Mr. Montgomery’s POV

Mr. Montgomery was pacing back and forth awaiting the news. Why did he have such incompetent subordinates? A few words in the right ears and his wishes had been carried out, yet somehow it got botched beyond belief.

There was a spark of good news when they had uncovered the true source of the miracle drug. Sooner or later that source would be his. Till then he would keep dropping little hints to make his problems go away. One of those problems was already dead. Only a few more to go.

Mob bosses POV

“Have you identified the targets? Are they all present?”

“Davis, Gwen, Brady and Charlotte are confirmed to be present. We have the house under complete surveillance.”

“Good. I want them dead except for one. I want to know what really happened that day. They made us look bad. Get it done.”

“Will do.”

These people had made a mockery out of the team he sent. No one could even find the body of his friend nor his two enforcers. The kidnaping of Jim and Charlotte could not have gone any worse. Knowing that his people had been taken alive made him nervous. His lieutenant knew too much.

However the good news was the fact that they found the source of the miracle cures. Knowing that it left the playing field open to take vengeance. He didn't know the full details but someone pointed the government at Jim. So that was one out of the way. The bad news was that in the aftermath the demons showed up and invaded the city.

It took all of their forces just to keep their territory safe. But only afterwards did they find out that an intelligence agency seemed to have found out about their prize. Milly was their new major target but they couldn't move on her with big brother around.

On the other hand that left manpower available for other tasks. He had gotten a hold of the reports in the aftermath, however something was fishy. The report stated that a lucky shot cut down a power line that happened to end over a dozen of his lieutenant's men. That was a bald-faced lie. Someone really high up must have agreed with his assessment because he got the go ahead for this action.

Someone was covering something up. There was still a trickle of those red demons around. If they ever found that those demons were more than a coincidence the guilty were going to get the same treatment as his current customers. But for now it gave them some good cover. No one would suspect gunshots in the current environment. People would just think another demon had been found and killed. Perfect.

Officer Brady's POV

Brady was getting a bit numb to all these new surprises. At first he felt triumphant when he had finally witnessed Gwen using her lightning spell. He had never doubted what he had seen before, however Gwen would always stay quiet on the matter when he asked.

Seconds away from pressing her on the matter Charlotte had started to count down. In hindsight touching a mage while a countdown was going on probably wasn't the brightest of ideas.

Brady had tried to ask Gwen what was happening, however Charlotte seemed to be berating Gwen for their presence. He could only shake his head at witnessing the two reporters. Damned busy bodies.

When the sleeping man started talking he realized the voice was Jim's. How in the world had he grown a foot since Brady had last seen him?

Charlotte became engrossed in the conversation with Jim and he saw the reporters seemed to be enthralled by a woman in red walking over. More insistently this time he asked “What's going on Gwen?”

With a guilty look she replied “We are going to be attacked by those creatures again soon. The ones that attacked your city.”

Confused he said “How did you know they would attack your home?”

Gwen sighed and said “It's a little complicated.”

Brady was getting annoyed. If there was about to be a battle soon he wanted a bit more than vague answers. He scanned over the island and he didn't like what he saw.

There was nothing that could be used as cover. That was bad. In an open field like this they wouldn't stand a chance. And he only had two extra clips on him.

He had more in his car but that wouldn't do him any good here. Brady continued to ask her questions but she was being tight lipped and told him to ask Charlotte.

As the weather got worse he listened in on the worried conversation between Jim and Charlotte. He almost wanted to make light of the “final boss” comments, however it seemed everyone was serious.

When the trio had fought the nightmare from hell it was obviously no joking matter. Looking over to April he could only shake his head at the ongoing commentary. If he didn't have a stake in whether they won or lost it would have made for a hell of a show. But things quickly changed as the fighters were encased in a rock structure.

As he saw the green portals multiply he quickly remembered his earlier assessment that this open ground was terrible. Looking back over to the dome he realized that it was rather close to the beach.

If they could move there it would cut the area they needed to defend down to two paths. Well, unless the demons could swim. If they could swim their group was screwed.

After the nut in red armor professed her satisfaction that there were enemies available he said “Everyone, we should move to the shore side of the dome. It will give us some cover.”

April immediately said “I like that idea! Let's go!”

Scarlet snorted and said “Nah. I think I'll take my leave. I'm no good cowering in a corner.”

April protested by saying “But... but you said you would protect us!”

Rolling her eyes she responded “I will be protecting you by going out and killing those things. See? Perfect logic. Promise fulfilled!”

After saying those words she moved at a rapid speed and then vanished somehow. How could someone disappear on open ground?

Gwen looked to Forrest and said “Surely at least you will heed Jim's intent and not just his words?”

Forrest nodded and said “I like the idea of cover. Let's move.”

With that the now smaller group quickly made their way to cover. While they ran Forrest fired several arrows at impossibly far targets. Each arrow seemed to be accompanied by a gust of wind that made the arrows move at incredible speeds.

