Inferno [plot]

Honey didn’t have a clue why she was here, really. She didn’t want to have to fight, but it seemed like this was the only way. She had her dark hood flipped up so it covered most of her face, two small daggers gripped tightly in her hands. Her gift was likely to come in handy, in a raid like this. Although her instinct was to run away and hide, she knew that wasn’t going to happen today. Her warm chocolate brown eyes were fixed on the house up front. She could see the fight breaking out, those with really great gifts wrecking the house and attacking the people inside. Well, that should make her job a little easier. She gripped her weapons even tighter in her hands. She was dragging a long way behind, but whatever. This would be fine. She bit her lower lip, taking one last glance behind her. She could run now. But she wasn’t going to. She forced her gaze back to the front, took a deep breath, and forced her gift into action. When it triggered, her entire body flickered for a moment, before disappearing completely. Well, it hadn’t disappeared. It just became invisible. Honey flicked her wrists, trying to make her daggers disappear too. She wasn’t the most practised at making other things go invisible, but at least her clothes were gone. Fuck, that sounded wrong. Oh well. She’s just have to hope no one saw the floating knives. She exhaled a deep breath and jogged forwards until she was close enough to the door. She slowed down and rose onto the tips of her toes, preparing herself to pass through the door as quietly as she could. She tiptoed past the frame, squeezing herself into the mansion. She speedwalked as quietly as she could over to an undamaged section of the mansion, and without bothering to become visible again, hacked away at the wall with her small but sharp knives. Hopefully no one would question a couple of floating daggers.

(kick her ass, kidnap her, do whatever, but don’t kill her)

Jane stood back from the carnage, dizzy from the flaring lights and explosive sounds, weak at the knees as she watched the destruction unfold across the face of the old mansion. She was out of her league here, but how could she let herself miss out on the spectacle? With a long breath, she strained to draw back her bow, chewing on the inside of her cheek. One eye, no depth perception... But as she saw the people in black bearing down on her schoolmates, she found the strength to pull back and loose. The arrow went arcing through the air.

vou vs cenek mini-solo les go

From the trio of shapeshifters the center man wearing a green and grey cloak started forward as if almost ignoring what was happening all around him, yet his eyes darted around the lawn-turned-battlefield. By the time it'd grown apparent he was clearly trying to pick someone out from the rest, the long blade of a zweihander was on a direct course for his throat. Bending backward slightly just in time to evade decapitation, he took a step back and brought his longsword up to block the inevitable swing back towards him. Vou looked forward at his attacker once the blades clashed, seeing the now only vaguely familiar face of one of his former kinsmen, who he had exiled himself. Cenek's face displayed a mix of hatred and a level of bloodlust only a sociopath turned into a homicidal fiend a man such as him could feel. Rather than exchange words when their gazes locked (what was this, some kind of dramatic fight in a movie or book?) Cenek quickly pulled his sword back, before thrusting it forward. Almost immediately it was swatted aside by Vou's own, who immediately a kick forward at the exile's stomach. With a grunt Cenek let the force of the kick send him rolling backwards, stopping in a crouch just in time to catch the longsword being brought down on him from above between his hands. As if motivated by the blood oozing from his palms, Cenek pushed his way up into a stand, his superior leverage on the blade enabling him to push it up, gritting his teeth as it dug deeper and deeper into his hands. Preferring to stop this before he saw his longsword being used against him, he twisted off to the side whilst tugging on and then releasing the blade, essentially using Cenek's pushing to help him throw the sword aside.

With them both disarmed now, Vou swiped at Cenek's face as it rapidly grew less human and more akin to that of a wolf. Before the hit could connect Cenek grabbed at Vou's arm however, yanking him forward to grab his head with his own now clawed hand. The flow of battle remained in Cenek's favor for only a moment, however. He'd taken his attention off of the arm held in his other hand, which was now being slammed into his body. The air knocked out of him, he then fell to a knee as one of them was kicked in by Vou; his grip on Vou's face was no longer able to endure. Almost immediately after Vou's kicking foot was back on the ground, that leg was going right back up again, its knee smashing into Cenek's face. Face bloodied, Cenek was dazed for just a moment. Unfortunately for him, a moment was all it took for Vou to take a step back before sending a kick for the side of Cenek's head now. But instead of finally going down, he let out a bloodcurdling cry of pain, hatred, rage... and panic. Pushing up on the leg that was still planted firm on the ground, he lept up at Vou, the claws and teeth of a cougar poised to latch onto him and shred him to pieces. Remaining far more composed than his opponent, Vou ducked down whilst reaching up with his own clawed hands to grab Cenek's clothing and pull downward, ultimately slamming him head first into the ground. This time he stayed somewhat still as he lay on the ground.

