Hell on Earth

What was once a great city of trade, fashion, and one of the most populated places for its small size in America, has now turned into a torture chamber for the poor souls who'd not been gracious enough to escape before the bridge from the island to the rest of America collapsed. Those who tried to swim across either died from the contamination of the water by human, animal, and demon blood alike---or became prey for the murky hellish being that lived underneath. Today was oddly quieter than usual. Chirping of one eyed cricket demons, and the cawing of hungry packs of fiendish Bloodbirds could be heard echoing throughout the blood red day. Winds brought in rust, dust, and sand through the air, making it slightly difficult to breath in the desertous, ruin like terrain.

Buildings were broken down, blood stained glass seemed to be 'in fashion' now and days. With scattered body parts and pools of blood made waste on the paved yet broken apart pavements and streets. The sound of a woman screaming could be heard blocks, upon blocks on end. She was running down the street, clothes ripped apart, blood soaked and fear in her eyes. She looked back only to see that she had been running from the same demonic foes for probably hours now, only they were getting closer and she was getting more tired... Walking towards her direction subtly, was a small framed boy, with a hood over his head, and he was dragging something behind him in his left hand as it made a screech sound against the rugged pavement. There seemed to be ear-buds playing loud music with a lot of bass in his ears. The woman tripped over a limb as she still had her head turned around and she looked around to see what was in front of her, she froze. She looked up, and saw the boy just standing there, staring down at her. They stared at each other for a good five seconds, crows and bloodbirds cawing in the background...all she could see was his blood red eyes through the shadow that was caused by the hood he wore. He looked up from her silently, and saw three demons running their way.

"I'm going to need for you to get behind me, this might be rough." He spoke to her softly. She paused for a brief second then got up, and did as what she was told keeping a safe distance. It wasn't long before the three demons arrived--- stopped---stared at the boy with the Scythe dangling from his left hand---and begun to laugh and mock the boy, and he just took the buds out of his ears and placed them in his pockets. Compared to them, the boy was small and fragile. The normal demon usually stood at Six feet and five inches tall, slender and lanky with long claws and usually distorted faces with golden or blood red eyes. Though there were many types of demons, these were the most common, and luckily the weakest."I will give you on the count of three, to turn around and leave this woman be...one-" The boy begun to count as though the demons didn't even phase him.

Before he could continue to count one of the demons stepped forward and ran towards the boy with it's claws."So be it..." The boy said quietly, while simultaneously grabbing his scythe with both hands and swung it in front of him towards the demons and a wave of pure purple energy, a mimic of the blade of the scythe, sliced through the air towards the demons, severing one of the demon's legs right off. The demon stopped, and the other demons stopped laughing. Everybody was watching everybody. Then the boy swung again, and again and again. Purple mimics of the scythes blade emitted from it---until each of the demons arms and legs were on the ground and the demons belly flopped with the head attached screaming in agony. The demons comrades looked at their falling ally befuddled. The boy snickered with a hellish grin, his body vibrated from left to right inhumanly for no longer than a second, with a small circle of fast wind trailing around the boys feet, when the vibration stopped, an outline of his body remaining immobile in the position he was in, but somehow the boy appeared in front of the next demon in the same fashion that he disappeared when he was where he was before. The boy was in mid-air with his scythe in the perfect position only to slice the demons head right off. Blood squirted up from the demons neck, but before the blood could even touch the boy he teleported again though he was no where in sight.

The last remaining demon looked all around, breathing hard, fearful. He didn't know if he should run or try and avenge the deaths of his comrades, but before he could answer that question to himself, a blade of purple energy cut the demon straight down the middle. The boy walked towards the woman, with his scythe in hand, though somehow it dematerialized into little specks of purple light."You are free to go, take haven in a church...it's rare to see a demon there." He said to her, walking towards her, though she only screamed and pointed past him. He turned around, towards where she was pointing. A few feet behind him was a large black fly of some sort that swooped down and lifted the demon that lost its limbs, though it was still alive...smiling at the boy with a devilish grin. He stared up at it as it floated away into the cloudless red sky..."Wh-what's your name?" The lady asked the boy as she walked up to him. He turned his head to look up at her. He paused for a few seconds, as though as he didn't know what to call himself anymore. He broke eye contact awkwardly and begun to walk into an alleyway up ahead."It's Lu." He said finally, then he teleported, and disappeared.

The end of the world was an interesting thing. Blood red sky. Demons replacing and tainting the once beautiful agriculture of the current suburban hellhole. Death and destruction everywhere, people begging for their lives to soulless creatures who wanted nothing but to rip their limbs of and toss them down the street like perverted streamers. These were the things Charmeine had grown to live with everyday, but they were not the things that bothered her the most. Any human (was she really human anymore?) could learn to adapt. It's what her species did, even in these dire times. No, the thing that bothered Charmeine was the heat. The damned, sticky, tropical-like heat.

The air was thick and heavy, hard enough to breathe while just walking, and almost impossible to try to run in. Charmeine assumed this to be another tactic of the hell-spawn invasion. The air disoriented the humans, probably laced with something, and made them make crucial, often lethal mistakes. Charmeine though, even before her "transformation", proved less susceptible to the moisture-laden air. Years of maintaining a physical peak in various sports made her much more equipped to with this "weather", but it did nothing for the results of said air. All the exercise in the world couldn't save her from the sticky sweat that constantly covered her body, and wreaked havok on the uncontrollably long locks that she had once taken so much pride in. It was this predicament, in hot miko robes that she couldn't figure out how to take off, didn't want to really take off, days of sweat and grime and blood caked under the layers that remained inexplicably clean. She feared that her condition was starting to draw the hell-spawn to her more and more, and that just wouldn't do.

"I can't take this anymore! All the fighting in the world won't do me any good if I stink so bad the whole universe wants to kill me... I need a bath. I need hot water, and scented shower gel, and Mom's favorite brand of loofa, and Dad's silly stories, and...and..." Charmeine suddenly cut off, as tears began to fill her eyes. "I just want a bath. Is that so much to ask for?" Just as she thought she'd have to stop moving and find somewhere to call herself down, she felt a tingling on her back. She knew from the positioning that it was her katana Colopatiron, and instinctively unsheathed it, fearing danger. What she received, however, was not danger, but a humming. A low, but high, and long, and short all at once kind of hum. It rattled around in her head, and told her things in whispers and shouts, saying "Left. Left. Go left."

So she ran.

She ran from a deserted street, lined with everything that Charmeine just didn't want to think about, and into a completely dead forest. Tree after tree, moaning and melting, and reaching for her. Already having Colo in her right hand, she drew Ezekiel with her left, slicing with precision at the possessed trees. Red goo slid lazily from each tree limb she cut off, dripping to the ground and causing vicious, blood-red vines to sprout, all shooting for her flesh. Panic started to seize her as she only saw tree after tree, vine after vine, and no end in sight to the forest. This wasn't how she fought, she was practical and logical, she couldn't be losing to trees!

Just as panic led to frustration, she heard the now unmistakable roar of Ezekiel, as she gave a powerful downward slash with an accompanying roar of her own. The black miasma that, in her frustration, wouldn't come, surged forward like a tsunami, encasing the entire forest in a thick, black fog. The screams of the demon trees grew louder, then gradually faded to a gurgle, and soon all that was left were blackened trees half-standing on the equally blackened grass. "That...that was new..."

Charmeine took a second to fully take in her surroundings, sticking her katanas into the officially dead ground and leaning on them heavily. "That was really new." She gripped the handles of her "trusted companions", and again heard the low-high, long-short sounds of Colopatiron.

Go left. It is there. It must be destroyed. Salvation is there. Go left. Left.

A heavy sigh racked through Charmeine, as she lifted her head. A wispy, white line was indeed pointing to the left. She glanced down at her right fist, tightly grasping Colo. "What's over there that you need me to see, hm? Better be good, taking me through this forest, getting forest-demon gunk all in my hair..." Colo pulsed heavily then, as if urging her to trust him - trust It, who saved her, who believed in her - and follow the ivory line floating through the air. "This is important, huh?" The Ivory katana pulsed again, agreeing with her.

Charmeine released another sigh, this time lighter. "Alrighty, then. If you say so, Colo. And I take it you don't outright agree, as always, Zeke?" The other blade "said" nothing, preferring to simply twist a coal-black line around the ivory line, point her in the same direction.

"Well, it's settled. Left it is. Onwards and upwards, my friends. Onwards and upwards."

The katanas were yanked smoothly from the now rapidly decaying ground, and she trudged through the goopy remains. Whatever lay ahead to the left seemed to be important to her two swords, who almost never agreed. She trusted their instincts, instincts that were important in this day and age. Whatever higher power sent their powers to her entrusted her with the ability and skill to do what the world needed, and she promised herself, Colopatiron, Ezekiel, and It that she would not fail.

