Mature Content Warning: Lots of swearing and graphic violence.

Author's Notes: Welcome to the final chapter before the epilogue of volume 1. Enjoy it with your body and soul.

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The darkness and shadows of a poorly lit underground cavern can hide many things. The twisting corridors can contain secrets that are never discovered. However, one thing such a place cannot hide is a hellish scream.

Henry screamed in soul piercing agony as a lashing wave of dark power stripped another portion of humanity away. He had been trapped in this hellish nightmare prison for several days.

The Dark General Jaedu circled around the cold stone slab that Henry was strapped to and gazed down critically at the screaming man. "Almost ready are we...?”

Henry cried internally, since he no longer had tear ducts to shed them outwardly. How could someone treat a human being like this? The constant violation and degradation was beyond belief. The soul searing agony mixed with the knowledge that he was helpless, that he would never be free.

He felt the violent tearing of his soul without rest or relief. His mind and spirit were raped by that dark power over and over again in a ceaseless cycle. What had he ever done to deserve such torture and torment? He could not think of anything that he had done to possibly deserve such treatment.

"Yes, yes. Good...” continued Jaedu.

The general raised his hand to signal another piercing arc of negative energy to be sent into the former man. Plans were coming together nicely. Soon this failed tamer would be the perfect tool to destroy those foolish humans who dared to resist the will of the Dark Empire.

"Soon, my ugly little freak... Soon...” Jaedu laughed darkly as Henry screamed out once more. He loved that sound above all else. Humans were so cute when they screamed.

----

Chapter 18: Now Prepare for War

----

"I suppose that's enough for today.” said Aaron.

Scott had tried to produce the needed effect over thirty times already and failed each time they had been at it for nearly two weeks now, but the younger man had not once managed to even come close to manifesting the needed spell.

He had easily passed the physical portions of the trials, and had more than enough raw swordsmanship skill. Though, he could definitely use some polishing with advanced techniques.

No, where he failed was at the magic. A knight must learn to weave spells as well as use physical skills. Sadly, even the simplest of magical spells seemed beyond the dimensionally displaced soldier.

Perhaps that dark mana spell of his was simply a fluke? Aaron consider that thought for a moment. It was possible, but unlikely.

Scott nodded, "Yeah, I guess so.”

Aaron clapped the man on the shoulder with his palm then smiled with more confidence than he actually felt. "You'll get it. I have faith in your ability to overcome such a minor obstacle."

The younger man smiled tiredly. "Thanks.”

"Oh please, he's obviously a one hit wonder." snapped the newly self-appointed critic in Scott’s life.

Scott snorted at the woman then shook his head. "Whatever, I don't see you doing it?"

The half dark elf pulled out her Lightning sword and ignited the blade. "Why would I need something like that when I'm already beyond such meager parlor tricks?”

"Sure, Whatever you say.” muttered the man in irritation.

Ashe Naile, the armored knight who had appeared during the water-fiend incident, had taken a constantly negative stance in regards to Scott. On more than one occasion she had loudly proclaimed. “You aren't fit to wipe Dak Sneida’s ass.”

Scott wondered, yet again, what he had done to cause one of the four ladies of chaos from the Asshole!! universe to show up and follow him around like an irritating super powered magical ex-girlfriend. Sure, he had written about that place as a parody of Bastard!! but why would she even be here?

It was kind of like she was trying to impress upon him how much weaker he was than Dak SNaileda. Like anyone needed to point out something so obvious! He was based on a fictional wizard who could destroy super massive black holes and wreck galaxies.

"Heh, Weakling. I can't believe that I ever thought you were Daksi.” muttered the woman to herself while sheathing her sword.

Aaron coughed into his hand delicately to get their attention. Once he had it he said, "Yes, well let's get something to eat and check on those girls of yours shall we?"

Nailether one of his companions could argue with that logic. The trio wandered off towards the training room down the hall. Once again the girls were in training room number seven.

