave worse wounds on those who fail to impress me."

I tried not to shudder. Tried...

He released his grip and turned to his solid steel bike, raising a hand toward . And the bike just... melted. It became a stream of floating liquid metal, that slowly reformed itself into a length of chain, which wove toward him, wrapping around him several times, like a pageant shash. He then turned around, and entered the base. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding, and entered as well.

Seraph, Phantasm, Paris, Royce and Kai were standing around in the room, observing the Biker quietly as he took the place in. He turned and briefly addressed Phantasm.

"Been a while," he said.

"Traitor," Phantasm replied in a stiff voice.

"Knob head," the biker replied.

"Sellout," Phantasm retorted.

"Tosser," the Biker said.

Their conversation ended there. So, I guess they're acquainted. Also, weird hearing those particular insults in an American accent...

"Where's everyone else at?" I asked.

"Justin went to join Tony and his crew in the main lab," Seraph informed me. "Daniel's in his room, getting some stuff."

There were a couple minutes where little was said or done. Then Daniel walked back in. He had a new labcoat on (which also had a noticeable mustard stain that he'll be mad at me for mentioning" and had something odd slung over one shoulder. He was also dragging the large sword he had crafted using the Empty City's power behind him, its runes glowing a bright periwinkle from HELLFIRE's presence.

He paused for a moment, leaned the sword against a table, and tossed me the thing over his shoulder. I examined it. It was some kind of upper body armor, made of some kind of metal plating in the front, with the back made of chainmail, with a couple slits around the shoulder blades. There was a button attached to a battery pack at the back of the neckline.

"Throw that on under your robes," he told me.

I did as he instructed, removing the Scion robes I got from Dyson. The armor fit me perfectly, as if it were tailor made for me, and the slits in the back were positioned perfectly so I could sprout my wings through them. I put my robes back on over it.

"So, I appreciate the extra defense, but what's with the button?" I asked.

"Give it a try," he said.

I hesitantly did so, and felt a sudden tingle go along my spine. Daniel grabbed the sword, and vanished. I suddenly felt a great deal of weight dragging me down from behind, and I made an instinctive effort to remain upright and regained balance, adjusting to the new weight. My right arm went up, gripping the hilt of the giant weapon that was now magnetically clinging to my back.

"What the Final Fantasy fuck?" I asked.

"Like I said," Daniel said. "I didn't make that sword for me."

With some effort, I tugged the sword off my back and took a stance with it. It was heavier than the Jian I used to wield. This one required both hands to even lift. But something about its large size and weight felt... right. Like this was the type of weapon I was meant to wield.

"Thanks," I said. "Like... seriously."

He clapped me on the shoulder.

"Douitashimashite," he replied.

I racked my brain for a bit. I had heard exchanges between him and Kimiko, so I might be able to figure that one out.

"That's... 'your welcome'?" I asked.

"Obviously," he replied, approaching Phantasm. "So, you must be Phantasm."

"I am," Phantasm muttered.

Daniel cleared his throat and pulled himself to full height, gripping his cane confidently in front of him.

"Your outfit is stupid," he said. "Seriously, how many dark, brooding figures with hoods concealing their features do we really need in this team?"

With that, Phantasm unleashed that weird aura of fear he has. Everyone there buckled to varying degrees from it, but Daniel...

He tensed up for maybe half a second before pulling himself together and grinning up at the offended specter.

"I've been face to face with the Brute," Daniel said. "I handled it's rage quite well. I can handle your fear."

And suddenly, everyone collapse, pain spreading through our bodies. The Biker and I managed to remain mostly upright, but Seraph, who was used to dodging attacks, and Royce and Kai, who hadn't built up the same pain tolerance as me, were barely on their knees. I caught another sound above us, that I couldn't quite identify.

Daniel simply switched to red mode, embracing the pain and drawing from it.

"Yeah, nice try," Daniel said. "But it'll take more than that."

The aura of pain ended, and a set of hidden claws concealed inside of Phantasms sleeves extended, depositing a pair of folding pistols in his hands, before retreating. The guns unfolded.

I'm not going to call what happened next a fight. Because I know Daniel too well at this point. He's a lot of things. Dangerous. Kind of an asshole. Cocky, stubborn, and with enough power to back it all up.

