The Coming Darkness

Maya stopped short, just before falling in. Her minions multiplied, ending in about 10 total. They rocketed off towards Enki, diving and twirling as they went. It was terribly hard for Maya to control them, but she did so to the best of her ability, using her own fine senses to help them. They attacked from all different directions. One flying above him and sacrificing itself, liquid light melted down and poured over Enki.

Now I've got him, she thought. No normal person would be able to withstand this acid. She felt the ground continue to corrode in contact with her acidic coating. She knelt down before the great split, wondering if there was a way she could make it across.

Sasha, on the other hand, had totally lost control of her muscles. Her limbs went limp; the last attack had taken too much out of her; made her use too much power. Sasha tried, with all her will to move towards Enki, for one last attack, but instead, ended up slipping through the abyss, falling, falling...

I really need to train more in stamina...

The attacks continued to flow, one by one being conquered by what seemed to be a force they had underestimated. The ground began to crack below them, but this time it wasn't Silvers doing - meaning it wasn't a mere illusion. And if someone didn't do something, the cracks were going to reach Silver and swallow her up.

"Silver, watch it!" Eos ran toward the girl who seemed to already be in a massive amount of pain, unable to reach her in time - she managed to cast another defensive bubble around her, but this time was able to move the bubble to safety with Silver inside. Eos was astonished at this new found manipulation she had with her bubbles but was relieved she had gotten to Silver in time.

Eos' eyes darted down to Sasha, who was experiencing the same fate yet again - only this time it was much more real. Unfortunately, she was caught up keeping Silver afloat, which meant Maya or Volitaire were the only one's that could save her.

Silver couldn't take it anymore. She was groaning in pain, still on her knees.
"I said.. Stop... FIGHTING!"
Before she could do anything else, the ground cracked open more, with bright green flames bursting out of it. The crack spread to where the group was fighting and went between Enki and the others. The crack got a bit wider, separating the group from Enki.

The only thing was, this wasn't an illusion.

Silver stood up at the beginning of that crack, bursting the protective bubble Eos put on her. Her eyes were glowing a bright green color, and she had a long sword in her hand, which was glowing indigo. She didn't seem like her usual self, and she glared at Enki. She began to walk towards him, with little neon green spiders crawling out from the crack behind her. She continued glaring at Enki, and after she got about halfway to him, she spoke.
"Don't you dare hurt them. Let us fight, one on one. It's more fair that way."

Remaining quiet, but thinking to himself he warped back. Silvers shouting began to aggravate him, but he stood and waited. He seemed to become a more thinking creature than before...but his manna was getting low, and dropping quite quickly too. The drawback of this new power was immediately found.

Spoiler

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"Sasha!" Enzo shouted, he flew up from what seemed like a bottomless pit, and caught her. He shifted to using one arm for flying, while he carried her in the other. They both made their way out of the pit before green flames arose from it.

Enki used his own storm flames to protect himself from the minions. He used the flames as a shield, deflecting the incoming light. Then, Silver snapped. And it caught his attention before he could attack Maya. "Oh? You want to die first?" He laughed. "Bring it, bitch."

Out of nowhere, a body flew into the pit. Looking down below her eyes quivered - "It's... Enzo!" A sense of momentary relief washed over her as she came to realize Enki was lying - Enzo wasn't dead!

He fought back urge to engage. His more developed mind seemed to acknowledge Silver's request. He stepped back, but soon after he began spitting up blood, a lot of it. Returning to normal the dark circles around his eyes were bigger, and his mouth was covered in blood. Bad blood. He fell over spitting up a little more, the veins that were once red, had turned black on his human skin. He fell unconscious, the Virus took nearly everything out of him. "Good...he's back." He said falling.

Sasha heard someone call out her name. Who..?

She felt herself being caught, and her eyes moved upwards, meeting Enzo's.
Thank god...you're alive...

She couldn't say it at the moment, but instead, managed to smile, as if to express her emotion.