[i]"Please! HELP ME!"[/b] The memory replayed itself in her mind. The last memory before she cut her hair. "Serves him right." She muttered, pulling on her clothing top. A place that was safe enough sleep in was now running rampant with demons.

"Man, I was hoping to get more comfortable here." Orion stretched out before she stepped out of the door, a few demons looked toward as she stepped towards them. They were small, sharp teeth and claws. "I don't think I've fought you before." She remarked simply. "Come at me." She beckoned, her hands slowly being covered with the gloves she knew too well.

"I'm not going to go easy on you." She said, laughing to herself. She couldn't afford to. She didn't know what these hellspawn were capable of. And then they flew at her.

"Starting so hasty?" Orion muttered, summon her gun, aiming it at them. "FIRE!" She yelled, it blasting a ray of energy at them. Most of them dodged out of the way, but she was able to hit two of the 10. She hopped back a few more feet. Retreating any further, at it would be greeting the earth 30 ft later. Best to try and find any weaknesses.

But she noticed one out of the 8 left was blue. Blue... like water! She mused to herself, before she took out the normal ones, leaving the blue one. "

"Hello there." She said, laughing herself. "Go ah-" She didn't finish her sentence before it shot an ball of water that her easily stopped and threw back at it, taking it out. She stepped over the dead demons and then started to freak out. "Ew! One of them got me and know there's blood on my shirt!" She squeaked loudly before running down the steps, surprisingly not encountering anymore demons. "Lucky me."

Charmeine sighed loudly as she stared unblinkingly at the dark-red lake before her. She remembered it from hikes with her father, before the invasion. The once babbling brook, back then filled with crystal clear water and thriving fish, was now just a cesspool of sludge, not so unlike her own. She imagined all the humans - and non-humans - that had tried to cross this to possible safety and failed. Another sigh escaped as she plopped down feet from the edge of the lake. Her hands reached over her shoulders to unsheathe the familiar blades that had led her here.

"Really, guys? Half an hour of trekking through forest muck, and you lead me to a lake straight out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not?" The swords did not reply this time, which caused her to sigh yet again. Instead, she got what could only be described as flashes. Flashes of words and thoughts and pictures that were definitely not hers, and definitely not from Colo or Zeke.

The Beast lies beneath
The Beast must be mastered
Liberate yourself
Receive your prize

Just as quickly as the thoughts were there, they were gone. But instantly, she knew who had spoken to her: It. Just as the first time it had called to her, it spoke in riddles. But this time, she felt what It was saying to her loud and clear. There was no monster here to kill. The monster was her. She was the beast that needed to be mastered. Her last few days had been filled with near-emotional breakdowns, and half-changes into her feral form. It was telling her that unless she got her feral form under control, she would never succeed. That was why Colopatiron had led her here.

She looked down at the Ivory sword in her right hand as it began to glow a soft white light. She felt her stresses about changing erratically start to fade as the light climbed her arm, and blew wispy strands into her nose and mouth as she gave a gasp. Something seemed to give as she breathed in, and she fell forward, as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her. Charmeine slowly sat up and sucked in a huge breath, then blew it out, a dense puff of Ivory smoke coming with it.

"Angel of Liberation indeed. Don't ever let me underestimate you guys again, alright?" Charmeine instinctively knew that her control over her second evolution had strengthened, leaving her with a small sort of peace. She looked down at her left hand holding Ezekiel, and watched amazed as thick claws emerged effortlessly. She faintly felt the her jaw open as her teeth sharpened and extended. "This...this is also new. Not perfect, but this will have to do. But why bring me to the lake? We could have done this anywhere, without walking me to death, ya know."

As the familiar sludge began to leak from her fingertips, she leaned over the edge of the lake rim, as to not further pollute her surroundings with the noxious stuff. Charmeine received yet another surprise when the maroon-colored "liquid" quickly turned a deep, still black. "I'd say 'What the hell?', but I know I won't get an answer. Ah, screw it. What the hell just happened?" Curiosity overtook her, and slowly she dipped a claw-tipped finger into the now black, but much more liquid substance, absently licking more of her own drippings from her mouth.

The blackness felt exactly like water, and as her "serum" spread to the rest of the lake, she began to understand. "Is this my prize? I can turn the mucky stuff into something that's safe for me?" Curiosity once again overtook her, and she chanced a lick at the concoction. It turned out to have a slightly tangy taste, similar to what collected in her mouth.

"This is just too good to be true. But, I'm never one to turn away a gift." Charmeine hopped up from her kneeling position, re-sheathing Colo and Zeke, who were now silent. She ripped off her shoes and socks, and cautiously dipped a toe, then a foot, into the temperate black lagoon. "Oh yes. Never say I looked a gift horse in the mouth." She shimmied out of her robes, not bothering to undo the ties, and slid carefully into the now somewhat pure, at least to her standards, lake. The world may have been ending, but at least she was getting a bath.

The last luster fell in a spray of blood, two sets of fangs buried deeply in its neck as it crumpled to the ground. The two attacking dogs landed lightly on either side of the demon, wasting no time before biting down again, simultaneous jerks of their heads further tearing into the already gaping wounds the demon sported. The larger, a brown and black dog, was the first to release his grip, prompting the smaller tan and cream dog to pull back as well, lips curled back in an attempt to get as much of the blood as possible out of his mouth. Demon blood was, without a doubt, one of the nastiest tasting things around, which was saying something nowadays. Shaking himself and glancing up at the bloodied sky, the larger dog’s form began to elongate and change, almost seeming to blur until a human was standing where the dog had been previously. Shaggy brown hair falling over his eyes, he wasted little time spitting several times off to the side, doing his best to get expel as much of the foul liquid as he could, uncorking a flask at his side to swish lukewarm water through his mouth before spitting again, the already somewhat brackish liquid coming out almost black.

The actual dog at his side, he headed over towards the nearest shell of a building, poking through the rubble to come up with the tattered knapsack he had previously stashed there. Rifling through it he came up with a stained and torn section of cloth. Pouring a little of the precious water on it, he knelt down as Bo approached, jaws obligingly open as the man quickly went through, wiping the blood off of his teeth as best he could, before tucking the rag back away to clean later. Neither one of them allowed the blood to remain on them for very long after a fight, unwilling to find out what would happen should they fail to clean away the liquid. There was a possibility of his healing powers dealing with that, but he wasn’t about to risk his only true companion for a theory, no matter how confident he was in it.

Slinging his knapsack across his back, he pulled out one of his switchblades and moved forward to make sure the demon was dead. It was, and the blood-tipped blade was slipped back into its hiding place. The blood would serve as a decent deterrent at the very least, if he ran into any other hostile survivors. There was something particularly intimidating about a bloodied blade in favour of a clean one, and it was a crude blade at best as well, not one he bothered to worry about cleaning and sharpening.

Straightening up, Lysander let out a short whistle, the noise bringing Bo back from where he had been nosing about in the rubble to trot at his side as he started away. The reek of the dead demon was hanging heavily in the air, and he had no wish to see what else it would attract. As if summoned, a single bloodbird landed on an outcropping of stone next to them to let out a rasp of a caw. Baring his teeth, both Ly and Bo unleashed identical snarls to scare the offending bird away, back to the flock that was beginning to gather.

Rather worse for wear sneakers silent against the rough ground he headed off, not needing to look to know that his dog was right at his side where he had been without fail for several years now. No bunch of demons was about to change that.
They walked aimlessly for a while before Ly deemed them to be far enough away from the torn body to take a break, though neither was winded. Dropping down to recline against a half-destroyed wall, he lowered a hand to rest atop Bo’s head as the wolf-like dog curled up at his side, eyes the same shade of Lysander’s own gleaming watchfully in the shadows cast by the rubble.

Lu walked peacefully down another decrepit street of New York City, holding a bag of pretzels that he found in a deserted car that had been ran into a light post. It was easy to find junk food in this world, but food that could spoil such as meat and fruit and vegetables were essential and a blessing to come across. Lu had been lonely for quite some time, he was scared to make companions with anyone who he knew would just slow him down. He was alarmed by the sound of a ringing bell. He looked up, the bell had some sort of illuminating effect on his soul, or whatever was left of it. He followed the sound of the bell, as though its purpose was keen to his survival.

When he finally arrived at the bell he noticed that it was attached to a large cathedral. He could only look at the cathedral and wish that it's innocence could spread across the world, but he knew that was not an option---not in this life. He dug into the bag of pretzels again, only to find that there were no more left, He sighed as he dropped the empty bag. His stomach growled, and he placed his hand over it."I--am so---hungry." he spoke to himself, the cawing of the bloodbirds above him begun to irritate him. He looked up and a puzzling thought crossed his mind. He didn't think to long on the subject, all that he was running off was the pure hunger of a man who hadn't tasted meat in weeks. With the flick of the wrist, purple shards of lights formed into his Scythe and he begun to teleport himself upward. First he was underneath the bell of the cathedral, where he could get a better look at his prey. The bell was loud in his ears, almost vibrating his entire body. within seconds, all of his targets would become a well needed meal.

