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Fiend Dance "Help me," the Dark Fiend of the Inferno groaned, but his voice wouldn't carry. Jennie, the Dark Fiend of the Storm, had him pinned to the ground with a stream of water magic, slowly washing away his lifeforce. All of Omicron were focusing their efforts on defeating the Dark Fiend of the Land to save their freight train, so none could help Vince. Gregor, the Land Fiend, was still on fire after Alice's fiasco with the fuel car of the train. As he charged at Alice, Stephanie, who stood nearby carrying a rocket launcher, fired at the Land Fiend. The rocket exploded across his chest, but did very little. By then, Alice had run off. Stephanie quickly dropped the rocket launcher and ran after her. The Land Fiend chased after them for a few feet, then stopped and noticed the rocket launcher, which he stomped, destroying it. The resulting seismic waves knocked down both Alice and Stephanie. Smiling, the Land Fiend ran toward them. Alice and Stephanie struggled to climb to their feet, but the Land Fiend was too fast. In mere moments, he was close enough to smash them with his fists. All of a sudden, a motorcycle sped by, and its rider grabbed Alice and placed her on the seat. Then, it turned and came back, and its rider grabbed Stephanie just before the Land Fiend crushed the ground where Stephanie sat before. The rider lifted the visor of his helmet, revealing Strikov's intense face. Briefly, Alice and Stephanie thanked him. "Hey, turtle!" Robert shouted. The Land Fiend turned to face him, and Robert immediately shot him with the heat beam cannon he had retrieved from the train moments before. "That won't work," the Land Fiend taunted. "You already--" Suddenly, the Land Fiend shouted in pain and leapt of the red laser's way. "It worked!" Robert thought. "Setting him on fire wasn't useless. The combination of the flame's heat and the beam's heat was just enough to cut him open." The Land Fiend leapt to the heat beam cannon's side. With one swipe of his clawed gauntlet, the cannon was sliced into pieces. Then, the Land Fiend turned his attacker. Robert swore, then ran as the Land Fiend chased him. The Land Fiend was much too fast. He caught up quickly. Upon reaching the train tracks, Robert picked up a piece of metal debris and swung it at the Land Fiend as he approached. Despite the loud metal impact, the Land Fiend wasn't even fazed by it. Robert swore again, ran to the train, and quickly rolled under a train car. Following him, the Land Fiend smashed up the train car, but all he saw on the other side was a fleet of armored jeeps. Robert was nowhere to be seen. The jeep personnel fired at him, but the Land Fiend simply ran right past them, shrugging off the bullets. He kept running until he reached the Storm Fiend. "Hey, Jennie!" the Land Fiend shouted. "Put me out, will you?" "Sure," the Storm Fiend replied as she doused Gregor's flame with water. Robert had escaped the Land Fiend's assault by crawling into another train car. He now sat in another train car, watching through the window. "There really is a hole in his chest," Robert thought as he observed. "But it's just a crack. We have to widen it somehow." As the Land Fiend smashed up more armored vehicles, Robert ran to Molly's jeep. "Hey, Molly!" he shouted. "I have a plan." Elsewhere, Vince groaned, "Help me! Stephanie! Alice! Robert!" "Shut your mouth!" Jennie cried. "There's no one here to help you. Just be glad I'm killing you off slowly so that you can watch Gregor kill all your friends." Gregor was killing off Omicron Mercenaries one by one. The crack in his stone skin was still too small for anyone to take advantage of it. Bullets were useless, as were rockets and charged particles. Any jeep or truck that tried to ram him was immediately smashed up. Strikov counted the bodies, and nearly half of Omicron were already dead. "Charge!" Lieutenant Claren cried as he sped toward the Land Fiend on a motorcycle, an automatic shotgun in his hands. He fired the shotgun repeatedly at the Land Fiend, but the shots only made him blink. As Claren passed, the Land Fiend slashed at him. The bike fell, and Claren fell with it, cut in half at the abdomen. Then, a rocket hit the Land Fiend from behind. "Looking for me?" Robert shouted, standing atop of the dirt wall that had blocked the train, a rocket launcher in his arms. "You!" the Land Fiend shouted, remembering the heat beam cannon. He charged toward the wall, but as he neared it, he heard a sudden honking behind him. He turned around to see an armored truck slam him into the dirt wall, pinning his body and left arm against it. Molly, in the driver's seat of the truck, climbed through the shattered windshield and set a mine on the Land Fiend's chest near the crack. However, before she could escape, the Land Fiend grabbed her with his free arm. "Help me!" Molly cried desperately. "Help!" she shrieked. Time ran out, and the mine exploded. The explosion was magnificent, tearing away the front half of the truck. Molly's body was torn by the blast and burned to cinders. The Land Fiend laughed. He had survived the explosion, which had destroyed the truck and freed him, but the crack in his chest was now a hole, a foot long and a few inches wide. Still laughing, the Land Fiend threw the remnants of the truck at a group of jeeps. Robert fired his particle blaster at the Land Fiend, but the Land Fiend blocked the shots with his gloves. As he turned to attack, Robert