Silver's face remained the same as she walked towards him. She was completely ignoring the others, though she acknowledged that Enzo managed to show up. She twirled the long sword around her arm, preparing herself for an attack. She paused a few dozen feet away. All the spiders that had been following her before climbed up on her, and went straight to her sword. They seemed to melt into it, giving it some sort of coating. It wasn't clear as to what it's purpose was, though. Protection? Poison? It could be anything.

"I've heard redheads are typically weaker than others, vulnerable to pain. They supposedly die faster. Is that true, do you know? I'm curious to find out."
The spiders had finished and Silver stood there, ready for any attack he might throw at her.

Maya stepped back, also submitting to Silver's request. Once she had a few seconds to think, she fell to the floor on her knees. Her new power had taken a lot out of her, and the light that she had been emitting before dissolved and dissapeared.
"Enzo..." she breathed. He was still alive, just as she knew he would be. She smiled faintly.
Her attention slowly went back to Silver. It was so hard for her to focus now. All of the manipulating and controlling she had done earlier had stolen her focus from her.

Enzo quickly set Sasha down at a safe distance away, near the edges of the field, behind some bushes. "Rest here." He said, before grabbing the other injured or tired. That included; Volitaire, Eos, and Maya. He set them all down in the same spot, behind the bush. After he set down the last person, he looked down at them. Saw their scars, their pain, and their anger.

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Enzo turned to Enki, who was about to engage into combat with Silver. His hair had been concealing his rage, but after seeing his friends in such conditions, he finally snapped.

Spoiler

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ENKI!!!!!

She wanted to wish him good luck; to tell him that she was rooting for him, but Sasha couldn't speak at the moment. She closed her eyes.

You better defeat him, or I'll be pissed...

Silver turned to Enzo when he yelled out Enki's name. She gave him an annoyed and angry look, putting her free hand on her hip. "Excuse me, can't you see we're about to settle this? Y'know, without you?"
She totally figured that she had this covered, no sweat. She turned back to Enki and got herself into a battle ready position, about to attack him.

Enki saw Enzo, clearly bent on revenge. "The lady is right, Enzo. Don't barge into this fight." Enki laughed, and prepared himsel-

Then, Enki was gone, all that was left was a line of Enzo's flames. Enzo grabbed and slammed Enki's head into the tree on the other side of the field. Then, his hands glowed. Enki is quickly overwhelmed by a one-handed X Burner, from right in his face. The blast cleared a path into the forest.

Enki clapped, still standing upright. "I get it now, you're way more effective once I mess with your 'friends'. Well, i'm done warming up." Enki's left eye ignited with his storm flame. "I have the killing intent, Enzo. Do you?" It was meaningless, Enki didn't give Enzo any time to say anything, as he charged straight into him, punching his gut, and sending Enzo tumbling back towards Silver.

"You still lack the ability to find your Killing Intent. That'll be your downfall." Enki stated. "That doesn't matter." Enzo stood up, standing beside Silver. "We aren't going to fall for your scheme, Darkness." Darkness? Enzo! You know! The uncorrupt Enki was in joy, and actually had hope. "We'll save you."

"Tch, I wanted to have the first blow." Silver crossed her arms.
She uncrossed her arms and twirled her sword again, only this time slamming it into the ground. The green coating on it spread into the ground, and struck towards Enki like a lightning bolt. It corroded the ground as it moved, so it was clear that it was some sort of acidic poison. Once it got to a certain point, it started spreading over a large area, trying to make sure Enki would get hit no matter how he moved.

[[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yglUS...cvgmFeoaVBG9LQ ]]

Enki flew up into the air, the same as Enzo. "You aren't going to catch me with that." He said. "Huh?" Turning to his side too late, Enzo punched him in his side, leaving him open for more damage. Enzo good a few hits in before Enki started to block and dodge them.

When Enzo through another punch, Enki dodged once more, but this time, counter attacking with a punch to the face, before Enzo could react. He was sent flying back down to the ground, but turned back up to the sky in time. Enki flew towards Enzo, and they both clashed, then passed each other. It was unclear who actually got hurt in that exchange.