Vou calmly walked over to Cenek's defeated form, which looked up at the sky as he lay motionless with blood and tears on his face. Vou simply crouched down before the man who was now physically, mentally, and emotionally broken. A hint of guilt and remorse was evident on Vou's face as he put a clawed, lupine hand on Cenek's throat, gripping it tight. Before much blood could be spilled, his whole arm took on a more wolfish look as he pulled with all his might and ripped apart Cenek's throat, a handful of it gripped tight in his hand. Blood sprayed and flowed from the fallen man's destroyed neck, and very shortly, the life faded from his eyes. The mad man who'd loved nothing more than to take the lives of others had now had his own stolen away. Vou stood and dropped the chunk of flesh from his hand, before taking in the situation around him again.

He'd stepped outside to carnage. Through the curtain of smoke and light, he could only make out two bestial shadows, one ripping and tearing into the other. When the haze cleared, he realized it was his man torn to pieces on the grass. The Master of Patterson Manor allowed himself a light grimace. "Are you the leader of this attack?" Adam didn't need an answer. It was apparent at a glance he was a warrior among an army of children. "I offer one chance to surrender yourself to Agrona's mercy. I can't promise she will be kind to you. But otherwise you will burn."

A gunshot rang out as the lithe shape came dashing down toward the woman at the ground. Samuel Blaine moved over the scorched lawn and mansion wreckage with direct purpose, as if oblivious to the carnage around him. He could sense the raw aura of power flowing off the young doll-like man; it radiated off him with every slight and graceful movement.

There was no hesitation pulling the trigger. They had to match their ruthlessness if they wanted to succeed here.

He dug his heels into the scorching earth. What had been a peaceful place not moments before had already turned to explosions and dust. Fuck if he had any sort of plan. Fuck if he knew what he was doing or he didn't. The only thought that passed through his mind was that he couldn't wait to see this asshole's face eating dirt. Preston bit through the burns and the singes in his hair, batting the fire away with a charged swing of his glaive, to avert what he could as he threw himself from the flames.

There had to be some way he could get close to the bastard. Sparks danced up his weapon as he peeled it back, gliding it up to till it balanced in the palm of his hand. With a heave, it went flying for Ryan's face.

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Brailynn narrowed her eyes, shaking the sting off her knuckles. She didn't hit her hard enough. Stupid? She was the stupid one? "You'll fucking die too!" The blonde shrieked, her arm rippling into focus as she stepped aside, grabbing away at Kayla's wrist and pushing her fist up. The power that coursed through her then was almost enough to make her scream, it tried to push her away, but it only made her hands clamp further around her arm. Tears hissed at the corner of her eyes. "I thought we were friends, and you left us! For what?!"

The Guardian seized all the power that she could then, yanking at her grip on the mangy brunette and plunging her towards the nearest wall.

The bloodied wolf-man's gaze turned towards the man who was now demanding his surrender."Are you prepared to join your assassin?" Calmly, he began to march on towards Adam, visibly growing larger and furrier with every step until there was a werewolf in the man's place. Then, the march became a feral run as Vou charged at the mansion's master, intent on shredding him into bloody ribbons.

Avis cried out as she suddenly took several kicks from behind, rolling as the force knocked her forward before spinning around to face her attacker, visibly hurt. Before she ended up doing much else however, a man carrying a pike rushed forward, his weapon being thrust right at Callum's body.

Every move the puppet made was calculated into a game of chess, perception his knight and experience his bishop.

A swift but soft whirl bounced back as the girl tumbled to the ground, skimming across as though he were sliding on ice. The wind blew, a faint howl telling him the rough distance between the even steps approaching, the volume and timbre growing deeper as a long pole-arm was thrust at him.

He barely dodged the pike, the rest of his speed focused on getting up close and personal to the weapon's holder. Its sharp point grazed the sleeve of his shirt. Azure lambency flared without the dark fabric muffling its brilliance as he dropped low for a sweeping kick, aiming for the man's weakness in the knees; the gales infused in the blow would only strengthen its impact, the rest of the air forming a wall, enough to halt a sensed bullet in its path and forcing it to drop dead to the ground.