But he is, first and foremost, a scientist.

This was an experiment.

Phantasm began shooting at Daniel, who held up the red power, and teleported around, dodging the gunshots at a bit of a distance, while silently counting each shot fired. It wasn't until the 24th shot that he intentionally allowed himself to be hit. The bullet struck his chest. While the red power impeeded the impact of the bullet enough to avoid any real damage, he dropped to his knees for a few seconds, overwhelmed by shear terror.

Terror which lasted just long enough for Phantasm to discard his spent clips. Then he shook the fear off, rose to his feet, cane planted firmly, and announced "Excellent! I quite like the data I've collected."

Phantasm paused while reaching for his extra clips.

"What?" he asked.

Daniel clear his throat.

"The aura that this man uses to inflict feelings onto others isn't limited to emotional feelings, but physical ones as well," he said. "Furthermore, he is able to compress that aura into his bullets to achieve an amplified effect in whoever he shoots. Correct?"

Phantasm reloaded his guns, a frown on his face.

"You were sizing me up...," he said.

"And I've concluded that you might actually be useful," Daniel replied. "But, I'm not done expe-"

Before Daniel could finish his sentence, the Demi God Hunter dropped from the rafters above him,  armed with his glaive, and sung directly down at him. Daniel, hearing the sudden movement above him, teleported elsewhere. The Hunter, braced himself for the fall, pulling back on his attack, so as to avoid slamming his weapon against the solid ground that Daniel has just occupied.

The first thing the Hunter did after that was charge at me. I tried to fight back with my new sword, but he effortlessly disarmed me, slammed the staff part of his glaive into my throat, and then tripped me, and slammed some rigid part of his body into my solar plexus.

I didn't see what happened to the Biker, but I heard him exclaim "Bloody Hell! Not again!" Followed by a loud thump. I managed to raise my head enough to see Seraph engage him and disarm his glaive, only for him to dodge her attacks and hit a couple nerve, causing her to keel over.

He drew his side weapon, which looked like a metal pipe with a sword hilt and turned to Phantasm. Phantasm unleashed his fear aura, which the Hunter simply shrugged off. The Hunter closed in, dodging a couple bullets as he did. Phantasm unleashed his pain aura again, causing everyone to collapse even further, but the Hunter only shuddered briefly before continuing his attack.

He closed the distance, and swung the pipe upward, making contact with Phantasms jaw. The clang the pipe made was way louder than was reasonably possible, ringing in the ears of everyone in the room. Phantasm went down to his knees, clutching his skull with both hands, and crying out in pain.

The Hunter simply stood still for a moment, as if waiting. This gave Kai, who was further from the shockwave of noise, to regain his composure. Then, in a bold move, he picked up the bokken from the floor behind him, and charged at the Hunter. The Hunter caught the wooden blad in a gloved hand and turned to face Kai.

"Settle down, child," he said calmly. "I have no qualms with ordinary humans. It's these empowered monsters that I aim to-"

There was a sudden change in the air. The Hunter tossed Kai out of the way of an incoming force, and barely dodged it himself. What was less a bullet, and more a concentrated spear of rage and destruction, flew past his, scorching the chest of his outfit, and striking the wall behind them, exploding in a sphere that left a giant hold, removing a large circle of the wall, as well as some of the floor and ceiling.

The Hunter, regaining his composure, turned back to face Phantasm, who had gone through a sudden wardrobe change. His black clothing had been replaced by jet black armor plates, and his hooded cloak was made entirely out of blackened chainmail. And his gun... His guns were fucking massive. I didn't understand how he could hold them in one hand, let alone have one casually lifted directly towards the Hunter's skull, without any sign of struggling against the weight.

"My power, as an Emissary, is defined as 'Escalation'," Phantasm calmly explained. "I have a number of forms I can escalate between, each with an Emissary power of its own."

The Hunter stood his ground, defiantly gripping his weapon. He had a hand hovering near one of his pockets, ready to draw something else out of it.

"My default form possesses a power known as 'Aura'," Phantasm explained. "The good doctor already summed up how it works. This form, my second, possesses the power titles 'Destroyer'."

His finger hovered over the trigger, as he turned his head to face the Hunter's.

