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Fiend Dance Again The Dark Fiend of the Storm dashed across the rocky ground, sliding upon a layer of water beneath her feet. Quickly, she changed direction and dashed toward Stephanie Chen, who waited with her staff in hand. With the blades of water she had formed on her arms, the Storm Fiend struck. However, she struck something hard, just less than a foot in front of Stephanie. It was a Holy shield. Enraged, Jennie struck the shield again and again, but her water blades couldn't break through. Suddenly, Steph hopped back and fired a Holy beam, but the Storm Fiend skirted out of the way. Then, she came back again for another attack. Stephanie reacted, putting up her staff and forming another Holy shield. "How am I supposed to hit her?" Stephanie asked herself mentally. "She moves so fast... If only I could keep her from moving... wait..." Jennie dashed around and tried to attack Stephanie from behind. In her haste to turn around, Steph stumbled and fell onto her back, but she raised her staff and cast the spell in time, forming another Shield. Then, she quickly cast another spell. To Jennie's surprise, yellow threads appeared from the air and wrapped around her, holding her in place. With the Angelhair Snare holding her opponent in place, Stephanie calmly stood back onto her feet and fired Holy shots at her, one after another. "Damn you!" Jennie screamed. "Cheap tactic! I'll kill you!" Water burst forth and tore through most of the Angelhair. With a shout, Jennie yanked her arms loose and charged. Stephanie dove away and again tried the Angelhair. This time, however, Jennie was prepared. As soon the yellow threads appeared, the Storm Fiend swung with her liquid blades, tearing through the Snare before it even formed. Turning around, she rushed toward Stephanie and lunged. Steph hopped back, but she was too slow. The water blade pierced her skin. Stephanie screamed in pain. Fortunately, Jennie's aim was a little low. The blade hit her in the leg, slicing cleanly through her pants--pants because Stephanie, knowing that she would fight a lot more, had traded in some skirts for some pants that she could easily move around in. Jennie stabbed with her other arm, but Steph swung her staff. The blade end caught Jennie in the attacking arm. The Storm Fiend, too, screamed in pain. At that moment, both girls pulled away from their opponent, both bleeding, both panting heavily. Stephanie was wounded in her right leg. She tried to stand, but the pain immediately forced her back into a sitting position. Unfortunately, Jennie could stand perfectly well. She could still move, too, as demonstrated when she charged yet again. Steph swiftly raised her staff and blocked with a Holy shield, but Jennie didn't give up. She dashed around and threw pressurized balls of water. Occasionally, she shot in to strike with blades of water. Stephanie's Shield spell protected her quite well, but she didn't know how long she could last. She was, after all, only human. The Dark Fiend of the Storm had a lot more power and a lot more stamina. She couldn't wait too long, or she'd tire out and be torn apart. No, she needed to think of something. "Come on, Steph, think!" Stephanie thought. "What spells do I know? What spells will actually work? Feather cluster didn't work. Holy shots and Angelhair don't work anymore. Scales of Justice is a projectile attack like the Holy shot--no, wait! The most basic form of the Scales of Justice radiates energy in all directions. It's effective range isn't as long, but if it shoots in all directions, then it's my best chance of hitting Jennie." The Dark Fiend of the Storm slashed at Steph's Holy shield. Now, small cracks began to form all over the surface of the shield. "It's breaking," Jennie taunted. "It'll be just a few more moments now." Jennie backed up, then charged again. To her amazement, Stephanie dropped her Holy Shield completely. She was casting another spell, but it didn't matter. Jennie was moving so fast that she could reach Stephanie and kill her even if a Holy shot or two did hit her on the way. Stephanie concentrated hard on the Scales of Justice. Although this form of the spell was simpler, she was having a little bit of trouble. She had never cast this version of the Scales before. Jennie's bladed arm came closer and closer. When Stephanie first saw the light, she thought she had died. But then, when she heard the Storm Fiend's scream of pain, she realized that her spell had work. She listened carefully. Then, she turned her body slightly and pointed the head of her staff straight out. The Scales of Justice then focused itself into a narrow beam, a beam that carried Jennie several yards across the top of Lurias Plateau. Vincent Zeng knew he had to take a guess. The Dark Fiend of the Land had been pummeling him, and Vince's body was sore from the beating. Although he couldn't predict Gregor's attacks, he had to block one before he could counter-attack, and in order to do that, he had to guess where Gregor would attack next. His first guess was wrong, though, as Gregor pushed out of the ground right in front of and smashed him with his clawed gauntlets. It was surprising how Vince could still think despite the pain, despite the repeated blows to his head. Where was a good place to guess? In front? No, Gregor had just attacked from that direction. It would be hard to hit him from in front now, since Vince was flying backward. So, then, there was only one other place that