Scott saw Cerene frown cutely at Yoko as the wannabe samurai girl easily knocked her chakram out of the air with her wooden sword. Why the girl insisted on using a wooden one until she had mastered Scott’s 'style' was beyond him. Any idiot could learn what he knew. It was taught everywhere.

The group was also treated to the sight of Nina finally mastering her new technique 'Hydra Lash'. She had already managed to learn Whip Crush. She had no energy attacks outside of her guardian form, but those two physical ones made her so much more dangerous with her chain whip that it was almost ridiculous.

Makina was doing very well working with Nina as this gave her plenty of chances to work on her speed. She trained with weights as much as she battled, but Scott felt that if she ramped up her speed some then all that physical power would be put to more use. Besides, it is harder to hit what is not there.

The ponytailed powerhouse had managed to learn Meteor Punch and Lightning Kick as a way to try and counter the growing number of strikes the blond slashette could throw at her with her whip. She would need to train her fighting spirit some soon, though, so that she could access her chi blast technique.

Scott glanced over at the only non-guardian on his team and pondered the situation. Yoko had no special power ups, no edge so to speak. He would need to help her develop her natural skills and try to find a way for her to use some kind of magic. He snorted when he realized that it would probably end up being the kind of magic that he was failing to learn right now.

Cerene just kept trying to learn to use her chakram. It was enchanted to always return to her even if someone caught it. Usually, if that happened it would try and teleport away or spin in place in an attempt to cut the one who was holding it. That last factor had provided a particularly painful lesson for Yoko early on.

"That's enough for today girls. Time to get something to eat, after a shower or something of course." said Scott lightly.

A few tired woops and exclamations of “Oh, hell yeah.” were heard. Scott could not help but laugh at their enthusiasm. They were good girls, but if they were not constantly told to train they would try to sit around and gossip, or tame each other.

------

The blue-back creature lay atop the stone slab with wide unblinking eyes. It had lupine features, but no fur. Its eyes were two burning pits of darkness. Every so often a current of black energy would crackle along its frame and then it would begin to glow with an aura that matched the darkness of its skin.

A sinister chuckle could be heard from the shadows. Finally, a question was asked, "Who are you?"

"Havoc" replied the creature with a deep, yet rasping, tone. It was reminiscent of a cross between a snake's hiss and a drum, if such a thing existed.

"What is your purpose?" called the voice.

Without hesitation it replied, "Death, chaos, destruction, service to the empire, obedience to master Jaedu."

A low evil laugh emanated from the darkness and the blond general strode forward, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Go then Havoc. Unleash yourself on those foolish humans who think that they can stand in the way of the Empire’s return!"

With a low snarl, energy born of terror and darkness began to congeal around havoc like a disgusting pudding. A violent crackling snap sound radiated outward from the creature signaled a teleportation spell to the area just outside the scene of his defeat.

"Let's see the human sheeple deal with a wolf in their pen. Ha Ha... Heehahaaha... Muhahahaah- AHAHAAAHAHAHAA...” said the general in near hysterics. He was ever so clever.

-------

Scott stood alone in the training room that night after everyone had gone to bed. He had little time left and he must learn to use the Flame Blade spell. He thought of it as something similar to the enfire spell from final fantasy XI.

Sadly, just like every other spell he tried it did not work for him. There was some key component inside him that would not allow him to use any of the spells of this world.

That was why he was here in the training room when no one else was around. He figured if this was going to work then he would have to try and do something similar to what he did when he learned the 'Black Metal' spell.

Basically he would half ass it and babble random heavy metal song lyrics until he figured something out.

"Gimme fuel! Gimme fire!

Gimme that which I desire!"

"YEA-HEH!" screamed Scott in bad imitation of the lead singer from Metallica.

While he felt a slight pull on his surging energies, nothing happened. “So, I guess fuel by Metallica is out.”

He tried another venom song, again a strange pulling, but nothing happened. Feeling he was on the right track he continued trying random lyrics from his favorite heavy and black metal bands until several hours had passed.

Once or twice he felt he had been about to do something, though he was not quite certain what.

Scott glanced up at the wall display and sighed. "4 am.” He'd been here all night with nothing to show for it.