Adam eased backwards with wings of fire, avoiding the first wild swipe, but the follow up caught him across his chest, shredding open his fine suit and pulling a groan of pain from his lips. Embers filled his eyes as he staggered back, falling clumsily to one knee, as the flames brightened from gold to white. The loss of blood already made him dizzy, and his face was beginning to stain with sweat, but he could not let himself yield. With sharp strikes he flung one, two, three fireballs toward the beast, pressing forward and letting his momentum carry himself back onto his feet, coming at the wolf man with a desperate sweeping kick.

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Kayla let out a growl of pain that sharpened into a pitched scream as Brailynn's grip tightened, then twisted on her wrist. Her shoes squeaked against the tile as they lost traction, her stomach flipping, and then smashing against the wall like a ragdoll. Instant pain webbed out across her back as she slumped to the floor, breathless, her limbs like lead weights. "I'll k-kill you, I'll k-k—... ill you, kill you, kill you..." The broken words stuttered out from between her teeth, like air hissing out from a deflating balloon, electric currents flashing out across her limp body.

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Samuel watched the bullet drop away, helpless. Two more Guardians swept in from the flanks, one man dropped from the air with a sword in his hand, another woman blinking toward the boy, flashing at him from what seemed like thin air. Grimacing, Samuel forced himself forward as well, raising his gun when a cold chill seemed to reverberate through the air, freezing his trigger finger. Even more powerful than the aerokinetic, something else far more terrible was approaching.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He recognized this power signature at once.

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Poppy reeled from the carnage, stumbling through the soot-stained walls, half the walls crumbled inwards. A chalky white dust filled the moonlight, powdering her face and hands and agitating her nose. For a moment, she'd thought, she'd hoped, she could have a second just to clear her head. She survived at least a couple of these crazy anime battles by this point, so it wasn't like she was afraid.

Just something about watching people get their guts torn out, it made her a little queasy, y'know?

She leaned against a wall, breathing heavy into her jacket, when she heard the click of approaching heels. Poppy turned and caught a flash of blue eyes in the darkness, and it was like all the oxygen was vacuumed out from her throat. The girl flexed up, like a stiff corpse, and fell to the ground with her heart threatening to rip itself apart in her chest.

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The woman in black swept in from the halls, down the ruined staircase and toward the great lawn that was already filling with bodies. Curtains of raven hair fell down well past her back, blue eyes sweeping over the battlefield. She let her gaze settle on a handsome young man with old eyes, the hint of a smile around her lips. "Fall," she commanded.

The werewolf didn't seem to care that its body was going up in flames as it was carried forward by feral bloodlust. The man's kick did absolutely nothing to the beast, its flaming form leaping forward to tackle Adam to the ground. Relentlessly he tore into the man, tearing him apart as he was consumed by the fire. Pained howls erupted from Vou as he felt his body burn more and more, before he started to lose feeling altogether in some places as his nerves were burnt to a crisp, only for pain to return as his lycanthropic regeneration tried to rebuild his burning body. After Adam was reduced to a bloody, limbless mess, Vou desperately tried to put himself out, rolling and flailing on the blood soaked lawn that'd became a battlefield. By the time he'd been extinguished, everything had taken a toll on him that was too much for his body to endure any longer. Reverting back to his human form, Vou fell to a knee, his breathing heavy and his clothes burnt and ashen. His body had fared even worse, with most of his hair no more and all of his exposed skin suffering from severe burns. By the time the woman in black had walked outside, his form was on the ground, and his breathing had ceased.

Ira was brought down by the kick, yelling out in pain. By the time he'd recovered enough to stand once again, his attention was no longer on his attacker, but the hellish howls that were filling the air. The warhammer-wielding girl, too, had become fixated on this, before running across the grass towards the body of the fallen lord of Clan Mutata Figura. Ira gave pursuit, a noticeable limp present in his run. "M'lord!" The two crouched beside the burned man's still body, the battle around them being drowned out by the sight right in front of them: their leader was dead.