Vince would guess. The Dark Fiend of the Inferno managed to get his feet on the ground, so he whirled around and caught in his hands a pair of clawed gauntlets. He had done it. Vince had stopped Gregor's attack. With a shout and a battle cry, Vince threw Gregor's hands apart, leaving him wide open. Then, with a pair of flaming fists, Vince bashed at Gregor's turtle shell armor, but the Land Fiend still only smiled. A swift kick knocked Vince back a little as Gregor again sank into the ground. No, Vince couldn't let him sink into the ground... but what if there was no ground to sink into? With that answer in mind, Vince leapt high into the air, rapidly throwing down a volley of fireballs. They were like meteors as they slammed into the ground, exploding with enormous clouds of flame, throwing up tons of dirt, destroying gallons of stone, leaving only sand. Vince stared through the dust and noticed a dark spot--no doubt the Land Fiend. Then, still in the air, Vince fired a mass of flame at an angle. It was a simple trick that he had learned in a battle long ago. By throwing flame in a direction, he could use it like a weak form of propulsion. It was enough to get him to Gregor. As he approached, Vince screamed a terrible warcry. He twirled around and gave Gregor a double flaming kick. The force of the attack rolled the Land Fiend over a few yards. When Gregor tried to burrow into the sand, Vince gave a single utterance: "Oh, no you don't!" He then followed up by shooting a beam of flame into the sand where Gregor sank. The Land Fiend roared in pain as he floated back to the surface. Jennie's bloodied body landed in his line of sight. Gregor dashed over to her. "Jennie, are you all right?" he asked. "Damn that Priestess!" Jennie moaned. "Don't worry, I'll kill her for you," Gregor said softly but angrily. "No, I think I know how to beat them," Jennie said, "but we'll have to work together. Combine our powers into a single attack." "You done talking yet?" Vince asked. "Can I beat the shit out of you some more?" "Done talking," Gregor replied, "but you ain't beating the shit out of anyone." The Land Fiend then plunged his hands into the ground. The Earth shook, and Vince lost his balance. A fissure opened beneath his feet, and Vince fell. Immediately, the Storm Fiend let loose waves of water, filling the fissures that Gregor had opened up. Now, Vince was underwater, unable to find a foothold on the ever-shifting rock, and he was in pain, excruciating pain. "Vince!" Stephanie shouted. She staggered over toward the three Fiends, using her staff as a cane. However, the ground opened up beneath her, and water filled the void. Stephanie screamed as she fell in. Then, the currents threw her around, knocking her into the rock walls of the crevasse that Gregor had opened. Stephanie closed her eyes and concentrated on a prayer, one she hoped would save her life. Her concentration was broken momentarily when a boulder hit her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her, but she tried to force the pain out of her mind and focused on her prayer. White angel wings sprouted from her back, and Stephanie used them to lift herself out of the water, to freedom. When Gregor saw that Stephanie had escaped, he said, "That's not going to work." Then, he raised his arms. At that moment, all the sand leftover from Vince's battle with Gregor lifted into the air, forming a bowl and carrying the water with it. Stephanie struggled to fly out of the bowl, but Gregor put his hands together, and the sand extended itself over the top, closing over itself, forming a spherical shell. Now, Vince and Stephanie were trapped in a huge stone ball, swirling around with Jennie's water magic. Vince ached and burned all over his body as the water sapped away his lifeforce. Stephanie was being beaten and bruised as the waters slammed and scraped her against the inside wall of the stone ball. Both of them were drowning. "It looks like they need our help," Robert said. "It's a good thing we salvaged these rocket launchers before we left Gehenna." Robert and Alice had left the hovercraft and watched the battle from a distance. Despite Vince's requests, they still wanted to help, so Robert raised his rocket launcher, carefully aimed, and fired. The rocket sped across the barren landscape of Lurias Plateau and slammed into the Dark Fiend of the Land. He screamed as the power of the rocket knocked him off the edge of the cliff and threw him into the dead city. The ball of stone crumbled into sand and fell away. The waters evaporated. Vincent and Stephanie fell to the ground, dry and gasping for air. "Gregor!" Jennie screamed as she ran to the cliff-side and looked over the edge. "Don't make any sudden moves, or I'll kill you," Stephanie said. While Jennie had knelt over to get a good view of the city, Stephanie had put the blade end of her staff to the back of her neck. Robert and Alice ran over to the scene. One on the left and one on the right, they pointed their guns at the Storm Fiend. "We have you surrounded," Robert said. "You can't escape." Vince groaned as he slowly climbed to his feet. "Vince, you okay?" Alice asked. "Finish her," Vince ordered. "There are demons down there," Jennie interrupted. "They came from the city, and now they're swarming up to the Plateau." "It's a trick," Vince said. "Kill her." "No, I'm not lying!" Jennie shouted. "Look for yourself." Alice slowly walked over to the cliff-side. "Alice?" Vince asked. "What? She might be telling the truth," Alice