He teleported into the air behind a unfortunate bloodbird, and with one stab at its back it fell to the ground. He did this over and over again, to a point where it seemed as though it was raining dark balls the oozed red liquid around the cathedral. Ultimately, this action led to Lu teleporting himself to the ground out of breath and with a nosebleed. He wiped his nose and begun to cough roughly, knowing that he exceeded his limits of teleportation, though Lu was always pushing himself to be better...to be stronger.

He found a cart, which he begun to place all of the dead birds into. He could already smell their roasting flesh in his fantasies of devouring the meat of these birds down to every last bone. Unfortunately with the 'ending of the world' and all, electricity and technology was only a thing of the past. He would have to cook these birds old fashioned. So, he looked around to find a few logs of wood, a few sticks so he could roast the birds, and a lighter where he set the logs on fire. He started with one of the birds, plucking each of its feathers out, and stuck one of the sticks down the birds throat and begun to roast it. Almost instantly, the aroma was loud---someone could probably smell the roasting beast from miles away, depending on how hungry the being was.

When the bird was done cooking, without applying any sort of ingredients onto the bird he begun to chew at the thick flesh, digging his teeth deep into the meat until his teeth reached the bone of the bird. Even though it must had been the worst meal he's had in his life, it tasted like Heaven to him. He could feel himself regaining energy, slowly but surly. The headache he had gotten from his constant teleportation quickly disappeared, and finally, for once in the few weeks of Hell, he had peace.

The sun slanted across Lilliana's eyes, making her groan quietly as the heat began to emanate around the room. Her head was throbbing again. She sat up slowly, rubbing her temples. Had she really used the Vision that much yesterday? She'd have to work blind more today. Smiling to herself, she pushed off the ground to a standing position. She needed to get used to it anyway, and save the Vision for the times when it was most crucial. She sighed, then stretched her arms up and over her head, leaning back a tiny bit, and was knocked off balance by her wings. "Merda!" she muttered, stumbling backwards a step, then letting her wings unfurl and flapping daintily to keep from falling over. Her smile turned into a grin as she realized that her wings were becoming a much more natural attribute.

Lily stood calm for a moment then, wanting to spread and stretch her wings but having a hard time remembering how big the room she was in was. She remembered climbing in through a large window the night before, exhausted after a long fight with a pack of bloodbirds and covered in blood, Well... that explains that putrid smell she mused to herself, she remembered collapsing to the floor, and then waking up. "Bastardi fastidiosi!" She spat out under her breath, remembering how the swarm had just just kept coming and coming. How many of those things can there be?

Cracking her neck, she braced, then let her body radiate within the room. Feeling outward with her Awareness she could essentially see the room in her mind. It was full of boxes, one quite near her to the right, there were pictures on the walls, one of a handsome man smiling with his arms around a little girl with the same eyes. Dimly she became aware of two doors, one to her front and one to her left. The one before her was closed, the one to the left was more of a doorway that led down a hall. Behind her, the window she'd crawled through, beneath it her coat and ribbons. A couch, a tv, a chair, a man, a... "Wait, what?" She focused hard on the man sitting in the chair. "Cavolo?" she hissed, and cursed herself for not being more careful. Climbing into a random home! Who knew how she had survived the night? She cocked her bow and aimed at the man. Her left arm tingling when her body was aware that she was aiming true. She waited there, bated breath. The man didn't move, he just sat there, staring at her. Or... no, he wasn't staring at her at all. He had no eyes. She let the breath out that she'd been holding and relaxed her bow and arrow down to her side. Focusing once again, she felt out with her mind. He was dead, certainly, and most likely where the putrid smell had come from. Lilliana became aware with a start of his brain matter covering the wall behind him.

"Aiutati che Dio t'aiuta, I guess. May Dio accept you in his kingdom." As Lilliana's short prayer escaped her lips a prickling in her temple, different than the pain in her head, prompted her to turn to her left. Something was not right still. A small black ball lay in the doorway. It hadn't been there before, but she was still getting used to catching the small details of her surroundings with the Awareness. The prickling grew stronger between her eyes and suddenly a strong pulsing was washing over her. "Nope! That means it's time to go!" She backed slowly towards the window and was impressed with her instincts as the ball began to roll towards her. Slowly she replaced her arrow and hooked her bow over her arm, planning to make a run for it. The ball was beginning to roll faster and the pulsing was getting stronger, whatever it was, it was hungry. She turned to make a dash for it. As she let go of all of her Awareness save the pile of her belongings by the window and the window itself, the world around her vanished, leaving behind a straight shot to freedom.

Her body cried out as the ball somehow leaped into the air and she instinctively countered to the left, the ball missing her shoulder by bare inches. Her breath caught, it was much faster than she'd anticipated. The black ball about the size of a basketball lay before her and her escape route, she'd have to fight. "Well, fine then! Determined little bastard, aren't you?" she asked the ball, with a smirk. It began rolling towards her again, and she cocked an arrow, with ease. Aiming as quickly as she was comfortable, she felt the familiar tingle in her left arm telling her she aimed true, and just as the pulsing began to strengthen again, she released the arrow. The pulse ceased immediately but no sound came from the contact of the arrow into the blob. "Are you dead?" she asked the circle with an arrow sticking out of it. Not wanting to find out the hard way, she made her decision quickly and, running past it, grabbed her stuff to jump out of the window. Mourning the loss of the arrow would have to wait for later, she'd never encountered that type of demon before and she was unsure as to it's demise.

Jumping from the window, possessions in hand, she was startled to feel a falling sensation. "Merda!" She hand't remembered that the window she'd crawled into was a few stories up, which must have been why she had felt it safe to collapse onto the floor without first checking the apartment. The ground was coming up fast, so unfurling her wings she soared upward. The wrench of muscles in her back was really starting to ease up the more she flew, and this time it was only a dull crack in her back that told her she wasn't 100% ready to fly yet. She focused her Awareness around her and found an abandoned alleyway to land in. Slowly, gliding, she came to rest in the center of it. She dropped her belongings and cocked an arrow just in case. Holding it relaxed to her side, she breathed in deep, held the breath a second, then set the bow and arrow on the ground, letting her breath go. Today was going to be long, but she was ready for it. Stretching her wings to either side, she leaned her forehead on the cool wall in front of her.

"Time to go!" She stretched one last time, then looped her black ribbons over her wings, pulling them in tight, wincing a tiny bit when she pulled a feather or two. She had yet to get the finesse of bonding them down under control, but she was doing well enough. She tied the quick-release knot her father had taught her with their horses in the front of the ribbons, then shrugged on her long coat. Picking up her weapon, she searched out with Awareness and moved down the alley.

It had been days since Angel had seen the last demon in the city. He didn't know whether if they were migrating towards a certain place or if he was just lucky. He had been walking for the past two days. Making sure not to make himself obvious just in case there was demons around. What there was a lot of was the bloodbirds. Every corner he turned at there was always a pack of them. Either flying around lazily waiting for their next pray or already eating a dead body. He kept his distance from them, he figured they wouldn't bother him as long as he would leave them be. Though that was easier said than done. Every once in a while there was always that one bird out of the group that would set his eyes on him. Fighting them was a piece of cake.

He would just use his enhanced abilities to run faster than the bird was flying. And if that didn't work he would pick up the nearest object and throw it with a high speed making the bird fall into the ground. Sometimes rocks would just go through them like bullets killing them instantly, other times he wouldn't be so lucky and it would just make a mess, attracting the attention of other blood birds. But today seemed to be his lucky day. No one was seen around for miles and no birds had bothered him. Stopping for a second to look at his surroundings Angel sighed. "Looks like they did quite a number on this place" he said realizing that he was in a military base. Most of the buildings were already destroyed, choppers laid in pieces destroyed by he demons and their meteors when they arrived. Slowly he walked into the building searching for anything that could be of use to him.

"Seems like this place was evacuated really fast" he said as most of the things were left untouched. The rooms that had remained in one piece still had paperwork on the desk. But that didn't catch his attention. What Angel was looking for was food. He was tired of getting scraps every time he would walk into a random apartment. He was lucky to find chips and canned goods in some but those never lasted for long. Walking around the base had given him an idea. "MREs! There has to be a stash of them here some where" he said as he quickened his pace around the building. After a couple of minutes he had found what he was looking for. In one of the storage rooms there laid boxes of the MREs. In the corner of the building seemed to be a massacre. Three bodies were laying in a pool of blood. Seemed like they were one of the few soldiers that had decided to stay and fight back, but it seemed that they had failed at their mission. Slowly he walked up to the bodies inspecting them. He was expecting for them to have been there for a couple of days or weeks but the blood was fresh. "Fresh blood huh, that means theyre around" he said as he picked the backpack that was a couple of feet from the soldiers.