The blade flashed toward his face. Ryan staggered to the side, not feeling anything at first, almost daring to think he'd flung it harmlessly over his shoulder. His hand pressed up toward the side of his neck, and came away wet with blood. His heart had already sunk into the pit of his stomach when he heard the roar of flame, the scream of pain, and a sight that never left him for the rest of his life, a screenshot imprinted on the inside of his eyelids so he couldn't close his eyes without reliving the sights and smells.

His father was dead. The new Master Patterson forgot all about the boy behind him, forgot all about the blood slicking the curve of his neck and staining his collar, watching numb as the great beast burned alive, a great blade slipping from the animal's claws. He stumbled into a walk, and then a run, fire blazing in his fists as he charged the two warriors crowded around the burnt corpse.

His former opponents retreated away with the signaling bugle call of a mutt's howl, but his moment of rest came and went in a blink of an eye before he could chase after them, not unlike the women who suddenly appeared. The wind's sweet whispers arrived into his hearing, begging that he dodged them both. Reflex guided his motions and tailwinds accelerated his speed, swerving him ever-so-slightly as the blade sliced deep into his shoulder.

Without so much as a twitch in his expression - an immovable mask that hadn't changed a single time when he was defending or attacking -, he forced his small blackened palms towards his aggressors' stomachs. Upon contact, Callum would quickly wrapped the air inside their bodies like a serpent squeezing the life out of their prey, compressing the blood vessels with ease until they would explode from the inside out.

Once the task was done, the air freezing and paralyzing those caught in its embrace, he wasted no time to make a decisive step at the man who used a feeble bullet against him. A labored breath heaved his chest, his hands gesturing. Invisible air slipped past Samuel's lips, refusing to rest until there was none. The reaper readied his scythe, reaping another soul from the blazing front.

The chill spread through every heart on the battlefield. Figures seized up like corpses and fell around her, as if the air around her had turned to poison gas. Some screamed. Some cried. Others collapsed silently, or scrambled for their lives, the sea of enemies parting before her without even having to lift a finger. A wave of quiet followed her as she walked, as if she absorbed all the brutal passion and energy from the fighting as she passed, draining the battlefield of life and heat. She finally came to a stop midway across the great lawn, hands spread outward, a silhouette against the flames..

"Exquisite, exquisite," she said, with a hint of bubbliness, not loudly. There was no need to raise her voice. "You have magnificent powers. You don't have to hide them anymore. Every drop of gifted blood is a terrible waste, and if you swear your loyalty now, there can be a place for each of you by my side. I would care for you like my own children." Her hands folded gently over her heart, before curling into fists. "But this will be your last offer for mercy. So decide now."

As her hands clutched tightly shut, she drew a chorus of screams from the crowd.

The now teary-eyed girl had begun gently removing the now ashen green and grey cloak of her fallen lord when she felt as though every last bit of life and energy was sucked out of her. Even if she'd noticed the fire-fisted young man charging towards her, she didn't care about him in the slightest. The woman in black had become the sole focus of her attention as she sat still, not even daring to breathe. She only moved again when the pike-wielding man next to her tugged on her and almost ended up dragging her as he took off running in the opposite direction, utter horror evident on his features. The gifts of the two became apparent as they were quickly replaced by a pair of deer running for their lives. As he fled in terror from the woman, he came upon the figure that'd attacked him previously, and, judging by the bodies, had killed many in the brief time he was gone. Perhaps by chance or through what little conscious decision making could be done in their terrified state, the pair of deer ran straight over him, trampling him under their hooves as they got as far away from the mansion as possible.

There was no ignoring the roaring columns of fire and gargling howls from behind them. Preston stared with wide eyes, his gaze glued to the silhouette of the white-haired asshole - stumbling forward in a daze. ... Did he get him?

No... The autumn's glaive return to him with a flick of his wrist and he was left standing there, seemingly forgotten. 'Shit, I guess this is my chance.' Preston grit his teeth and bolted through the field, slipping through the front door and near stumbling through the hallways. His head whipped around. "Damn it, which way?"

__

She could see the crumpled shape of the girl ahead as the dust around them settled and a wave of guilt washed over her. Maybe they had never been as close as Brailynn had liked to think they were, but a part of her had grown to care for her - in some ways not unlike a little sister...

She was the kind of person that her family had always wanted to help the most; the lost ones, her parents called them. "Come on," Brailynn sighed, a sudden wave of exhaustion washing over her as came up to Kayla, not bothering to hide the limp in her step. She leaned over, offering her a hand up. "This place is gonna fall apart."