Just as he had exited the training room a loud siren went off. It was followed by the voice of the Nurse on duty coming over the intercom. "Warning! All low-level tamers are to stay inside the training center! There's a dangerous creature on the loose rampaging through town! I repeat unless you are a high-level tamer stay inside the center!"

Scott raced down the hall to his room to collect the girls. When he arrived, they were already awake and getting dressed. Even Cerene could not sleep through an alarm that loud.

"Master! What's going on?!" asked Nina excitedly as he came bursting into the room and immediately raced over to his armor.

"Something's attacking the town." was all he said. He quickly suited up and readied his gear.

Yoko perked up at that. Maybe she would get to see some of her master's samurai skills!

"What is it?" asked Makina as she finished snapping on her green faux-leather vest.

Scott shook his head, "No clue, but be ready in case it's 'them'." he said in reply.

The girls all nodded except for Yoko who was still out of the loop on the whole 'secret identity' thing. Not like it was the best kept secret in the world, but they tried anyway.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Apollo much to the annoyance of Aerune. The little black cat had the silly idea that she should be in charge of things like missions and training.

Scott glanced down at him, "Think you can get to a good spot on a roof and let us know what you see?" he asked. It was more of a way to make the cat feel like he was useful, rather than serve any actual purpose.

"Right!" he said with confidence, feeling like part of the team.

They all finished preparing then raced towards the entrance of the training center. They were greeted by the sight of a small hoard of tamers trying to go outside, while the Nurse frantically tried to keep everyone inside.

"Annie, let us out." said Scott as he came up to her. He had gotten to know the staff over the course of the last few weeks.

The medically oriented Demi-Human shook her head, "I'm sorry, Sir Scott. We can't open the door even for you. That... thing is butchering everything in sight!"

Scott nodded at her in understanding, but then said, "We'll handle it. What are a knight and his battle harem for, right?"

The girl seemed to take that into consideration. He did make a convincing point.

Aaron came rushing up a moment later. He was clad in gleaming armor with a medieval style to it. No doubt he had been suiting up into that masterwork or he would not have taken so long to arrive. "Sir Scott! Excellent timing, were you heading out?"

The various tamers looked back and forth between the Nurse, the old guy, and the guy in the black cerametal armor. They began whispering to themselves.

"He's a knight?"

"Wow, I wanna be a knight. Bet he could handle this."

"I'm trying to Sir Aaron. I don't want to have to force my way out, but at this point I might have to." said the man in irritation. He understood the Nurse’s position, but his team needed to get out there!

"Annie, let us out." said the man.

The whispers in the background continued. It was a constant stream of babble about there being two knights in the same training center and more than a few eager to see them go out and kick some ass.

"Y-yes. Of course, Sir Aaron." replied the girl as she hit the safety release and the Carbon steel blast-door pulled aside revealing the glass entrance doors of the center.

Aaron nodded at Scott. Scott nodded back and the senior knight and his junior comrade left side by side, the girls following after.

"Oh man, I wish I could see this fight!" exclaimed a Demi-Human to her master.

Several of the tamers had the same idea and tried to head towards the door. Annie was having none of it, though. She immediately hit the emergency button bringing out the highly resistant blast door. "I said no!"

The mutters and cries of “No way!” could be heard all through the center.

Outside the center cries of agony and fear could be heard coming from just inside the town gates up ahead. Racing down the street they heard a familiar voice cry out, "Iron Eagle Lightning Dance!" followed by a brilliant flash of lightning and crashing thunder.

As they arrived on the scene and witnessed the dozens of dead, dying, and horribly injured, they also saw Ashe fighting in a losing battle. She faced off against a creature best described as a blue-black wolf man with no skin.

The elf was sent hurtling back by the barely injured monster to impact harshly against a food cart that had been left in the market square. The owner was no doubt dead nearby.

"Ashe!" exclaimed Scott. He ran over to check on her. She may be an annoying critic, but she was also insanely hot! Er... Yeah.

"I'm fine, you wuss. Geeze...” said the long haired hottie while she struggled back to her feet.