Enzo turned around to prepare another X-burner, with Enki prepared one of his own. Together, they said

"This ends now."
"This ends now."

And fired, both the X-burner and Enki's blast created a shockwave that blew back even the trees.

“For the love of-“ JD was too late. He hadn’t quite felt Eos’s futility and grief until moments earlier which had sent him bolting out of the tavern and running towards where they were. The entire scene was nothing but carnage and destruction, and once again he found himself just fine despite it. Honestly he didn’t know where all this bad timing came from, but at least he was still standing incase Enzo didn’t make it. Yet something in his gut told him the fight was over, and here he was unscathed like a coward. What was so awkward about it was that JD was practically a physical tank and could have taken the damage, but alas here he was.

The blast washed over him and he sort of rocked back on his heels and covered his eyes. It was a bit blinding but he attempted to squint through it and find his sister- wherever Eos had ended up.

The clash of the flames had created a small mushroom cloud, but big enough to shade the entire field. Once it cleared, Enzo was nearly out of energy, while Enki on the other hand, still had it. His eye was on fire, what did that mean?

Enzo stood up, a little wobbly. "Why do you get mixed up with these people, Enzo?" Enki asked. "People who would never accept you for who you are. I was the only one who did." Enzo's body, which was still battered from earlier, ached with pain. "It seems like there's only you, Silver, and.. oh, the one who wears the Lightning ring, too." Enki said, looking over at JD, who had just shown up. Lightning? JD? Enzo turned his head to see him. He's concerned for Eos.. They don't deserve this.. nobody does. If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have come here. They could have been living normal lives.. Enjoying their time with their friends and family. Hanging out in Sorcerers. A sudden pain pinged in his arm. "Guh~!"

From how it felt, Enzo's X-burner was too forceful, and it must have snapped his arm. "You're wounded. If you let me take your life, I will spare everyone else." Enki's deal was pleasing to Enzo, but he figured his friends would protest, and would live with the painful memory. "As a friend, I will keep my word on it."

"Oi, Enki!" Silver was still standing, and seemed to be just fine.
"You still gotta get through me before you can kill him."

Silver stood not too far away from them and held her sword in front of her. She pulled on it and it split in two, having a jagged edge on one side with a sharp edge on the other. She held them at her sides, ready to fight. Her aura had changed; this time it had a killing intent. Her eyes were even glowing brighter than before.
She charged at Enki, swiping at him with one of her swords sharp side from above before swiping at his side with the other swords jagged side. She expected him to block such a simple attack, and was simply testing him.

Enki saw it coming, he used his gloves as a shield, blocking the vertical slash, while ducking under the horizontal one, and instead, prepared a blast in his hand. "Go away." He said, before firing it at her at close range.

Before Silver could say anything, she got blasted. Lucky for her, that was an illusion. The fake Silver burst into flames, causing a lot of indigo sparks to fly off of her. Before long, she disappeared.
The real Silver, however, was seen a little ways away, trying to carry Enzo to the place where Eos was, hoping she could maybe heal him.
She turned around when she felt her illusion fail, and was disappointed. "Well, shit." With that, she set Enzo down, turning to face Enki, should he come after them, which she knew he would.

"T-hanks.. Silver.." Enzo had been too wounded to fight, his arm was broken. Enki realized the trick, that Silver had actually been an illusion. Looking kind of disappointed, he stood up straight, and saw the real Silver. "This is sad. I'll stop playing with you all now."

"I'm actually a little pissed you all forgot about me."

Spoiler

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While the fight had been going on, Sasha had slipped into a stage between dreams and memory, trying to get her energy back. She remembered her brother's face as he blasted her older brothers to death. She remembered his sneer when she'd asked him; no begged him to spare her parents. Then she remembered his laugh as he disobeyed her wishes; stabbed her parents, and sent Sasha into a rage.

She remembered the pain she felt to lose her precious family. That pain, that she'd locked away for years had begun to overflow last night, and was finally reaching its peak now.