Brady looked down at his pistol and wondered if he could even make a shot like that. But he knew it was a waste of ammo. The red demons took several body shots to kill. Yet each arrow sunk in all the way up to the fletching ending their target.

Looking to the man's quiver he said while running “Shouldn't you save those? The creatures can be rather stupid at times and wander off.”

Forrest laughed and said “No need. Not sure why but I never seem to run out of arrows.”

Skeptically he watched closely and sure enough after a few seconds a number of arrows reappeared.

Befuddled he said “How in the world…”

Shrugging the man said “Don't worry about it. Let's go.”

If only Brady could get a pistol that never ran out of ammo. That would be amazing. Distractedly he thought about a couple games he played in the past with rocket launchers.

One person had modified it somehow so the weapon had infinite ammo and almost no reload time. A single rocket launcher could send a veritable fleet of missiles in a never ending stream. Who would he have to talk to to make that happen?

Lost in his daydream Gwen shoved him to the side as a red globe flew past. Gwen said harshly “Pay attention! We are almost there!”

Getting his head back in the game he took note of his surroundings. How in the world was he last in the line? So far he was beat in a foot race by a child and someone carrying a shoulder camera.

Brady picked up the pace and Gwen easily matched it. But then Gwen turned around and gestured with one hand toward a cluster of red demons. Brady gaped as over a dozen fiery projectiles flew towards the pack.

Forrest said “Wow! Looks like you picked up a new trick Gwen! Nice!”

Gwen laughed and said “Yeah. My fire’s level increased to two a while ago! It's nice being somewhere I don't have to worry about what I am burning down!”

Forrest smirked and said “Good! Glad you learned since the fight at the potion shop. You almost roasted yourself.”

As they gathered behind the shadow of the dome Maria asked “Is everyone alright?”

April cradled her arm and said “Tripped when I got here. Just a few scratches.”

Looking at the bleeding limb he could see it was a good bit more than a scratch. Brady was preparing to rip off one of the sleeves to his shirt so he could bandage the wound. But then he remembered how he had come back uninjured from the gunfight at the warehouse.

Pausing he watched the little girl point a glowing white palm towards the woman and the bleeding seemed to stop.

Maria asked “Anyone else?”

April's POV

Just a second ago her arm was pulsing with pain and bleeding. But now? She whispered covertly to her cameraman saying “You got that?”

A slight nod. Pulling up the sleeve she examined the perfectly fine skin. April remembered back to that hoax of an interview with Mr. Chou. She remembered how insistent he was that there was no miracle cure on the horizon. Watching the little girl she wondered if she cracked open the case on that little secret!

Getting her head back in the right place she focused on her job. It actually helped with the fear. If she was just reporting on the situation she could somehow summon up a kind of mental detachment. But if she just watched and did nothing her hands would shake and her breath would become too quick. It was something she never knew about herself.

“How are you doing partner?”

“Great! You know how many shots I have of Scarlet decapitating those things! Five! That doesn't even include all the other ways she killed those monsters! Her blades are glowing with fire! Glowing!! People are going to love this!”

Shaking her head she figured at least he knew what he liked. April kept reporting but after awhile she started running out of ways to say one of them got shot with an arrow or burned alive by a spell. Still she did her best.

“And Gwen just put up another campfire for four! Wow look it at burn! Too bad they don't have any s'mores!”

“And again with Gwen and her flair machine gun! Wow! I don't think those three will be available for emergency roadside service!”

“And Forrest gives another stunning combo! He shish kabobed three of them in one spit! Too bad the fires so far away!”

“Forrest is giving out his wood and shafting four more in a row! What a machine! Ladies are you taking notice?”

Her cameraman hissed “Not sure if they will like that kind of language.”

Laughing she said “With all this death around you really think the line was crossed at a shafting wood joke?”

The corner of his mouth twitched and he gave a thumbs up. April happily clapped and then said “Here comes the master of the forest himself, Forrest! He just delivered the wood of justice to another pair!”

Her cameraman was covering his mouth but it would be impossible not to notice the shaking of the camera. Ha! Got em!

Jim's POV

At first Jim thought the creature had given up getting out of its cage but then it's now swordless hand started to glow. With an extended hand it gestured towards the wall closest to it and a massive fireball sunk into the wall.

Jim didn't just stand there and watch, he had been rushing towards the demon the entire time. Just when he was about to be in reach the monster launched itself upwards. During the jump he noticed that a good part of the earthen wall had been blown away by the fire blast, however no light shown through the debris.

Frantically looking around he tried to find where the thing had jumped to but he couldn't find it.

Then Charlotte yelled “The ceiling!”

After scanning the top he found it. Jim was confused as to how in the world it was staying up there. Charlotte shot a few energy beams at it and then he saw the motion. It was piercing the stone with its taloned tentacles and using them as hand holds.