”Gonna cry like a girl, just because I got an owie?"

"What-the fuck-ever..." he snapped then turned away from her and noticed his girls were already battling the disturbing creature.

Scott watched in horror as the monster seemed to blur around six of Nina's strikes with her Hydra whip attack before it was barely being tagged by the last one. It could dodge six simultaneous attacks, and the one that hit barely did anything!

He began powering up his energies to try and cast Black Metal. It was obvious this thing needed to be hit hard.

His energies peaked and he raced over to the side to see if he could get a clear shot. Upon seeing an opening he unleashed his devastating uber-spell.

"Darkness is calling.

The heart cries out,

The spirit is willing,

It’s ready to shout!”

"Black Metal!" he roared in that half-sung half-rasped voice that he used for it. The now familiar sensation of time coming to a stop was rapidly followed by black lightning arcing around his body. Pressure built to an insane degree and he launched his potent spell with deadly accuracy. He could feel that it had lined up perfectly, even as the recoil blew him backwards.

The sphere of dark energy rocketed out, but to his horrified surprise the creature turned towards it, looked at it, and then simply leapt clear of the extremely fast moving projectile magic attack.

The blast of dark lightning and gravity magic continued past the supposed point of impact to blow the massive steel gates of the town off their hinges.

"No fucking way!" snapped the man in shock.

Ashe snickered behind him then cooed out in a babyish voice. "Aww, wassa matter? The one trick wonder can't hit the widdle puppy?" Seriously, which side was this chick on anyway?

"Fuck it...” he said before running in with his sword drawn. Maybe if he got up close he could nail the thing with his next cast. He hoped so, because his legs felt like they were made of lead.

Makina managed to nail it a few times with her meteor punch, a strike that hits with less force but with incredible speed. Despite the few hits the beast took, the drop in power to make those punches fast enough to connect made them entirely pointless.

Cerene's chakram went zipping in, but it dinged harmlessly off the still standing corner of the town gate since the wolf thing simply moved out of the way.

It was too damn fast.

Yoko tried to hit it with a wave of chi she sent hurtling from her wooden sword, but once again it simply blurred out of the way.

Aaron had gotten into position by the point. He was in its face moving with a speed no one would possibly believe from a mere human. Yet, even he did not seem to keep pace with it. A moment later the older man was hurled away brutally with a powerful sweeping claw strike that sent him into the nearby wall with enough force to crack the masonry.

Nina and Makina continually tried to use their multiple hit attacks to wear it down, but the damned thing just did not seem to notice the hits when they managed to connect.

"Hellstorm of violence

Give revenge to the forgotten

And annihilate my enemies"

"Ghost of War!" came a cry from next to Scott. He barely avoided taking damage from the lightning darts that screamed across the road. Surprisingly, they actually managed to hit the creature. Sadly, the damage was still minimal at best.

After that shocking display, things took a turn for the worse. The beast howled in horrible imitation of a real wolf and caught Makina off guard with a claw swipe.

The girl screamed in agony as she was sent flying. Her blood splattered outward in a wide and disturbing arc.

"MAKINA!" shouted Scott in shock and fear.

The creature then revealed itself to be what it truly was, a Fiend of the Dark Empire. It raised its bloodied claw and howled loudly. Everyone except for Scott suddenly started to stagger at the power of this drain attack. Not only was this thing apparently from the Empire, but it was some kind of Super Fiend. Its drain attack was revealed to be considerably more powerful.

Scott saw a chance, since the creature had to stop to use that drain ability. He quickly chanted his spell and roared out, "BLACK METAL!"

While the recoil blew him back, he was able to see the dark lightning ball hit the creature dead center. It was sent hurtling back into a nearby fruit stand. Various fruits and pieces of wood exploded into the air due to the force of the impact.

Scott pulled out a potion from his pouch and ran over to pour in on Makina. His expression changed to one of relief as he watched her wounds rapidly heal. At least that was something.

"Girls, you're going to have to transform.” he said to them.