Walking up to the stock of MREs he stocked as many as he could. It was enough food for him to last him a couple of weeks. Strapping the back pack on and running out of the building was his main priority. Staying on the low if possible. But as soon as he stepped out of the building he was encountered by a gang of demons. Four of them looked beast like hounds. Seemed like they were just thirsty for flood and destruction, they were the types to just follow commands. And in the middle of them stood a demon that looked like he had a higher intelectual level than the rest. Unlike the other demons it looked like he was actually wearing what seemed to be clothing.

"Ah! So there was another left in there" spoke the demon in a rough and deep voice. This had caught Angel by surprise, these past few weeks he had never encountered a demon that was able to think well let alone speak.

"You guys wouldn't prefer running away do you?" he asked putting his backpack down.

"Why would we ever do that" he said as he looked at one of the hounds and spoke in a weird tongue, but whatever it was it wasn't good because now it had its attention on Angel

"Bring it" he said as he started walking towards the dog. As he walked towards the hound he started manipulating the earth around him. Making the rocks accumulate around his feet and arms making gloves and boots for combat. Once he felt he had enough he ran in a fast speed towards the hound hitting him with his fist sending him flying accros into a wall splatering his body into smithering. and just as fast as he killed the first one he went on to the second. This time changing to water. A broken pipe that had been splashing water was just a couple of feet from them. Using the water to his control he shot it at the demon, trying to drown him from the inside and it seemed to work. They needed oxygen to live as well. After a couple of seconds it dropped dead on the floor with its eyes rolled back. Third he moved towards the smallest looking hound. Taking care of this one was going to be a piece of cake. He used tho winds at this command to slice the dog several places, cutting off limb by limb. Making it suffer for every man, woman and child they had killed.

By now the last remaining hound seemed to want to run away. It kept looking at him and then at the higher demon not knowing what to do. But in the end it made up its mind and decided to run away. Or atleast that was its plan. Swiftly Angel ran ahead of it stopping a couple of meters from it to give it a chance to stop. "You had a chance to run away but now its too late" he said as he snapped his fingers making a small flame appear on his palm. "VOILA!!" he said before blowing on it and making a flame thrower scorching the houdn to a crisp. The flame was strong that it had caught the higher demon a bit on the arm making it scream in pain. Slowly Angel flew towards it. His aura staring to take the shape of the wings and halo seemed to bother the demon. When he was infront of it in the air it started speaking in tongues. Angel guessed the was swearing or something.

"So it seems the rumors are true." he said to Angel.And in one swift move Angel used the wing of aura to cut his throat. Walking towards his backpack angels nose started bleeding. "Looks like I over did it again" he said wiping it of with his sleeve. Grabbing his backpack he flew out into the sky hoping to find a sign of life. The only thing he found as a boy sitting by a fire. Landing at a distance from the fire Angel spoke to the boy.

"You know its not safe for a kid like youto be out in the open like that, especially not with a camp fire" he said walking towards the boyl

The water felt great against Jace's skin. He had re-purposed an old water processing facility to purify the demon's blood from water. It had taken the help of thirteen mechanics, fifty of the local survivors and a week's work but they finally had their first working bathtub. Jace had gathered these people together and had created a small town based out of the facility and surrounding aqueducts. It was brilliant and while on the outside Jace was humble, within his soul pride swelled. It was the first time he had felt like he was useful to humanity. In gratitude the 'townsfolk' had given him first crack at a much needed bath. He hadn't had a bath since this whole invasion thing started, it felt nice to finally clean some of the caked demonic blood from his body. Not to mention he was able to return his hair to it's natural white instead of the dark reddish brown it had become.
The sound of automatic weapons ended Jace's sweet relief. The false priest pulled himself out of the tub as the door to what had been deigned The Public Baths was kicked in. There stood three men decked in swat uniforms with assault rifles. Jace, who stood completely naked, stared the men down.
"We heard there was water. We want it." Said the man standing in front. He had a short beard and wore a black skull cap. His chunky build made Jace think of Zach Galifianakis. "You may have some, provided you drop your weapons."
"What'chu think we are? Stupid?" The second man was much younger than the first, and far thinner. His long brown hair covered most of his face. Jace simply stared at him.
"The streakers givin' us the evil eye." The third man had a strong Australian accent. He looked far more threatening and professional than the other two. A nice muscular build and shorter hair than wouldn't get in the way had his aim. Jace was a little curious as to what he was doing with this bunch. "I say we just kill 'em. He annoys me."
Jace shook his head then stomped on the paved floor of the facility. The pavement cracked, leaving a few large chunks of the floor separated. Jace slowly pushed one of the chunks onto to even ground with his foot as the three men took a step forward and steadied their aim. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children." Jace was fairly new to the whole priest thing and often found himself quoting pop culture rather than the actual bible. Quentin Tarantino's version of Ezekial 25:17 had gotten him through many a fight.
"The bugger spouting Pulp Fiction at us?" Jace kicked the chunk of pavement at the Aussie man, the stone had enough force behind it that it split the bandit in half. This was followed by a loud crack as Jace kicked off he floor with all his strength, leaving two new dents in the ground. "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers!" The force behind Jace's thrust put him at the bearded man in no time and there was a loud cracking sound as Jace shoved his fist through the man's large chest. With his free hand he pulled a pistol from the now dead bandit's belt and shot the one with the long hair right between the eyes. "And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you!" Jace slowly pulled his arm from the large bandits chest, cleaned up one last time in the tub, and got dressed. From his bag he pulled three novelty cross necklaces, stuff they gave to kids in Sunday school when they remembered their verses or something like that, and placed one around each of the bandit's necks. "May you find peace in the next life."
Now it was time for him to leave. Jace needed to move on, others would need his help and despite the cries of protest from the villagers Jace walked away.

It was a day later. Jace was travelling through some old apartment buildings, collecting what supplies he could and looking for survivors he could help. He had ran into a group of Lusters earlier, first fight with demons in a long time. It was good to know he still knew how to handle himself. The isolation was nice, it allowed him to drop his facade as a godly man for just a little bit. Jace wasn't meant to be a priest but he felt someone had to lead the people. No one seemed to be trying to help each other. The world had become so selfish. Jace hit the buzzer on one of the apartment buildings and yelled "Have you heard the good news about Jesus?" It was a joke, he knew the buzzers didn't work and he liked to mock Jehovah witnesses when he thought he was alone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some white feathers. Wings of an angel He took off trying his best to follow the divine being.Every step as he ran gave away his position, Jace wasn't used to his strength yet and when he ran he crushed the ground beneath himself. He lost the angel in an alley and in frustration starting yelling out "I know you're here angel-messenger-thing! Come out! I have some questions damnit!"

Charmeine didn't consider herself a noble person. She may have been smart and witty and basically as amazing as she considered a woman could be, but that was generally just her own opinion. All bragging aside though, she was not noble. So when she heard the yelling of a man, as much as she would have loved to help, jumping out of a newly "cleaned" lake fully naked did not tickle her fancy. Despite her transformation, she still retained a large amount (note: all) of the dignity that she had as a normal 18 year old girl. She sloshed her way through the lake, doing some soft calculations about how long it would take to get to him by the time she was dressed.

The choice was quickly taken out of her hands, however, when she heard someone fast approaching the area. Gathering her wits about her, she surveyed the situation. She was naked, in the middle of a lake, with her swords nestled quite comfortably at the edge far out of reach, with the unknown approaching at fast speeds with an ETA of 15 seconds. Her range of movement was close to nothing, and her swordsmanship would prove useless in the muck. Her only line of defense was the lake itself which, by her own reasoning, was safe to only her consumption. If anything else touched it, she assumed it would prove lethal to them.

With her ETA clock down to 5 seconds, Charmeine made a quick decision. She ducked her entire body under the lake, and decided to wait it out. She was in no position to fight, naked and weaponless, and if the unknown had a gun she was as good as dead. She didn't remember, until she heard the unknown lumbering into the clearing, her mountain of clothes, shoes, weapons, and what was left of her rations piled up self-incriminating, right where her first footsteps disappeared. She could only hope they would assume she had committed suicide, but that would not explain the onyx color of the lake. Just as the flaws in her plan were made exasperatingly clear, she realized that not only could see underneath the "water", but, as she took a startled gasp in, breath under it too. Why was it, that in her most dangerous times, she found her coolest powers?