said as she momentarily turned away from the cliff's edge. When she turned around again, a demon leapt onto her, knocking her down. "Alice!" Vince shouted as he dove onto the demon and pulled it off his sister. Robert swore. Stephanie stumbled backward in shock. Jennie stood up. From her legs splashed forth some water, and the Storm Fiend dashed away. Throwing the demon aside, Vince picked Alice up and ran toward the hovercraft. Robert fired his guns, blasting away some demons as he ran to meet Vince and Alice. "Vince! Help!" Stephanie cried as she struggled onto her legs. "Shit! Steph!" Vince exclaimed. Shouting, "Robert, take care of Alice," he dropped his little sister and dashed toward Stephanie. Unfortunately, halfway there, a pack of demons leapt onto him. Shouting, the Dark Fiend of the Inferno threw the demons off his body, but he dared not use his flame. Then, after he had thrown all the demons off, he realized that these same demons now had him surrounded. They were small, about three or four feet in height, and they were dark blue in color. These demons had thick tails, a long face, and claws, and they looked somewhat like giant lizards who stood on their hind legs. There were about a dozen of them, and they had Vince trapped. There was no way he could get out without running into one of them. Yet, the Inferno Fiend made no move. "Vince, what's wrong?" Stephanie shouted, still struggling to get to her feet. Her injury made it difficult for her to stand. Vince made no reply. "Vince, they're demons!" Stephanie shouted. "They're already dead! Just kill them. It's not going to matter." Still, Vince made neither a move nor a reply. Elsewhere, Robert and Alice made a dash for the hovercraft. All around them, demons chased them, demons of various sizes and colors. Guns blazing, they managed to clear a path through the oncoming armies. Then, Robert saw it, the rocket launcher he had dropped on the ground after the Land Fiend had been blown off the mountain. He ran toward it and dove, firing his guns to blast away a pair of attacking demons. Then, as he grabbed the rocket launcher and quickly rolled, a demon leapt onto him, only to be blasted apart by Alice. Robert then came back onto his feet and fired a rocket just beyond Alice. The resulting explosion wiped out an entire platoon of demons. "Hurry up!" Robert shouted to Alice as he fired off a few more rockets. Then, Alice, with Robert right behind her, sprinted madly toward the hovercraft, trying to reach her ride before the demons caught up to her. "Robert, you left the door locked?" a panicked Alice asked. "What?" Robert frantically replied. When he realized the implication of a locked door, he swore. "Alice, the keys!" He lowered his rocket launcher and tossed the keys. Alice caught them, then spun around when Robert swore again. Demons had caught up to him and now clawed at him. "Alice, just go!" he shouted through the fighting. "I'll catch up with you later." "But--" "Run!" Alice ran. Eventually, she made it to the hovercraft, where she hastily opened the door and started the hovercraft's engine. Quickly, but somewhat recklessly, she piloted the flying machine until she saw Robert, running away from a band of demons. She immediately kicked open the passenger side door, through which Robert jumped in. "Oh, by the Heavens!" Alice exclaimed. "Robert, you're bleeding." "I'll be fine," Robert replied, despite several bleeding scratches across his body. "We gotta go pick up Vince and Steph." Vince was surrounded by a horde of small bluish demons. Stephanie stood behind them, limping, leaning on her staff. There was danger all about, but the Inferno Fiend refused to make a move. "Vince!" a desperate Stephanie shouted. "They're demons, not humans. It's okay to fight them. Tina--" Before she could finish her sentence, though, a swarm of demons jumped on her. "Stephanie!" the Inferno Fiend roared as he dashed for his girlfriend. Several demons got in his way, but Vince punched one, smashed another, and blew up a third with a fireball. Struggling, he ran over to the pile of demons that were attacking Stephanie. Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and all the demons were thrown aside. Stephanie emerged with several more scratches. Smiling, she looked toward Vince, then suddenly collapsed. Vincent hastily caught her. "Stephanie!" Vince shouted. "I'll be all right," Stephanie groaned meekly. "Just get us out of this place." An enraged Vince stared as a squadron of demons charged down at him. Screaming in fury, he ran past them, carrying Stephanie in one arm while attacking with his other. One demon had his arm torn off. Another lost its head. A third was slammed into a fourth, and another cluster of them was incinerated by a well-placed fireball. Then, Vince jumped, kicking off the head of another demon. Grabbing Stephanie's bladed staff as he landed, he slashed through several more. A large silver object came flying at him. "Vince!" Alice screamed. "Get inside!" One of the backseat doors opened, so Vince tossed Steph inside. Unfortunately, before he could climb in himself, several demons pounced upon him and scratched at his armor. Just then, charged particle blasts came down, tearing through the demons. Robert had opened his window and fired, helping Vince clear away the attackers. "Hurry up and get in before more come!" Robert shouted. Vince took heed and leapt into the open door. Then, after he closed it, they sped away, high above Neo Aurora, with Alice as their pilot. |