They knew it was true, but they had not wanted to with Aaron and Ashe around. This thing was a fiend, though, and that’s something they needed the extra power to beat.

"Hurry, he's getting up!" called Apollo, actually managing to play the part of scout. He was such a good kitty when he wasn’t being a pervert.

Scott staggered to his feet as the girls began their transformation sequences. He hoped that it would help. His strength was nearly gone and it would take a few minutes to recharge enough to do anything else.

"Selene Crystal... POWER!"

"Friendship... POWER!"

"Love... POWER!"

The near simultaneous call of the girls as their ancient magic took control resounded through the area. It filled them and moved their bodies rapidly in a powerful magical disco effect coupled with a naked transformation sequence. There was like total nipple viewage, too. There was none of that glowing body with boobs, but no nipples stuff. Nice.

Ashe and Yoko glanced at each other a second, then at Scott, then back at the girls who had just transformed into ancient guardians of Friendship and Ero baking via bizarre dance routine.

"Ok, that just happened...” said Yoko.

"Now, that's just odd...” said Ashe. She had seen a lot of magical transformations, but never one that involved a naked Technicolor dance number that ended in a group of people wearing color-coded armor.

The wolf leapt to its feet and howled at them. It was more than a little pissed. It was not terribly hurt or even remotely for that matter, but it was not well pleased by its treatment. All the energy it had absorbed right before Scott's attack had easily repaired the damage that it had received.

Before the girls could attack, a flaming wave of force impacted and washed over the creature. Screaming in agony, it flailed around trying to put itself out, and then roared in pain.

They all turned to look at Aaron as he stood in front of the minor impact crater he had made in the wall when he had been slammed into it. But, he steadily held the sword up before him as traces of flame licked across the blade. He seemed battered, but ready to fight.

The girls seeing an opportunity launched their respective attacks, and they seemed to flow together into a spinning blade of electrical 'love' energy as Nina would call it. To Scott it looked more like a spinning blade of electricity and high-yield plasma.

This powerful attack slammed brutally into the creature's chest once again sending it flying. This time it bounced off the only remaining town gate door and spun around the edge from the sheer force of the blow.

Everyone was ready to congratulate themselves, that attack should have been enough to kill anything. The joy was short lived, however. The creature bounded over the city wall and landed in the courtyard. Smoke wafting off its slightly battered and charred form.

"Why the fuck won't you just die already?!" snapped Scott to the ugly ass wolf monster.

This, of course, served only to get its attention. It glowed darkly for a second then blurred out of sight only to reappear a split second later with its fist buried in Scott's armored stomach.

The man gasped in shock and pain as the monster easily crushed his armor and let the remaining force pass through to his body. He crumpled around the fist like a rag doll then got tossed to the side like a slutty prom dress.

Everyone shouted his name, and he could do nothing to answer. All he could do was lay there gasping for breath. His abdomen badly bruised and his armor had caved in causing it to press roughly against his chest. The effect made it hard to take breath.

The creature was not done. It immediately blurred over to strike at Ashe. Its claws tore several deep gouges in her chest plate and the force of the blow sent her spiraling to the ground in a bloody heap.

A golden beam of love and justice slammed into its side, preventing it from finishing the girl off, but it caught the monster's attention.

The guardians were on the defensive now, trying their best to stay out of harm's way. Harm being an inside out wolf named Havoc.

"Deep Vibrating Penetration!" exclaimed Cerene, before sending her tiara whizzing off to ping off the side of the monster. This time, however, a bright black line of blood erupted from its side. Her attack did have enough force to cut the beast if she managed to hit it right. It was actually useful for something, after all. Hell, in the normal time line it was lethal.

The unfortunate guardian of love and justice soon found herself being punched roughly across the face by the wolf less than two seconds later. While she was in mid-air flying away from the punch, the wolf snatched at her arm, dislocating it easily. It span around in a terrible blurring motion, and hurled her ruthlessly against the town wall.

A sick crack emanated from her impact zone. The ancient soldier was down for the count.