Jim was at a loss for what to do and then the creatures hand glowed again. He readied himself to dodge but again the blast was directed elsewhere.

Watching the fireball he saw it was aimed at the exact same spot that it had struck before. The thing was still trying to break out! Putting himself in the projectiles way he instinctively pulled out a top of the line fire resistant shield. The fireball moved at a comparatively slow speed so with his close proximity he easily took the projectile on his shield.

Yelling he said “It's trying to break out! Dragon, there any way you can speed this up a bit?”

A little girl voice yelled at him “My name is not dragon, human!”

Seriously? Was this really a discussion to have now?

“Can you speed this up please? At this rate he could punch a hole through and all this work would be for nothing!”

“I'm out of power. I used everything I had just to make this dome. Right now I am using what little I can recover to shrink the battlefield.”

As they were talking Charlotte kept firing at it and then it shot out another fire orb. However this time the shot was directly away from Jim. The fire impacted the wall and left another massive dent.

This was not going to work. It could chip away at the wall faster than the dragon could remake it. But did the dragon use mana?

“Dragon, do you use mana? I have potions that can recover mana.”

A little girl voice said in an annoyed tone “You know I have a name.”

“You never told me!”

“You never asked!”

Charlotte butted in and said “Do we really have time to be bickering now? Answer the question!”

The dragon huffed and said “No. I do not use mana. Your potions will not help me.”

In the back of his mind he felt he was forgetting about something. Jim felt there was something he had that could bring the dragon’s magic back, but it was eluding him.

During the argument another fireball was shot out and this time Charlotte blocked the shot, however it took a big toll. The woman said her magic phrase once more and the damage disappeared.

Jim didn't like that. He could hear the slur in her words. Briefly before being restored Jim could see blood dripping from her torso.

“Charlotte! Use this!”

Taking the shield he cradled it and then gave a mighty heave as he threw the disk like a frisbee.

Seeing the disk Charlotte grabbed it in time and used it to deflect the next orb of fire. The demonic creature shrieked with anger when it saw how little damage the attack did.

For some reason when he had completed the pass he wanted to hold his hands straight up and say “Gooooal.”

He both hated and loved these little bits of knowledge. It gave him a piece of the puzzle that was him, yet it also caused another barrage of questions.

Then a snake like voice said “You all are strong. Perhaps you would like to serve the King of Demons? The strong will always have a place in his army.”

It took a couple seconds but he finally realized where the sound was coming from. The tentacles had a small opening at the base of the talon that moved. Guess that explained that mystery.

The creature ceased to move and stood still waiting for their answer. Charlotte had her weapon aimed at it while she looked over to Jim. Before the fight continued he asked “So you are not the King?”

The nightmare creature shook its featureless face and said “I only serve. I earned the right of first attack. It was a position highly sought after, yet I won the right. You all would do well in serving me.”

Jim decided to talk. Time was on their side. If he kept the thing talking the dragon would regain some of its power and maybe Charlotte could think of something.

Then something conflicted in his mind. Charlotte had said this was the final boss, yet that seemed not to be the case. Did she forget something? Thinking it would be a good place to start he asked “You are the first? Then there will be others?”

It laughed in a hissing tone and then said “Hundreds. There are hundreds of demon generals waiting for their turn.”

“What is your purpose?”

In a mocking voice he said “Is it not obvious? We will be the rightful rulers of this world. Those who will not serve the Demon King will die.”

Guess that cleared that up. Looks like they didn't just want a cup of milk and sugar. Even his new mind was internally rolling its eyes. Really? World domination? He didn't know why but the word “cliche” kept rolling around in his thoughts.

The thoughts must have been on his face because the monster said “You dare mock me! You will pay for your insolence!”

The creature rushed headlong towards Jim and he prepared to defend himself. Cutting and slashing he kept the thing at a distance while giving ground. Shots from Charlotte continued to rain over the demon. However it turned out just to be a ploy.

Jim had given up enough ground to move him a good distance away from the previous hole the creature made. It's hand glowed again and fired point blank into the same spot. This time a small amount of light could be seen on the other side.

Gwen's POV

Her mana reserves were starting to run low. To conserve mana she started using her weaker fire spell. It saved her on mana but she had to be much more accurate with her casting. Intensely focused she hit target after target.

However something changed when a hole burst in the dome behind them.

Gwen heard Charlotte's voice yell “It's coming! Run!”

There were too many targets outside to run. She knew what she had to do. Running she put her glowing red palm to the toddler sized hole in the dome.

Channeling as much mana as she could she blasted it with everything she had. And then there was pain. Looking towards herself she saw one of those tentacles had pierced her chest.

As she was losing consciousness she saw Brady beside her firing his pistol at the limb. But it was too much and her vision started to fade.

The last thing she heard was a little girl screaming “Mother!!”