There was no time to think on her new discovery, however, as she heard the unknown calling out.

"I know you're in there. I saw you go in the forest. I saw what you can do. We've been trying to catch up to you, maybe get your help. My brother, he just got taken by one of those... things. I'm alone now, and if you could help me... Please... I just don't want to be alone..."

Charmeine's heartstrings tugged as she heard the helpless voice the unknown. She wasn't noble, but she was definitely a sucker. She made her way to the edge and swam to the surface, breaking her head through cautiously. She hadn't heard any serious weaponry during the previous confrontation that had apparently killed his brother, so she assumed he was weaponless. Only eyes her showed above the lake, and what she saw amazed her.

He was tall, probably taller than her, she estimated around 6'4''. He was built solidly, and looked as if he had played some sort of sport. Blood was caked to his sandy brown hair, and his green eyes stared at her, broken and lost. She slid further to the surface, nose poking up, as she took in his blood spattered clothes. She immediately recognized his Tom Ford suit, jacket torn, shirt missing, but Tom Ford nonetheless. Curiosity raged forward, and she came out up to her collarbone, the need for decency still very prevalent.

"Who are you, and what to do you want?" She mindlessly, and very self-consciously, wiped her face, and felt the sludge almost repel from her body like a magnet. At least she knew how to dry herself off now. The man, however, did nothing but stare at her. She saw his eyes dart around her face, and felt herself begin to blush. Male attention was absolutely not something she was used to. "I'll ask again, who are you, and what do you want?"

This seemed to snap him out of whatever state he was in, and he cleared his throat, making clear eye contact. She felt a rush of heat through her head, delirious and fuzzy, and she couldn't take her eyes off of his. His green, oh-so-green eyes, like fresh clovers.

"I'm sorry, you're just... The first person I've met in a while, and..." The man looked down, and she thought how she wanted him to look up again, so she could see those veridian eyes. He looked at her again, and ooh, there was that fuzzy feeling, and had men of the Earth always been this gorgeous? "I'm Joshua." He smiled a perfect smile, a perfect rosy blush dotting his perfect tanned cheeks, God, where had he been hiding all her life?

Charmeine was frozen. She was not the girl who lost her wits over a boy. She wasn't the girl who dealt with boys period, and they didn't deal with her. She may have been pretty, but she was a handful, and that tended to be a dealbreaker. She opened her mouth, but words, what words, what could she say to this perfect, perfect man who looked like he was carved right out of her dreams, what was there to say to him? "I need to get dressed..."

His eyes widened, and he stepped back quickly. "I am so sorry, I'll just..." He turned around quickly, hands fisting at his sides. Charmeine took the opportunity to haul herself out of the lake, the black liquid attracting itself to the rest of it's kind and sliding away from her, leaving her body spotless. She grabbed her robes and shook them ones for bugs, then shimmied back into it. She heard him whisper a "Thank you," with his head down, chin to his chest, followed by a louder "I don't want to be alone." Her heart swelled with emotions as she picked up her swords, which were strangely humming and pulsing and just generally agitated, and she called out to Joshua that she was finished. Inanimate swords would have to take the backburner when this magnificent human specimen was in from of her.

"All done," she said, slipping her katanas back into their places on her back. They seemed even more upset that they were being ignored, but Charmeine was tired of talking to swords. She wanted to talk to Joshua, and fight demons with Joshua, and spend the rest of her life with Joshua, and it was so unreal of her to think like this, but he was worth it with those emerald eyes that she could just drown in.

Joshua took that moment to turn around quickly, at which point he her hugged her tightly to him, whispering words of thanks and appreciation, and about how grateful he was, and how beautiful she was, how she was his angel, and how lucky he was to have found her. She dutifully ignored the katanas which were attempting to scorch holes into her back, and hugged Joshua back just as hard. Maybe this was the good to come from all of this bad. Love, and happiness, and they would protect each other, and be together forever, and -

Pain, awful, burning, searing pain, scorched through her neck. She felt teeth, sharp and tearing, digging into her flesh. Charmeine tried to push "Joshua" away, but he only clamped his jaw down harder, eliciting a shriek of pain from her lips. Her vision was tinted with white around the edges as she felt him gnaw harder and harder, and get closer and closer to what she suspected was bone. Screams turned to growls of rage as her instincts took over, and she dug her now elongated claws into the base of his skull. His jaw finally released from her now mangled neck, and she yanked his head back, mouth dripping with her blood and her skin. She pierced her other set of claws into his eyes, digging down into the sockets and scraping the bone of his skull.

A gurgling sound left the dying demon, but she was unsatisfied. She roared into the imposter's face, watching as he shifted into a gruesome beast. She lifted him up by the grip she had from the back of his skull and through his punctured eyes, and slammed his skull down onto the ground with as much force as she could muster. A dark satisfaction seared through her chest as she watched his skull shatter. Later she would acquaint it to a pumpkin she had once seen hit the ground after being shot out of a cannon. But now, now it was just pure revenge and retribution that she saw in the pile of gore that was once the demon's head.

As she knelt down next to the remains of her kill, however, the satisfaction fled. It was as if she was missing something, as if there was something she needed to do, and only that thing would help her find true satisfaction. A clawed hand reached up to graze the now healing, but still nasty looking wound that extended from the middle of her neck to the top of her shoulder. Large chunks were still missing, but she could feel muscle and tendon begin to regrow and stitch back together. Burning rage flowed through her once again as she thought on how how she had gotten the wound.

How dare that thing toy with her emotions and then bite her. Bite her! A snarl ripped itself through her throat, and she felt almost disconnected with her body as she watched her clawed hand plunge into the carcass' chest, and rip out it's heart, still warm, and very heavy in her hand. A hiss sounded through her teeth, and she let her claws pierce the heart lightly, watching blood ooze slowly and thickly through it's arteries. And just as quickly as she had ripped the heart out, she knew what to do with it.

Charmeine sunk her fangs deep into the organ, sharp teeth gnawing and gnashing through the thick, fleshy muscle and reveling in the sharp, tangy taste of the demon's blood as it flowed heavily down her chin and into her throat. It was the taste of victory in the heart that she relished in as she gave several heavy swallows, devouring the large heart in a many deep, heady bites. When it was over, she sat back on her haunches, staring at her now complete and supreme triumph. It's head, now just a mash of bone and meat. It's body, a gaping hole in it's chest where the heart had once sat. And it's heart - oh, it's heart! - sitting warm and meaningful in her belly, like a warm token of her superiority.

This was her real prize, her real retribution. It had had toyed with her heart, so she took his.

Large, something large was charging right toward her alley-way. Lily froze momentarily as she waited for the Awareness to guide her aim. How had she not noticed it before? She'd been so startled from the fall that she must have turned her attention to not dying more than paying attention to her surroundings. Stupido! she chided herself, grimacing. She picked up the pace and lightly jogged out of the alleyway, ducking around the corner and dropping to a knee. Cocking the bow and arrow back, she slowly leaned around the corner. She was still waiting for her Awareness to guide her, but her arm wouldn't tingle. She knit her brow in frustration, "Now is not the time, body!" she whispered to herself. She waited there, as the already deafening thumps grew louder and closer. Terrified, her body began to hum as her heart rate sped up and she began to perspire. She knew the alley-way was long, the dumpsters, the boxes, a crate up and to the left, a couple of escape stairs hanging down. Nothing moved. But that thumping! Breathing in deep she waited as the thumping came into the alleyway.

"Che diavolo?" She murmured as the figure of a man ran into the alleyway. His footfalls seemed to match up with the demon's terribly heavy footfalls. Whatever it was, it was big, and this poor man was obviously running for his life. She could feel the desperation rolling off of him. Poor thing... he must be so fright- her thoughts were cut short as the man's frustrated voice called out, "I know you're here angel-messenger-thing! Come out! I have some questions damnit!" Lily's mouth dropped open and she nearly fell over. She would have laughed if her body wasn't still coursing with adrenaline 'Angel-messenger-thing'? What the...? Her world went completely dark as disbelief caused her to let go of her Awareness.

She could hear the man's breathing as her mind went into overdrive. Is he talking to me? How do I know he's not one of those male demons? Those footfalls... it's impossible that he's human... then again, I have wings now, so... He was about the height of those brutish demoni, then again, he didn't really look like them... did he? Chi lo sa! Her heart still pounding, the lack of sight, and the glitch in the Awareness were confusing her. Taking a deep breath, she knew she needed to make a decision: Alert this being of her presence, or undo her tie and fly as quickly as she could from this place. Okay Lil, what are the possibilities? Prima: he's a whole new kind of demonio who's quite possibly stronger than any you've ever encountered and the minute you say hi you'll die... or... secondo... secondo what? He doesn't have wings so there's no way he's like me... but my arms wouldn't aim, the Awareness wasn't kicking in so I couldn't have been in complete danger. Okay then, terzo: play it safe and confront the thing but be ready to fly in a moment's notice. Bene... bene. Here goes... something! Lilliana adjusted her coat so that it wasn't on but simply draped over her shoulders, successfully camouflaging her wings, took a deep breath and tapped into the Awareness. Giving her a sense of where the man stood again, she aimed her arrow at his forehead, but ready to grab her quick-release knot if needed, she stood and stepped forward, keeping the man in her aim. "Piacere, signore!" Lily called out, "You look like you're having a great day." She smirked sarcastically as she braced herself for the worst.