Cerene’s name was cried out, as Yoko nailed the beast with a chi blast from her sword. It cut a slight line into its back that bled a little, but nothing more than that.

The Fiend tried to blur over and rip her apart, but it found itself on the receiving end of a combination flame wave and Pink Thunder Shocker.

Burned and electrocuted it roared in pain as chunks of its flesh charred and fell away. One of its eyes had burst and was now melting within the socket. Finally, the attacks were breaking through its immense defensive power, or so it seemed.

The beast leapt atop the wall and used its drain attack to recharge itself. Its wounds began to fade and a rapid pace.

Nina attempted to nail it with her Hydra Lash attack. Sadly, it was wise to the maneuver and managed to barely dodge most of the strikes while draining the unconscious crowd of vital force, proving that it did not have to stand still like a lesser fiend.

The group of defenders continued trying to nail the creature with ranged attacks. When those failed Makina leapt atop the wall and tried to take the battle to the monster directly. However, it had almost completely restored its health at this point. She was readily backhanded away as the creature became a dark blur of motion once more.

"Move...” called the voice of Ashe Naile. She was back up and ready to join the battle.

The fighters vacated the area and she started a chant much more powerful spell. Hopefully, she did not take half the city with her.

"Heaven is stained"

let the skies be torn asunder...”

She began. The wolf, filled with hubris at its power ignored her and continued draining the rapidly dying crowd of people. Massive levels of elemental fury began building around the dimensionally displaced girl.

"And give birth to the death of my enemies!

"OMEGA-DETH

Let the pulsating womb of life

EXPLODE!"

For a split second nothing happened, but then apparently the heavens and the earth did exactly as she asked. The ground erupted even as the air in front of her exploded in a violent display of force so powerful that it blasted outward from her for roughly half a mile, several hundred kilometers; that blasted the fiend, the wall, and several dozen trees just outside the gate in its path. The unstoppable force completely decimated everything in its path and carved a massive trench in the world.

When the cloud of dust and debris settled there was an eight foot wide trench and fifteen foot wide hole where a wall used to be. The destructive scar in the earth had continued on at least a hundred meters.

She nodded, "See the stupid dog get up after that!" The others stood speechless for a moment then turned to stare at her with slack-jawed expressions.

"What?!" exclaimed Yoko as she tried to fathom just what the hell had happened.

Ashe was about to tell them about what it meant to be a true thunder empress, but a decidedly disheartening howl roared out from the mangled portion of the forest.

"No fucking way!" Ashes cried out in a girlish, high-pitched voice. What the hell was that thing made of, anyway!

The wolf Fiend had withstood the assault of Omega-Deth. Though it was horribly mangled and charred, it seemed more than ready to continue the battle.

Dark energy coalesced around it. It began to crackle and pulsate with a hateful light. Soon it disappeared inside the growing miasma of nightmare energy. A few seconds later it faded out and in front of them was a slightly more human looking creature, but this time it was far less mangled.

"Oh, you bitches will pay for that...” said the strangely familiar creature.

"Hey!" snapped Nina. None of them were canine Demi-Humans after all. Well, Makina might be, sort of, but somehow that did not seem flattering.

The Fiend snorted at them then sent out a wave of dark energy that seemed to freeze everything in its path. Aaron tried to counter with his flame wave, but it only held back the dark torrent of icy negative force for a minute before his flame was consumed and he was sent flying back. Ice rapidly began forming on the man as he fell to the earth.

"Damn, this is so not good...” said Ashe as one of the heavy hitters went down. What the hell was this thing! 'Daksi, I need you...” she thought, though she hated to admit how much she wished the perverted evil nigh-immortal wizard were here now.

Scott finally caught enough wind to remove his torso armor and his helmet. They were both equally useless right now as the monster had damaged the micro-circuits.

He breathed in raggedly and tried to get a bit more air into his lungs. He glanced over and noticed Cerene was lying limply, and at a bad angle, and tried to reach her with a potion.

He managed to do so just as another blast of Dark Empire infused ice energy wash outward to catch Nina. She had tried to evade it, but the wave of energy was too wide.