jumped, kicked off the Land Fiend's head, and landed on the train. From there, he ran from train car to train car. The Land Fiend leapt onto the train and chased after him. Soon, he caught up. In moments, he started swinging his claws at Robert, missing only by inches. As Robert jumped a gap between cars, Leon suddenly leapt up through the gap, a medieval sword in hand, stabbing it up into the hole on the Land Fiend's chest. The power of this attack forced even the Land Fiend to stagger back. Then, shouting in pain, he fell off the train. Hitting the dirt with a thud, the Land Fiend stopped moving altogether. "I was always better with the sword," Leon commented. "Nice job, Leon," Robert said. "Good teamwork. Too bad about Molly, though." "Yeah, we'll give her a good funeral," Leon replied. "Gregor!" Jennie shouted. "You'll all pay!" she cried. "First, I'll kill Vince!" Suddenly, three rockets smashed into the Inferno Fiend in succession, launching him into the air. Strikov rode the motorcycle by and caught him. "Vince! Are you all right?" asked Alice, who sat behind Strikov. "I'm a little weak," Vince said faintly. "But I just need rest, that's all." Stephanie, rocket launcher in hand, stood face to face with the Storm Fiend. "You!" she shouted. "You're ruining everything! I'll kill you!" Steph fired a rocket, but Jennie simply summoned a whirlpool of water around her self, acting as a shield, deflecting the rocket. Steph threw the rocket launcher aside and dashed away from the Storm Fiend, who was now throwing blasts of water at her. One of them hit her in the back and threw her several yards. However, she quickly hopped back to her feet and, soaking wet, dove into the back of an armored jeep. Jennie blasted the jeep with her water magic, sending it tumbling down the road. Somehow, inside, Steph still managed to climb into the driver's seat, fasten the seat belt, and drive away. Behind the Storm Fiend, Lorina carried a battery hooked to two loose wires, hoping to shock the water-elemental Fiend, but the Storm Fiend noticed and threw a giant raindrop to knock Lorina aside. Suddenly, an armored jeep came full speed at the Storm Fiend. She sliced it in half with a pressurized water beam, but Stephanie dove out the jeep, narrowly avoiding its fate. As she landed, she rolled and grabbed the battery, then ran over to Leon. "I have to go help them," Vince groaned, trying to climb to his feet. "No, no!" Alice shouted, holding down her brother. "You're much too weak. Get some rest. They can take care of themselves." Vince replied, "But--" "No," Alice interrupted. "Stephanie's a smart girl. She can take care of herself." Reluctantly, Vince stopped resisting Alice and lay there on the ground, away from the battle that raged near the train. Now, several Omicron members focused their attention and firepower on the Storm Fiend, but the spinning hurricane of a barrier was virtually impenetrable. In response, she simply used water streams to push them all away. Elsewhere, Stephanie picked up the rocket launcher she had tossed aside. After twiddling with it for a moment, she put it behind her back and yelled out for the Storm Fiend's attention, "Hey, didn't you say you wanted to kill me?" "Yes," Jennie replied. "You gonna die now?" "Not now," Stephanie replied. "It's a little too early for me. But you--" Steph stepped aside, revealed the rocket launcher, and fired at Jennie. Almost about to deflect the rocket, the Storm Fiend realized that it wasn't just a rocket. Steph had connected it to the battery with a long set of wires, making it an electrified rocket. Touching it, even with water, would be painful. The Storm Fiend shifted to one side, slowly dragging the entire cyclone of water with her, and the electric rocket missed by a couple of feet. However, behind her, Leon caught the wires off the rocket with a wooden stick and threw them right back at her. The arc of the shot was just so that the wires would wrap halfway around her. There was no way she'd be able shift her whirlpool barrier aside in time. The wires drew near. Jennie screamed, and the spinning barrier of water evaporated. The Storm Fiend suddenly skirted away at incredible speeds, sliding noiselessly across the ground. Elsewhere, a figure pulled the medieval blade from Gregor's body. "The shield's down!" Stephanie shouted. "Now's the time to attack!" Stephanie had dropped her rocket launched in favor of Claren's automatic shotgun, which she now used to fire shell after shell at the Storm Fiend. Jack and Lorina, among others, followed suit, grabbing sub-machine guns and opening fire as well. The Storm Fiend, however, was amazingly quick. Despite all the firepower flying at her, she managed to weave herself around the bullets. Eventually, she sped her way to Jack and struck him as she passed, knocking him dizzy. Likewise, she knocked down Lorina. Elsewhere, Robert knelt where the Storm Fiend had previously stood, when she had used the swirling water barrier. He was carefully scrutinizing the floor. "It looks like water," Robert thought. "That explains how she's moving so fast. She makes a thin layer of water and glides across it really fast, like an ice-skater, but she's leaving a trail of water behind her, like a slug, except faster. I wonder..." One by one, the Storm Fiend knocked down and knocked out her attackers. Within less than a minute, Steph and her automatic shotgun were the only ones left. The Storm Fiend sped toward her, easily avoiding the shells. Upon