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Observation: It would appear that a high-class bomber vessel is making a bombing sweep of these city ruins. That large wave of fire looks most exciting. Statement: I would advise that we immediately retreat from the city. Analysis shows that this wave will not last very long but will still be able to make a complete sweep of the city." "
Right, got it, metal-head. Well, I'm not sure about you but I can just punch my way out of this city by using my Dust as a propellant." "
Declaration: It would be wise if we were to stick together on this one. As much as I despise you and your poor taste on humour, we need each other if we are to survive." "
Alright then, hold onto me and I'll propel us both out of here." HK then hesitantly grabbed a hold of Yang and she used her strength to punch projectiles behind her, launching her from the ground onto the rooftops, in which she jumped from roof to roof using her gauntlets. "
God, you're heavy... Thank god I work out!"
The Wizard and the Paladin.
On a scale of one to ten, this was not the worse day I had ever had. Sure, my surroundings looked like the backdrop from
Escape from New York. Sure, there were monsters that looked like they were straight out of the Nevernever, among other creatures. And yes, it was true that I was currently fighting a genuine king of Hell, who looked like Boris Karloff's Mummy on fire.
But Yang was out there and while I knew she could take care of herself, there's something about a lady in probable distress that makes me work harder. Besides, she was a friend. Friends don't leave friends in war zones and so I had left the group and began tracking her down. Which brings me to now.
My hand thrusted out, blood blinding my left eye from a close call as I snapped.
"FORZARE!"
Like the previous times, it did nothing as my opponent merely side stepped at the last second.
At the beginning, I managed to get the drop on him after encountering the aftermath of his attack. A group of folk, survivors like me killed for the food and water they collected by this man. Or so I thought. I had blasted him in the back, angered with the force of the Winter Mantle behind it. It did nothing permanent, at which point the fight began in earnest.
Hellfire warped from his blade, terrifying in its implications. The longer we fought, the more it felt like he could see right through me. It was akin to facing off against Nicodemus and I shuddered to imagine what he might have been in life.
My shield came up as an explosion tore upon it, forcing me back as I leaned on the staff and stared at him.
The demon smiled back.
"I can't ever remember having this much fun before. Not since the fires of the Bakumstsu, the death rattle of the Tokugawa Shogunate."
Great. I was a GED student, but I knew my history. This demon had a long career it seems and tired as I was, I gathered power to myself as I retorted.
"If this is a prelude to a talk about the good ol'days, I'll pass."
The demon walked and the fire around us responded to him. His eyes glowed with madness, the heat radiating off him as he raised his sword to what I had come to know as his attack position. I tensed and prepared myself as the creature chortled.
"You'll excuse me I'm sure. Hell had no more distractions for me after my death. Nothing to erase the tedium. Now? Here in the heart of death, where the strong live and the weak perish? Here, I'm exactly where I belong."
I scowled. The face was new, but the words were old. I heard them all before. The law of the jungle, eat or be eaten- the words in my first major case that had dictated the warlock responsible for the Three-Eye drug. Long ago, I had vowed to set myself otherwise. I don't want to live in a world where the strong rule and the weak cower. I'd rather make a place where things are a little quieter. Where trolls stay the hell under their bridges and where elves don't come swooping out to snatch children from their cradles. Where vampires respect the limits, and where the faeries mind their p's and q's as I once decided. Where did this Mummy ripoff get off, spitting in the face of that memory?
To me?!
My breath came out in a cloud of steam, ice forming beneath me. The demon paused, one eyebrow raised with polite interest. If fire was my foe, I was going to meet it with ice. The Winter Mantle in all its predatory glory, to erase this creature before me. Conjure my name at your own risk and pray you have mercy to those under my protection.
For I will show none in the face of none.
I launched at him and fire answered my coming.
And then a flash of green light took him away as my ice-coated fist tore through where he would have been. Anger would have been my first emotion, till I noticed the horizon.
....That was a lot of fire.
I immediately beat feet.
------
The smell of fresh blood lured the Paladin in his hunt. Enough to divert his search patterns as he flew down the rubble-strewn street.
What he saw staggered him. A wizard and a demon, in the ruins of this place. Was that what this was? No, it wouldn't be- he must not forget the stranger ones in this place. These two were much like him undoubtedly, save on opposite ends of the moralistic spectrum. He prepared himself to fight, tensed to swoop in and transform.
The sudden Teleportation and subsequent carpet bombing put that on hold. Lucifer was too late to save the victims or help the wizard. But he could at least help him now. As it was, he thought he recognized this place.
He dropped his crow form to assume his usual one. A priest in the black coat of Iscariot and the eyes of a monster, as he gestured.
"This way! I know a hiding place!"
"WHAT THE SHIT?!"
The cry would be loud enough for those familiar to hear, as the wizard and Paladin booked it to the crushed Bank on this street.
And the protective vault within it.
@Raptor Jesus @Raynar Saassin