Ashe cast her Ghost of War spell again, this time doing some moderate damage to the far less durable form of the monster. Sadly, it still was not enough as she too got caught in an icy attack. This one formed around her like a mist as the creature raised and then slammed his hands together, trapping her in a block of ice.

Black blood poured from the creatures many wounds, but slowly they were closing. The Fiend had an absurdly high healing rate.

Yoko sent off another chi blast trying to counter a wave of energy it had just sent arcing towards her. Surprisingly, she did manage to divert some of the force, but the creature simply continued to pour on the power like it had an endless supply. She found herself knocked out and shivering under a coating of ice within a scant few seconds.

Scott poured some potion on Cerene, but to his horror her guardian transformation did not seem to allow for it to work on her. She showed no sign of improvement.

'No... .’ thought Scott. It was all going wrong again. They were being beaten badly, for all he knew some of his friends were dead. Yes, friends. He could not seem them as anything less.

After he saw Makina struggle to dodge behind a cart to avoid being flash-frozen, he took in the sight of devastation around him. Everyone and everything he loved and cared about was being destroyed.

'No!' raged the man inside his mind. Things could not end like this.

He struggled to his feet, feeling incredibly vulnerable without his chest armor and helmet.

The monster sent out another wave of negatively powered ice energy that froze the stand Makina was hiding behind. A snapping sound could be heard, as though it had snapped its fingers. Suddenly, the stand shattered into tiny little pieces, revealing her hiding place.

The girl gasped in shock and narrowly managed to avoid another blast of ice. Scott could hear the insane laughter of the creature.

'Cerene...’ he thought, gazing down at her.

"Nina...Yoko...No...” he whispered softly, an icy dread colder than the fiend’s ice attack gripped his heart.

He saw Aaron and Ashe lying cold and unmoving, he latter encased in a block of ice. 'My friends... all these towns people....’

What could he do, though? He was too weak to pull off another Black Metal. Even if he did, it would not stop the monster.

'I need power. I need to help my friends, to stop this thing!' he shouted mentally.

He watched horrified as Makina was partially hit by a wave of force and her arm seemed to get coated in ice. Her cry of pain as she rolled behind the abandoned fruit cart snapped him out of his trance.

'I have to help her!' he proclaimed inside his mind.

No longer caring if he lived or died, only wanting to buy his friend more time in this world, he whirled around and faced the open town gates, faced the monster.

"Ha. Ha. Ha! You?! The pathetic pissant is trying to fight me now?" cackled the insane creature in glee.

Scott took in the sight of him and began to recognize a few distinct features, slowly his brows knit together. He growled low under his breath. "You..!"

"Loser, what did you think you were going to do? Were you going to hit me with your butter knife and save the day?!" laughed the monster with deranged glee.

Scott noted several dozen small holes that leaked black blood, all over its body. 'Probably Ashe’s work...’ he thought.

"The thought had crossed my mind...” said Scott simply as his mind raced trying to find something, anything, to help him defeat the evil jackass.

The monster snorted and raised a clawed hand. "Fool! Give me your energy!"

Scott just looked at him coolly as the Fiend stood there stupidly trying to take his power.

'I need... a miracle.’ thought Scott, while the monster seemed to struggle with itself attempting to raise its draining attack to a level where it would take his energy.

'I need something. I need to take this fire burning inside. Turn it into something I can use dammit!'

Then it came to him, just like that. The fire burning inside; it reminded him of one of his favorite songs. Unbidden, the song began to play in his mind while the creature glared at him.

Scott thinking fast began to act like he was weakening. He made it look like the dark douchebag was doing something so that he would keep trying.

"See! I knew you'd give me your energy!" cackled Havoc as it kept standing there looking foolish, but believing it was achieving... well, something.

As the song reached the part that had clicked in his mind, he knew... He would get one shot at this. These were his words, his song. The power he had needed was metal, but not black or heavy, it was in the power of speed. The song he needed was practically an anthem to the power that burned inside all people. A battle cry to rise through the fire and flames and carry on...