"How curious are you to learn the full meaning behind that title?"

Before anything else could happed, Daniel teleported between them.

"That enough!" he demanded, slamming his cane firmly on the floor.

Phantasm and the Hunter slowly eased up, with Phantasm eventually reverting to his previous form. I looked around at everyone else. Kai was okay, Seraph was recovering from the nerve attacks, and the Biker was recovering from a slit throat, which explained what I had missed happening to him. Apparently he's immortal or some shit...

"That was an excellent demonstration," Daniel said, before turning to Seraph. "You good?"

"No warning?" she asked.

"Wouldn't be a surprise attack otherwise," he said. "Even I didn't know when exactly he was planning to drop in."

"Of fucking course," Seraph scoffed.

"I am sorry," Daniel said. "But I needed to give a proper test to make sure everyone's ready for this, and he agreed to avoid killing any of us. And you all passed the test quite well."

"Seriously?" the Hunter asked. "They went down like-"

"Soldiers," Daniel interrupted. "They got caught off guard. They fought. They did their best. They lost. A defeat more than common amongst people going into battle. Everyone here is ready for the upcoming war."

"Even the kid?" the Hunter asked, gesturing to Kai.

Daniel laughed hard at that.

"Are you kidding me?" Daniel asked. "That 'kid' had the shear balls to stand up to you after you kicked the asses of every superpowered being in the room."

Kai blushed, and backed away a little bit. Daniel averted his gaze, staring off at nothing in particular.

"I'm down an intern," he mention. "Just... anyway..."

He straightened up.

"There's a war coming, and I don't know when our what's going to happen. But i'm confident that the group we've gathered together can make a difference."

There was some chattering amongst ourselves for a couple minutes, before Elie nervously opened the front door.

"Uh, hey... have things calmed down?" He asked. "I heard a bunch of battle noises, and a wall's gone..."

"S'all good," Daniel said. "Come on in."

Elie entered, with Jane and Kimiko in tow.

"Sup?" Daniel asked.

"We have a problem," Elie stated. "My blueprints were... um... stolen."

"Again?" Daniel asked.

"Not the Extractor blueprints, this time," Elie said. "I um... I don't want you to be mad about this, but..."

Daniel turned to Elie scowling.

"Have you been working on an Enhancer!?" he demanded.

"No!" Elie said. "... wasn't building one, but I was studying your own work on it, and trying to brainstorm ideas to possiblycreate a safer version of it."

Daniel glared furiously, before forcing himself to calm down.

"So, what you're saying is, someone has the knowledge to potentially supercharge Demi-Gods without risk of blowing them up along with everything in the area?" he asked.

"Yes," Elie said. "And... I know who has it..."

Daniel's expression shifted between curious, then angry, and then depress, as a realization hit him. He didn't need Elie to tell him. He could guess.

"Tyler...," he muttered.

Before Elie could respond, Daniel's phone rang. He answered it swiftly.

"Hello?" he asked. "Oh, Professor."

"Ben?" I asked.

Daniel nodded once before continuing.

"What?" he asked. "When and where? Okay. Yeah, gotcha. We'll be there, armed and ready."

He paused for a moment.

"What do mean, my lab?" he asked, before his eyes widened, and he vanished, dropping his phone to the floor. I swiped it up, speaking into it.

"Ben? I asked. "What's going-"

"Follow him," Ben replied quickly. "Bring Sera. Wake up the detective and the medic first."

He then hung up. I turned to Seraph.

"We need to get to the lab," I said.

She nodded, turned to the others, and demanded "Nobody kill each other till we get back!"

We both rushed to the lab to find all of Solar Progeny unconscious on the floor.

Daniel stood before a shadowy vortex on the wall, that was slowly closing into nothingness. I remembered Ben's words, and ran to Tony's side.

"Seraph, take care of-" I said.

"Ciel first," Seraph interrupted. "I know, we need her up first to help fix all the wounds and stuff. Ain't my first shit show, dude."

I gave Tony a gentle shake.

"Hey, buddy?" I asked. "You good?"

"Tony's eyes fluttered awake.

"I'm sorry," He said. "Dawson and Tyler... a couple others... Caught us off-guard. Couldn't stop them..."