Lu enjoyed ever bloodbird he devoured. It was either the fifth or sixth one that got him to his point of satisfaction. Though it was oddly silent where he sat, he noticed something was...different, in the air. Was he being stalked? This odd feeling spread thoughout his entire body, sending shivers down his spine and neck numbing the delicious smell of the bloodbirds that he finished eating. His head pulsed with anticipation, and his eyes could only dart from place to place. Up on the rooftops, shadows would disappear instantly, through the alleyways between the buildings he'd see large figures disappear. Nothing to suspecious, thanks to the hoards of demons wandering around...though there was something else. Something he hadn't felt ever. Something intensely powerful.

"You know its not safe for a kid like you to be out in the open like that, especially not with a camp fire", Lu heard behind him. The sound of another voice caught him off guard, he quickly got up from his post swinging his arms forcing his Scythe to animate in his hands, the blade was only inches away from the neck of a tall, rather friendly looking young man with blonde hair. Bloodbirds flew in the air to exit the scene. Lu breathed heavily as he looked into the eyes of the man that stood before him. There was something different about this guy...He was too clean---to well put together. He must have had powers like Lu did."State your name." Lu said in a demanding manor. All of his social skills had been corrupted with the corruption of the world. Even though power was lingering off of this boy. There was still something else, something greater that was headed straight towards them. Then, Lu felt it.

The earth begun to rumble. Bloodbirds flew in one direction, passing both Lu and the boy that approached him. Lu lowered his Scythe from the boy's neck then turned around to look in the direction the birds were coming from. There was a large cloud of heavy dust that was headed straight towards them, then Lu heard a loud 'Rawr'. Lu could feel his heart beat faster, and his teeth begun to rattle almost as quickly as the ground rattled. It showed itself.



It roared again as it forced its clawed fingers into two skyscrapers beside it causing parts of the buildings to colapse below the monster, parts that were headed straight towards Lu and this new guy. Within a few quick seconds, Lu grabbed the boys arm and teleported them away from the crashing building parts. But Lu's teleportation didn't stop the monster from following them, which somehow it was quickly able to move even though it was almost as tall as one of the more higher buildings in New York City."I guess there is no time for introductions," Lu said irritated, and scared all at once,"Either help, or stay out of my way---I'm not doing this for the benifits of just one person."

Lu grabbed his Scythe with both hands and begun to run towards the extremely huge monster. Lu leaped up into the air at a superhuman height and begun to run on the falling parts of the buildings, which he managed to jump from peice to piece towards the monster unto the monster raised one if its hand and sent it crashing down in the area that Lu was in. The contact it's arm had with the pavement caused the road to crack severaly. Though Lu was no where to be found. Until a loud battlecry could be heard from above the beast, Lu swung his Scythe against the monsters forehead, the force that Lu was hitting the monster with kept Lu suspended in the air, he just hit the monster over and over again. Though there was no damage, it was as though the monsters skin was impeniatrable. When Lu noticed that the monster was able to try to get Lu off of its face, Lu teleported in front of the beast at a semi-safe distance. Lu then begun to swing his Scythe in the air to collect magical energy within the Scythe."Since physical attacks don't work on you," Lu's Scythe gained a pinkish-purple electricity static around it,"Then I'll just try this!" Lu stopped spinning the Scythe and forced the blade within the pavement. A large wave of purple energy headed straight towards the monster from Lu's Scythe. The monster noticed that the blow was coming towards it, so it put it's arms up in front of it to block. Though the monster tried to block, the energy blast caused the monster to at least fall on it's back with a gaping roar. The ground rattled when the monster fell.

Lu breathed heavily, and watched as the monster laid on the ground. He didn't know if it was dead or alive. Until the beast leaped it's body in the air too fast for Lu to notice that the beast was headed straight for him. Lu looked up and watched as the monster was about to land straight on Lu.

Charmeine was worried. Well, worried was putting it lightly. Charmeine was terrified. After she'd recovered from her earlier encounter with the Demon, her swords had gone crazy. They began shining and pulsing and just generally freaking out, but the only explanation they gave was another set of indicator lines, pointing towards the city. When she'd asked her swords why, she had only gotten another of those weird, telepathic messages:

The time has come
You must band together
Destroy the enemy
Receive your destiny

That was 10 minutes ago, and she'd been running in the direction of the lines ever since. She'd tried to stay away from the heart of New York, preferring to stay right outside the city limits and "patrol" the outskirts, but stay close enough to the main junction. It was too painful for her to stay in the rural suburban communities where she had once lived. But now, she was glad she remained close to the city.

She was running through the streets as fast as she could, when a large explosion threw her off her feet. She landed on her back hard, but right above her she could see buildings collapsing upon themselves. Dust shot through the streets, turning the sky a murky gray, and the ground shook violently. She could see, towering over the buildings, a grey beast. She didn't even want to estimate how large it was. Charmeine jumped back up to her feet and ran forward as fast as she could. If she didn't keep moving, she'd be buried under tons debris, and that was not how she wanted to die. She grabbed her swords, dragging them behind her on the ground, paying no mind to the huge grooves she was making.

Charmeine had perfected her "Street Dragging" technique, as she called it, and it had saved her life many a time. She would crack open the asphalt of roads, and use it as her own personal supply for her serum. It was small things like this, Charmeine thought idly, as the road behind her turned into nothing more than a sea of black sludge, that would probably help save her life. Another ground rattling explosions racked through the area, but she retained her balance. She'd decided to not transform, figuring she'd need a perfectly clear head, and she valued that choice when she could finally clearly see her enemy.

Charmeine prided herself on keeping a level head, but she could admit that seeing it up close was a little nerve-wracking. Seeing it up close and lunging for a small boy who had only a scythe caused her brain to stop for a millisecond. In that millisecond, however, was when she formulated her plan. She ran harder, if that was even possible, and willed forward the miles of sludge she had created. This was a one-shot deal, and if her plan failed, that boy was a goner.

She stopped, yards away from the hulking beast, and did a sharp 180 turn, slamming her katanas together, brow furrowed in concentration, and sliced toward her previous direction. Her swords served as a conduit for the sludge, as she sent the liquid forward with enough pressure to slice through a building, and hoped her aim would be true. It was almost as if life had suddenly slowed down, as she watched the force blast hit the beast feet before it landed on the boy. Charmeine's attack had hit it in a split wave: the torso to stop it's forward movement, and the neck to throw it off balance. Her hopeful assumptions about it's balance were correct as she watched it get t-boned into a large, but dilapidated skyscraper.

Charmeine had no time to waste, redirecting her assault to the skyscraper, watching in satisfaction as it buried the beast. She would not underestimate this thing, and assumed it would not hold it for long. She took the opportunity to run over to the boy. She could tell he was not a regular human. Was this why she had been called here? Thoughts, strategies, and questions ran through her mind a mile a minute, as she approached the boy cautiously.

"Let's cut this short. I'm Charmeine. We're special. Let's kill this thing and we can chat about our life stories over tea later. Deal?"

Angel didn't move when the boy had materialized the scythe out of nowhere. Crap, don't tell me this kid is one of those demons as well he thought as the kid looked at him with a cold stare. It wasn't normal for someone to have red eyes and white hair, but then again it wasn't normal for him to have those powers. He was about to tell him to calm down when the kid had asked him for his name. Though just when he was about to answer they both heard a loud roar coming from the buildings, causing them both to turn their heads.

It wasn't until the beast showed up that Angel started to panic a bit. Their introduction had been cut short by the tall beast that was rampaging on the city. And before he knew it he was in another place. It seemed that the boy had powers as well. And teleportation seemed to be one of them and using the scythe must have been another. He saw how quick the boy ran and jumped into the building pieces that were flying down to the ground. Angel stood there to see if the kid was going to be able to handle the monster by himself. Just when he thought he was going to make it the monster had him on the ground, about to stomp him.

Right when he was to move he saw another figure moving fighting of the monster. And it seemed like it was a girl holding what looked like swords. That was it for him watching. He had finally met someone who had powers, someone that was just like him and he was not about to let this chance slip away. Fighting the beast seemed like the only choice.