"What ya got to say now fool... Say it on your knees!" snapped the Fiend. It seemed to take sincere joy in trying to force Scott to submit. Something of the jerk tamer it once was must still be in there.

"What do I say..?" asked Scott, through clenched teeth. As the song played vibrantly in his mind, he heard a gentle whisper in his ears. The whisper carried the words that would unlock the miracle that they all needed.

"I say...”

"Child do not give in,

To rage and fearful choice"

He felt the power inside him churn and surge, it was working. He knew it was working!

Scott thought about the next words as they filled him, the power wrapping around the warning they echoed in his mind.

"Rise like a shooting star

Roar out your mighty voice!”

This time it was loud enough to be heard by the monster. "What, the little shit thinks he's a sorcerer now? Feh. Whatever, fool.”

"Despite your battle scars,

Burn on with a dragon’s force!"

Sang Scott loudly, the power beginning to form around him shocking the monster into building his energy to blur forward and finish him off. He did not want to risk another spell like that damned elf bitch had used.

"And...”

"PREPARE FOR WAR!"

As the Fiend raced forward, a brilliant flare of light erupted out of the man. It formed into a fiery aura that arrived in a concussive blast of force strong enough to form a crater where he stood. The high-speed wail of an electric guitar played at impossible speeds radiated outward from the man.

Around his blade was wrapped a burning hot flame that seemed to emanate from the sword itself. It somehow merged with the elemental force already existent in the enchanted metal.

In that instant before the creature's claws would find Scott's chest the world slowed down to a barely perceptible crawl. In many ways it was exactly like the sensation of time stopping that he felt when he used Black Metal, yet he could move.

His instincts kicked in and he spun with the movement of the creature. He somehow narrowly avoided the attack as his blade whipped around to slice deeply into the Fiend’s exposed back and side. The attack caught the monster’s arm on the way up and cut away a large chunk of the flesh there.

The cut was so fast and so deep that the creature’s clawing motion finished ripping its own arm off. The destroyed limb flew limply from the monster, midway the wrist. It roared in agony as thick black liquid pumped furiously from what should be a lethal wound for a normal person without medical treatment.

Enraged beyond all reason it reared on Scott and raised its one good claw to strike him down, but as fate would have it the most beautiful sound in the world could be heard from inside the town.

"PINK THUNDER SHOCKER!"

The creature blasted forward as a pink torrent of magical lightning flared into its body. It was both deep fried and stunned, and thankfully remained so just long enough for Scott to take advantage. He whirled around in a brutal sweeping arc that connected strongly with the Fiend’s neck.

A deep meaty thwack could be heard a moment before the creature’s head separated from its torso. The decapitated head tumbled through the air in slow motion, a look of surprise etched on its face, even as black blood erupted upward from the ruined stump of its neck.

Before the head struck ground, the creature exploded in a shower of black gore and dark energy before the remnants of its body fell to the ground and turned to dust. The last of his energy spent Scott's momentum took him in a spinning arc that left him sitting raggedly on the ground, his sword barely able to be held in his numbed hands.

The shock of the unexpected victory flooded through him for a moment before he called out, "Makina!"

The girl came over to him while favoring her arm. The ice had disappeared but a deep chill had remained. "Master! You're OK!"

Scott opened his arms and she readily slid between them. He held the girl tight. "Yeah, but what about you and the others?"

The girl cried softly as she held onto him. She knew they needed to get up and try to help the others, but that fight had been so close it was scary. That was twice in a month where she had pretty much ended up fighting alone and terrified.

"I love you Makina...” said Scott tearfully. The girl bawled loudly at hearing that and held him tighter. Her hug was a little too tight, though. He was forced to squeak out. "Need...air...”

"S-sorry, Master.” she said. Her face began to heat up and immediately took on a flushed appearance.

Scott nodded then tried to get up even though he felt like he was made of lead. "We need to check on the others."

Makina helped him up and nodded. She hoped they were alright. They were all like family or something. She did not really truly know what that meant as hers had died when she was younger, and she had been raised as cheap labor even before she awakened.

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