reaching Steph, she caught her in a stream of water, knocking away her weapon. However, instead of knocking Steph away with her gun, the Storm Fiend kept her encased in a giant droplet of water. "You know, I think you really will die now," the Storm Fiend said bitterly. Stephanie couldn't breathe. Her whole body was immersed in water, slowly drowning. Yet, from where she was, she could still see Robert. He threw the battery onto thin layer of water, and the electricity arced and followed the water, following the precise path the Storm Fiend had taken. It took only a few seconds. Jennie saw what was happening, so she dropped Steph and sped away. As Stephanie gasped for air, the electrical path looped around her, missing her by inches, then chased after Jennie. The Storm Fiend could not outrun electricity. It caught up to her within moments. Jennie screamed. Her body let off steam. The Storm Fiend fell to the floor, shocked and burned. Still, she refused to stay down. Slowly, Jennie climbed back to her feet, shouting in rage. "No!" she cried. "I won't let myself be beaten by a bunch of pathetic humans!" From water droplets, she formed liquid blades on her arms and held them up in front of her, prepared to strike. Suddenly, a medieval sword came from behind her and caught the blades on her arms. Someone was holding her from behind with that sword, keeping her from moving. "You're not the only Dark Fiend who refuses to die," said a voice behind her. "Vince," Jennie said, recognizing. "How foolish." From her body, Jennie let out and outward pulse of water, but instead of hearing Vince's screams of pain, she heard laughter. "Who's the foolish one now?" Vince asked. "You think I'd actually try taking you on in my Dark Fiend form? We both know perfectly well that you'd beat me, so here I am holding you down as a simple human. You realize, Jennie, you've already lost. You can't move your arms, and you can't run away. If you do nothing, this blade will slowly cut through your arms and into your chest. If you try to push me away with your water magic, I'll only cut through you faster." Jennie grimaced as blood oozed out through the black hide on her forearms. Vince was right. There was nothing she could do, at least, not by herself. "Vince!" another voice shouted, obviously enraged. "Let go of Jennie!" Vince turned to face the Dark Fiend of the Land, whose shell was torn and bleeding, but the Fiend was standing. Screaming in rage, Gregor charged at Vince, his fists in the air. When Gregor was near, Vince suddenly threw Jennie at him, and in reflex, Gregor struck her with his claws. "Oh, no, Jennie!" Gregor shouted. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" "Don't worry about it," Jennie replied weakly. "I'll be fine. Just kill him." "I will," Gregor said angrily as he stood up to face Vince, who, during their conversation, had transformed in to the Dark Fiend of the Inferno again. Gregor charged at Vince and pummeled him. He struck the Inferno Fiend again and again with tremendous strength, with tremendous speed, with tremendous rage. Soon, Vince was knocked to the floor. Gregor pounced upon him, using one hand to hold Vince's right arm above his head, pinning his sword against the ground, and using the other arm to grasp at his throat. "You're open," Vince said with cold confidence. One of Gregor's arms was above Vince's head, and the other was at his neck. Vince's left hand was at Gregor's abdomen, level with the wound Robert had opened earlier. Their position on the floor made it impossible for Gregor to move his arms to defend himself. In one swift motion, Vince slammed a fireball into the hole in Gregor's shell. The resulting explosion knocked the Land Fiend into the air, sending him several hundred feet high before he came back down and slammed into the ground next to Jennie. "No," Gregor grunted, climbing to his feet. "This is ridiculous. How could you have beaten me?" A pause. "No, I won't let you kill me. I'll be stronger next time. Next time we meet, Vince, I'll kill you! Until then..." With that, he lifted the unconscious Jennie off the floor and sped away with her. Vince began to chase after them, but Strikov called him back. "Vince, forget them," Strikov said. "The train is too damaged to continue on toward Kiera. The city of Sacrinia is only ten miles away. We need your help to move our supplies as close to Sacrinia as possible, and then we'll set up camp there." Vince turned to see the Land Fiend and the Storm Fiend disappear into the distance. "All right, I'll help," he said as his armor melted away, reverting him to human. "Wait, sir," Stephanie interrupted. "First, I think we should give tribute to the dead. So many of us died here today, defending the train from those Fiends." Strikov was silent for a moment. Then, he replied only with a nod. Slowly, the surviving members of Omicron collected the remains of the dead and dug a mass grave for them. Robert and some of the others carved their names into a sheet of metal debris that he found. Among those names were Molly Palimus, whom Vince and his friends had befriended on their first day and whom her best friend Lorina mourned, and Lieutenant Jason Claren, who was one of the only two commanding officers Strikov had below him. Yet, now was not the time to dwell on the dead. They had supplies to move, repairs to make, and a new camp ten miles away. After the hasty funeral, Vince began moving boxes from the damaged train to the surviving trucks. |