"What did they take?" Daniel asked. His words were colder than I was expecting from him.

Tony coughed a little bit. Seraph had gotten Ciel up, and the two of them were now assisting Justin and Terrence.

"Samples," Tony gasped quietly.

Daniel rushed to where his samples were kept. I patted Tony on the shoulder briefly before going to join him.

"All the samples are here, right?" I asked, running my gaze across them.

"The samples themselves are, but..." He said, opening up a drawer on the desk bellow them. I saw all of the Cells he had Extracted energy into. "No..." he muttered.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Red Cap," he muttered. "Azoth. Vision. Valravn. Convocation. All missing. And... Brute..."

"Oh no," I muttered.

"Those energies are all incredibly unstable," Daniel said. "The Brute's most of all. There's no telling what kind of damage they can do with all of that..."

"We need to stop then," I said.

Daniel thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"One thing at a time," he said. "Malkator told me the time and place to attack the forest. And it's soon. Our team is ready. We need to act on that for now. And I'm sure... positive that Dawson and his cohorts will clash with us along the way. When we do, we'll take care of them. And Tyler..."

He took a deep breathe, held it for a few seconds, and let it all out.

"I'll get through to him," he said. "Somehow. I'm going to get my intern back."

I gave him a pat on the back.

"I know you will," I said.

I turned back to Tony and approached him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"More or less," he said.

"What can you tell me?" I asked.

"Dawson phased them all in with his shadow magic," Tony said. "We fought. We lost. They took some of the samples. Daniel showed up just before I lost consciousness. He saw them. Then they left."

"This is like the ambush from before," I said. "But they timed it wrong. He had gotten back when they still expected him to be gone."

Tony shook his head.

"No," he said. "They timed it perfectly. They wanted this. They wanted Daniel to catch them, right as they were leaving. They wanted him to see them. So that they could rub their victory in his face."

"None of that matters," Daniel snapped. "Ciel!"

Ciel snapped up at attention. Justin and Terrence were conscious, but still out of it.

"Wounds!" Daniel barked. "Treatment. Now!"

Ciel nodded and whipped out her medical kit. Daniel turned his back and headed out to where the others were. I gave a last look at Tony, who Seraph was patching up, before I followed.

Daniel faced everyone, and addressed them.

"We have a lot of problems," he said. "One of which includes a man empowered by Nightlanders and my former intern, who's got a shapeshifting tree in place of his right arm. But we'll deal with them when we cross them. For now, our focus is on the forest, and the beings being corrupted by it. They're the reason I called in an expert on dealing with metahumans."

"I don't trust Demi Gods," the Hunter said. "That includes the lot of you. But at the very least, you all aren't feral. Which is something I can't say about these Green Men. They're savage, and that makes them more of a threat. They need to be stopped, along with this damned forest, before they spread further and do more harm. That's the only reason I'm siding with any of you."

Daniel nodded.

"Go get some rest," he said. "Build up your strength. We don't have much time left. We need to be ready to attack when we need to. Sleeping bags are in that room. Sorry I can't give better accommodations, but I'm on a budget, here.

Everyone left to get their sleeping situation sorted out. I stuck around.

"You okay?" I asked.

Daniel thought for a few seconds.

"You know how shit hit the fan back in Seattle?" he asked.

"We titled 3 posts after it, so yeah," I said.

"I think something much grosser is about to hit something spinning a lot faster," he said. He sighed, and followed up with "Are we ready for this?"

"Fuck no, we aren't," I said. "But back in Seattle, I saw part of you I didn't think existed. You did the right thing. You pushed yourself beyond your breaking point to save as many people as possible."

"Only because you were there to nudge me the right way," he said. "I would have just bailed if you weren't there."

"We were in it together back there," I said. "And we're in it together again."

I gave his arm a gentle punch.

"We've got this," I said confidently.

He hesitated, before clicking the switch on his cane, drawing the concealed sword out a couple inches. He examined it thoughtfully, before smiling to himself, and re-sheathing it.

"Yeah," he said. "We do. Now, let's go check up on Tony and the others."

"Yeah," I agreed, stretching a bit and letting out a tired yawn. "And after that, let's get some of that 'rest' you were talking about earlier."