Sasha snapped back to reality once she heard what Enki told Enzo, " If you let me take your life, I'll spare everyone else. "

Instantly, she willed herself to move, but she couldn't. Her brows furrowed as she grew more and more frantic.

If I can move something...anything...

Sasha's mouth moved, " E...Enzo..." She managed to choke out in a weak whisper. There. Sasha had spoken, and her mouth was able to speak again. She opened it again, and this time, yelled , " Don't care about us, Enzo! We'll be fine if you beat the crap out of Enki! So don't you DARE lose this battle, got it?! I'm rooting for you!"

As she said this, tears formed in her eyes, " Don't you DARE die either!"

"Oh, Kyoya. Boone's assistant. I see you've come to get yourself killed aswell." Enki grinned, his flames growing. Enzo saw Kyoya show up, ready to fight. No! Nobody else is going to get hurt for my sake! Enzo suddenly broke free of Silver's grip, and stood up. "This isn't something that concerns any of you." He said, as he started to walk back over to Enki and Kyoya. "Hmm? You can still fight?" "Enki.. i'm your opponent.. Not them."

When Sasha spoke, Enzo froze, and looked back.
That's a strange feeling.. her rooting for me.

Spoiler

I'm rooting for you!
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Silver grinned when Kyoya finally showed up. "Took ya long enough," she commented. Seeing Enzo get up and go after them, she sighed. "I guess it can't be helped, can it?"

The massive headache she had earlier came back. She grimaced in pain and clutched her head, falling to her knees as she tried taking slow, deep breathes, but it didn't help. She hung her head down as she seemed to go back to normal. The sword she had vanished, her eyes stopped glowing, whatever aura she had went back to normal.

After a few minutes, it seemed to have worn off a bit. Silver looked exhausted. She rubbed her forehead and dropped down completely, laying on the ground as if she had just been beat up. "T-That shit takes a lot of energy.. Doesn't it.." she whispered as she rolled herself over, staring at the sky. "You'd better win, Enzo.."

It was clear she wasn't going to be of any help anymore for this fight.

Maya took a deep breath in and dragged herself to Silver. "Hey, friend." She breathed, finally sitting up next to her. She looked at the ensuing fight and then back at Silver, a little spark of hope appearing. She called out, "We're with you, to the end." Maya smiled faintly, sitting up on her knees to show her support, and trying to stand.

She failed and slowly slumped down. "Silver," she said lowly, "how did this happen to us?"

JD's eyes flicked to Eos, and then slowly roamed about to everyone that was lying slumped against the ground- drained and beaten. He turned back to his sister once again and he felt the unabashed rage that he suffocated daily fill his every vein. With every beat of his heart it only got subsequently stronger- actually it seemed stronger than it ever had before. If JD had been in his right detail-oriented mind he would have known what was truly happening. Instead he just pulled his power to the surface.

JD couldn't sling spells, he couldn't make illusionary duplicates of himself, or wield elements as if it was second nature; what he did have going for him was pure and unabashed physical strength. His body seemed to seep metal from his pores and it compounded itself atop his flesh like thick and woven armor. It upped his physical strength, speed, and stamina; and he would inevitably feel the drawbacks from it afterwards, but for now he felt like an adrenaline filled destruction machine.

Without much thought- only vaguely noting Kyoya's appearance- JD grabbed the nearest tree (nothing too impressively intimidating or massive) and ripped it from the ground before hurling it towards Enki. He didn't compliment it with some powerful yell, but instead just tossed it as fast and powerful as he could before coming after it ready to pulverize someone into a pulp.

The flying tree caught Enki off guard, slamming him into it, and skidding to a halt. Afterwards, Enki got back on his two feet, and smirked. "Mm, so there are three of you, huh? I'll deal with you quickly, then." Enki taunted. His voice was full of confidence.

The encouraging words acted as fuel for Enzo. He was ready to ignore his pain, in order to stop Enki once and for all.

Silver looked to Maya who had joined her. She smiled at her and tried to sit up next to her, but failed miserably. She saw JD get angry and throw a tree, and she wasn't sure what to think. Looking back to Maya, she frowned. "I wish I could help."