He jumped of the building flying in the direction of the beast and the boy and girl. The faster he flew the more his aura shined forming his wing and halo. Flying past the girl right when she had introduced herself. Calling herself Charmeine. Passing her up he flew and picked the boy off the ground right as the girl had sent him into the building.

"That was a close one" said Angel to the boy as he took him to the top of a building. "Listen I was wondering, how many of those huge building pieces and boulders can you teleport to the sky? I have an Idea." he said as the monster stood there against the building. His guess was that it was probably in pain right now

Lu closed his eyes, and held his arms over his head when the monster was headed down towards him. Before he felt the expected impact, he heard a loud crash that almost made his heart stop. He opened hes eyes, only to see the large monster crashed into a skyscraper, causing the building to collapsed on top of it. A girl approached him,"Let's cut this short. I'm Charmeine. We're special. Let's kill this thing and we can chat about our life stories over tea later. Deal?"

Before he could respond to her, something lifted him off the ground, he could see the entire city within seconds."That was a close one," he heard from above him, when he looked up he saw a boy with a halo over his head---it just so happened to be the same boy he asked the name of. Seeing the boy liked this caused Lu to frown but only slightly, he didn't expect for this, necessarily, or the fact that he could fly."Listen I was wondering, how many of those huge building pieces and boulders can you teleport to the sky? I have an Idea." The angelic boy asked Lu. Apparently whatever the boy had planned would help the situation, saying that no one had a better idea.

" More than likely two at a time, I could possibly do it repeatedly...though it would cause a lot of stress on my body." Lu looked down at the monster and the girl. It was only a couple hours ago he was fending for his own life, looking for food in this desertous environment, but now it wasn't just about him. He had to sacrifice his selfish worries for the greater good. For survival.

Charmeine jumped as one second the boy was standing there, and the next he was, well, not standing there. He was being carried by a guy who was flying and wow she did not have the time to marvel over him flying right now. What she could marvel over was that they were at the top of a building, chillin' out, while she was down here. Alone. With a very large, and very angry monster, who was in a lot of pain. Charmeine's impeccable eyesight could just barely make out the flying one's lips moving, forming the words "I have an Idea."

She cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled out "Hey guys, no offense and all, but could you possibly move whatever plan it is you're forming along so I could, I don't know, not die? Some of us don't have wings!" Charmeine looked over to the beast, groaning, trying to get it's bearings, and decided to set some things in motion herself. She put her swords together again and did a series of tai chi movements, listening intently as her sludge collected and rose up behind her. They could plan all they wanted, but she definitely wasn't going to sit idly by.

Charmeine moved her body fluidly, then stopped short, doing a sharp 180 turn and taking a deep breath. She would prepare herself for this attack, and that made all the difference. She felt the sludge behind her raise impossibly high, casting a shadow in front of her, then slashed down in an arc, sword tips pointing directly into the eyes of the beast.

She let out a grunt of concentration as she pushed the fluid forward, willing it into a sharp wave what slammed directly into it's eyes. Charmeine's arms shook with effort, but she kept on it, listening in satisfaction as the thing groaned in pain as it's eyes were seared through. She doubted it would burn through it's skull, or reach it's brain, but things were much easier to kill when they were blind.

The monster stumbled forward, trying to regain it's senses, and failing miserably. It crashed into more skyscrapers, hurting itself even more and doing exactly what she hoped the action would do. She was perfectly useless in this battle, brute strength being absolutely useless against whatever armor that monster's skin was made off, and this might just be the extent of her help.

Charmeine looked up at the top of the building again, chest heaving from adrenaline. "Your move, guys." She'd set the stage, now let them play.

" More than likely two at a time, I could possibly do it repeatedly...though it would cause a lot of stress on my body." had said the boy as he looked down at Charmeine. "Good two at a time seems to be best for me as well. Ok this is going the be the plan, Once I'm over the beast I want you to teleport the boulders or or anything big under me" he said as he got on the ledge of the building they were standing at. As he was about to jump he saw Charmeine attack the beast again. This time hitting it in its eye. Right then his idea had gotten even better.

It seemed that the monsters shield was too strong for physical attacks but his face seemed to be the most vulnerable. The monster had gone blind so that was the moment. "We'll aim for his eye!" he screamed to the boy as he flew off the building towards the girl. "Nice shot" he said flying past her into the sky on top of the rampaging demon. His tantrums seemed to have stopped for now. It was accepting the fact that it was blind. Now it was just there breathing hard in and out.

Flying a safe distance over its head Angel positioned himself for the boy to teleport the boulders. He was hoping that he was right, that the face would be the most vulnerable and that it would end its tracks right here. Not wanting to catch its attention towards him Angel moved his arms in a waving motion signaling him that he was ready for him to go. He didn't know how he was going to do it exactly but he had to. Though he knew he was going to regret it later.

"Your move, guys."

That was Lu and whatever the boy holding him name was to do what they had to do, but they only had one shot. Luckily, Charmeine was able to blind the beast with some sort of liquid that she was able to manipulate."Good two at a time seems to be best for me as well. Ok this is going the be the plan, Once I'm over the beast I want you to teleport the boulders or or anything big under me." Lu just nodded, then he teleported beside the girl, Charmeine, waiting for the signal to start 'Operation: Kick This Monsters Ass".

"We'll aim for his eye! Nice shot!" The boy yelled. Lu stood his ground trying to build up enough energy to try and complete what he was about to do. Teleporting inanimate objects were a lot easier than teleporting people, but with the vast sizes of the boulders and pieces of buildings it would be a task that might put him into overdrive. The beast started to breath heavily, blind yet somehow still with the will to fight. Lu just guessed it was in the monsters nature to never give up...that's just how some of these things are made. Lu looked up at the flying boy, positioned over the beast. He signaled Lu.

Lu's eyes glowed red, and a red aura emitted around his body, instantly he teleported in between two boulders grabbing both of them, and teleporting right underneath the flying boy. He did the same thing again within a second, now there was four, which turned to six, then eight, and finally ten. Lu teleported back at his post beside the girl trying to take deep sudden breathes as the aura disappeared, and his nose begun to bleed only a little bit. He looked up at the boulders and pieces of buildings suspended in the air, and hoped that this boy knew what he was doing...or he feared that they would not make it out alive.

Charmeine stood tensely, watching the situation unfold. The boy with the wings (she hated not knowing people's names...) flew past her yelling "Nice shot!" She stared up at him as he flew up higher, not stopping until he reached his destination. This seriously wasn't the time to be envious, but Charmeine seriously hated being useless. She hated being helpless, and having to watch other people fight battles while she stood on the side and watched. But watch, she did.

She watched as the boy, Lu, materialized from one place to the next, teleporting debris into midair, back and forth, back and forth, before finally appearing next to her. She frowned at his appearance, his heavy breathing, and the sharp, tangy smell of his blood as it dripped from his nose. Whatever power he exerted took a lot out of him, that much was obvious. "You're bleeding," she said softly. Charmeine was never squeamish with blood. She'd wanted to be a doctor before settling on business - the pay was better. But seeing this boy, she felt an almost maternal instinct come over her. He didn't look very old, and she practically towered over him.

Charmeine sheathed her swords for the time being, and reached into her robes and pulled out a piece of gauze. The one good thing about the robes was that she could stash things inside the numerous hidden slots and pockets created from the ties. She reached out, dabbing at the drop of blood underneath his nose, before drawing back, eyes widened. She hadn't meant to do that, but he just reminded her so much of her little brother...

"Sorry, I um... You should sit down. Save your strength." Charmeine dropped her arm to her side, crumpling the gauze in her hand, and turned her eyes to the monster, growling and still determined to fight to it's death. "What's your name?" She said, looking back at him. "If we're gonna die here, I might as well know your name. I mean, you already know mine." Charmeine couldn't stand the silence, and always had to fill it with talking. Silence always felt like the calm before the storm, to her, and there was a good chance she might not survive this storm.

Two by to he teleported the boulders into the air. This was a little bit different than he had planned but it was good. He just didn't know that the boy was going to be teleporting them this fast. As soon as the first two appeared he used his power over the element of earth to keep them suspended in the air. It was hard since most of the boulders were chunks of cement or concrete that had little pieces of earth in it. He had managed to keep all ten of them in the air. Though it was starting to take a toll on him. Beads of sweat were already starting to form on his forehead. spreading his arms towards the boulders he concentrated on making the bottoms as sharp and pointed as he could.

It only took him a couple of seconds to do all of them but it was harder since he had to keep all of them in the air at the same time. Slowly he manipulated the boulders to move in a spinning motion until they had reached a decent speed. By now sweat was starting to form and fall to the ground. It was very hard but there was no way that he was going to stop now. Not when they had come this far. Keeping them at a constant speed he flew a bit more into the sky.

"Well here goes nothing" he whispered to himself as he let go of his control over earth. But he didn't stop there, as soon as he stopped the boulders started falling. But before they fell to much he sent waves of air towards them accelerating their speed. From afar they looked like drills moving in fast on their target. And luckily for them the beast was still in the same position. It only took a couple of seconds before the boulders struck the monster. Those that landed first cracked its shell but remained stuck in it. And the rest just kept adding more pressure until the last two made it into its skin. The monster gave one last roar into the air that it gave Angel goose bumps. The sounds was heard from within a 10 mile radius. Blood ravens were seen forming clouds of birds in the sky flying away in fear.

At last it seemed that they had beaten the monster. Right when Angel started flying towards the ground his nose started bleeding. "Crap, I knew I had overdone it!" he told himself. And just a couple of feet from the ground his he was exhausted that he lost control of his flight and hit the ground. He managed to land a couple of feet from the boy and Charmeine but it hurt a lot. He managed to roll over to face the sky, wiping off the blood with his sleeve. "Looks like we made it guys" he said as he started to laugh.

As soon as the question left her lips, the silence was broken. The boy with the wings was...well, she didn't really know what he was doing, but it looked like he could control the debris. She felt that little green envy bug pop up again, but forced herself to watch. There were always battle strategies to learn, even if she couldn't apply them the same way he did.

She watched intently as he sharpened the rocks, and he he started spinning them. She frowned hard (she really needed to stop that, because wrinkles!) and knew just what he was doing. "It's a drill. He's going to try and...drill through it." Charmeine said, looking over at the boy next to her, filling him in. "It's a smart plan. Let's just hope it works, right?"

Charmeine could smell his stress from here. That was one of her specialties. Heart rate, body language, the sweat pooling on the ground underneath him. She couldn't even estimate how heavy the rocks were, as she watched them spin faster and faster, but it was taking a heavy toll on his body. Finally, he decided the speed was sufficient, and Charmeine stood up straighter. "Brace yourself," she said to the boy. "It's about to get bumpy."

She watched in fascination as the boulders pierced the monsters, and it gave a final, bone-chilling roar before falling dead. Charmeine couldn't help the excitement that bubbled up. She jumped up and down, giggling and squealing. "That was so awesome!" The excitement didn't last long, however, as when she looked up at flying boy, there was definitely something wrong. He tried to land, but didn't quite make it, instead falling heavily a few feet in front of her. "Oh my God!"

"Looks like we made it guys" he said, as she ran the few steps over to him. He was already lying on his back laughing, when she knelt down to him, throwing the used gauze from the other boy down, and digging in her robes for another.

"Don't just wipe it with your sleeves. You're gonna attract more demons if your clothes are filthy." Charmeine pinched his nose with the gauze. There was nothing physically wrong with his nose, but by the heaving of his chest, it was obviously exhaustion or stress related. "Boys and their nosebleeds... Don't even think about moving. Nothing's gonna come in this area after all that noise..." Charmeine looked over him and at the fallen monster, another laugh bubbling up now that she knew everyone would survive. So she went back to doing what she did best: talking.

"That was so totally awesome! We just fought a battle, and I don't even know your guys' names! This is probably the best day I've had in weeks."

It worked! The three of them successfully took down a very powerful demon, though it wouldn't have worked if they didn't combine their powers in order to take down the monster. "You're bleeding," Charmeine said, then she pulled out a gauze to apply it to the boys nose, this act of kindness shocked Lu, the sort of kindness he only found in his mothers comfort,"Sorry, I um... You should sit down. Save your strength." Lu fell into a deep silence, trying not to get attached to her. Though he couldn't help but to look at her from the corner of his eye. Following instructions, Lu sit down slowly, and could instantly feel his power regenerate."What's your name? "If we're gonna die here, I might as well know your name. I mean, you already know mine." Lu just looked at her, he frowned, his lips begun to tremble as though he was about to say something...though he was interrupted.

The sounds of earth cracking and sediments rubbing up against each other got Lu's attention. "It's a drill," Lu looked up at the girl as she spoke,"He's going to try and...drill through it." Lu looked back at what the angelic boy was doing, and got up on his feet. He materialized his Scythe just in case something went wrong. "It's a smart plan. Let's just hope it works, right?" Lu just frowned and nodded agreeing with her. He got in a position where he could easily be able to teleport Charmeine to safety and save the angel boy if anything went wrong, he watched carefully. "Brace yourself, It's about to get bumpy."

"That was so awsome!" Charmeine said. It happened so quickly before Lu's very eyes, the boy couldn't help but to break a small smile of satisfaction. He dematerialized his Scythe happy the fight was over."Oh my God!" He looked up at Charmeine who was now running over to the angelic boy. Lu followed her quickly."Looks like we made it guys." He said, Lu folded his arms and smiled at them both as Charmeine begun to patch the other boy up. "Don't just wipe it with your sleeves. You're gonna attract more demons if your clothes are filthy." She said to him, while the other boy was laughing."Boys and their nosebleeds... Don't even think about moving. Nothing's gonna come in this area after all that noise..."That was so totally awesome! We just fought a battle, and I don't even know your guys' names! This is probably the best day I've had in weeks."

Lu watched as the demon laid there on the ground, though he felt an odd presence, as though something was watching them. He looked around, he could have sworn he was something fly into an alleyway simultaneously as he looked over at it."Shit." He said softly. He looked back at Charmeine and the other boy."My name is Lumiere, though you can call me Lu. Yes, we defeated the monster, though none of use would have been able to take it out alone...Not only do I believe it would be best for us to travel together, but I think we are being stalked as well---and there is strength in numbers." Lu turned around to see if they were still being stalked. It was nothing. He sensed nothing."Lets move out quickly. I know a safe place we can go---for now." He said. He heard the Cathedral's bell ring in the background, bloodbirds instantly flew away from the holy place. In his heart, he knew, this wasn't going to be easy.

"Don't just wipe it with your sleeves. You're gonna attract more demons if your clothes are filthy." said Charmeine as she placed a gauze over his nose. Angel was so exhausted that he couldn't even fight her off. So he just stood there on the ground trying to catch his breath. "Boys and their nosebleeds... Don't even think about moving. Nothing's gonna come in this area after all that noise..." she told him. He just laid there looking at the sky. It looked so peaceful up there, just the wind and clouds.

The way the sky looked as the sky was setting. Going from bright yellow turning to orange and finally stopping at hues of pink and red at the far end followed my the darkness of night. The boy that had been with them walked towards him and Charmeine. "My name is Lumiere, though you can call me Lu. Yes, we defeated the monster, though none of use would have been able to take it out alone...Not only do I believe it would be best for us to travel together, but I think we are being stalked as well---and there is strength in numbers." So Lumiere was his name huh. Not bad, tho he was definetly going to call him Lu.

"My name is Angel, and you guys don't know how good it feels to meet others like me" he said trying to sit up. "Now now Lu, relax. I think we can all agree to say that we are paranoid at this point of getting attacked. But Charmeine is right, with that noise that the beast gave nothing is going to show up to find out what happened. Even demons fear. But you are right, traveling together is the best choice. But if you believe we must start walking just give me a few minutes. That back there took a lot out of me and im exhausted." he said wiping the remaining sweat that was left. "I don't suppose you can teleport to the top of the building to get my backpack could you? " he wondered. Right now he needed something to eat and his backpack was too high for him to fly right now.

"I know a safe place we can go---for now." Charmeine perked up at that, sitting back on her haunches as the boy, Angel, sat up.

"I don't suppose you can teleport to the top of the building to get my backpack could you?" he asked. Charmeine didn't want him moving around right now, but desperate times really called for desperate measures.

The other boy, Lumiere, had such a serious look on his face. He looked as if he had serious doubts about their safety, though after what they'd just done, she figured they could all bear to have a bit of anxiety. Angel was in no condition to fight should they encounter a pack, and if Lu (she really liked the name Lu) was right about them being stalked, they needed to get into some place they could use as a temporary stronghold.

"It's getting dark, and night is their territory. While I do think all the noise we made would scare off and run-of-the-mill creatures, if you're right, and we're being stalked, we can't give it a chance to show while we aren't at full strength." Charmeine stood up, dusted off her robes, and sighed heavily. "Total paranoia is just total awareness, Lu, and instincts like that are key in surviving. If you think we should keep moving, we'll keep moving."

Charmeine drew her swords, gripping them tightly, listening as their tiny whispers floated through her brain, telling her of disturbances in the air, movement of far away demons that were casing their area. "I'll keep watch until you guys are ready. I'd love to rest here, but they're gonna get bolder since the sun is setting, and the only things curious enough to wander here will be strong enough to cause trouble."