Mari can barely manage to stay standing, her legs shaking like leaves on a tree. “Y... Ya mean... t-tha one who we’re pickin' a faight with is... Marchosias?!” She finally drops to her knees, her hands moving towards her face. “A-and... it's just us...” was all she could mutter before it felt like the words themselves were choking her.

“Is... Is he really that powerful?” Katsuki asks Mari, causing her to look back and solemnly nod in despair. Katsuki looks at the other members, all visibly shaken.

“Unfortunately for you all, it is too late for you to back out of this deal. Especially after I had to disgrace my brother in such a way.” Their former principal shakes his head, sinking down into an almost animal-like fighting stance. “Now, will you at least attempt to fight, or have you given up already?”

The weight of his words comes down on everyone like bricks. Yuuri huddles to Saito in fear, Mari can only cry with Katsuki staring on with a blank expression. Even Akina seems to have been stopped in her tracks, her body quivering even as she enters a boxer’s stance, her body language betraying her posture.

Suddenly, a deep, loud yell rings out. “Heck with it! If I'm gonna go down here, I'm gonna at least fight it out!” Yuudai yells as he charges Marchosias, his fist reared back.

“Oh, so there's one of you that still has the will to struggle. Fine, then. Give me all you've got.” He smirks, waiting for Yuudai to get in range. Yuudai screams at the top of his lungs as he reaches his foe, throwing his fist with every ounce of energy he can. Marchosias laughs off the strike and throws an uppercut, impacting with Yuudai's jaw and knocking him off his feet to the ground. “A shame that will all be for naught. Even your punches feel like insect bites to me.”

Yuudai holds his head as he gets up, obviously damaged but triumphant. “You say that... but your body... tells a different story!” Yuudai points at Marchosias' face, a small trickle of demonic blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth.

“Hmmph! As if that matters. I know your power, Yuudai. If that's all you can do to me, then this won't be much of a fight after all.” He walks over to Yuudai and picks him up by his collar. “Though I will give you credit for trying.” Yuudai grabs the arm that holds him, struggling to free himself, causing Marchosias to laugh. “But that credit ends there!” He yells as he rears his arm back and throws Yuudai with an incredible force, letting him fly for several seconds before crashing into the ground.

The club breaks out of their shock and rush to Yuudai’s side, trying to check to see if he is still alive, let alone in fighting condition. After a coughing fit, Yuudai reclines up on his elbows. He manages to let out a wheezing chuckle. “I’ve… been hit harder by… wild pitches…” He tries to get up, making it to his feet while shrugging off the people trying to help him up. “Hey, you… you remember what you said, Raidou?” He coughs again before continuing, “If it can be punched, it can be beat!”

Akina groans. “That’s not how that saying goes.”

Raidou grins back. “Bro, I love it better like that!”

Yuuri peeks back at Marchosias and sees Saito standing in front of him with his scythe at the ready. She scrambles back towards him and cries out. “Saito! Wh-what are you doing!?”

Saito glances back at her. “I can take care of this.”

Yuuri breaks out into a full run. “No! No you can’t! Don’t just rush off and die like this!”

He holds out an arm towards her as she reaches him. “Yuuri, that’s stuff you only say when you're out of hope.”

Yuuri looks astonishedly at him. “Hope...? But... But we are out of hope! Look at him! There's no way we can-”

“No. You're not looking closely enough.” He lowers his voice as he returns his arm to his scythe. “If there's one thing I've learned over time... it's that anything that bleeds can be killed.” Yuuri can only look on in awe as Saito grasps his full-sized polearm and takes a step forward. “Hey, Marcus or whatever your name is! You might be strong and all that, but you're not invincible. And we're gonna take that space between strong and invincible and show you what humans are really capable of!”

Yuuri looks at him with a face of fear. “Saito...” is all she can say, before closing her eyes and nodding. She takes Saito's side and stares down their former principal. “Saito! I don’t know if you’re right that we still have a chance. But... there's no way I'm letting you go in alone! Nyat now, nyat ever!” Yuuri says before pulling out her knife and and brandishing it in front of her.

Marchosias smiles. “So, you will fight after all. The two lovers running head-first into certain doom. How romantic.” He finishes his sentence with a sarcastic flourish of tone.

Akina steps forward alongside Yuuri and resumes her stance. “No demon is infallible, they can all be ended with enough time.”

Raidou and Yuudai join the others, staring down Marchosias. Before anyone can launch an attack, they hear the sound of Mari still sobbing. Mari looks up at her new friends through her tear-soaked eyes. “Don't... Don't ya all understand what we're goin' against here? He'll waipe tha floor with ya, lucky hit or not.”

Katsuki puts her hand on Mari’s shoulder. “It doesn't matter if we're up against someone strong, Mari. We still gotta take our chance and try to make it through.” She holds her hand out. “The only time we have no chance is when we've totally given up. I think we can win. And everyone’s going to fight, even if they don’t.” She smiles at Mari. “Will you?”

Mari looks between her and the ground several times, before taking a moment to sniffle. “I... I don't know. But...” She says, reaching out to grab Katsuki's hand. “If y’all do... then heck, I'll go down fightin' with ya!” She takes the help and stands up.

Cerys joins the two mages. “So, does that mean you have a plan, miss demon expert?”

Mari thinks for a moment, then her face lights up. She pulls the other two girls close and speaks in a hushed whisper. “I do, but it will take all of us workin’ tagether. You two stay here with me an’ do what I tell ya. As fer the others...” She stands up and yells. “HEY, GUYS! GO KICK HIS DEMON ASS!”

The rest of the club turns their attention to her, then look between each other. They run towards Marchosias, yelling as they do.

Mari begins fishing through her pockets somewhat frantically. Cerys looks at her with interest. “What, do you have a devil buster hidden away or something? Tell us your plan so we can get this guy out of our way.”

Mari sticks her tongue out as she searches. “Kinda, Cerys, if Ah can just find… ah!” She reaches in her cleavage, pulling out a tube of lipstick. “There it is, tha thing tha’s gonna save our sorry asses!”

“Lipstick? Really?” Cerys asks. “What, are you gonna flirt with him until he dies?”

Mari laughs off the dig. “Not quite, shorty. Though I will be drawin’ his attention ovah here and usin’ this ta wipe ‘em out…” She pops the lid off, then gets on her knees and rubs the lipstick against a patch of ground.

“I don’t get it.” Katsuki asks while watching Mari work. However, as the lipstick begins to take form, she perks up. “Wait. Those are runes… oh! I get it! You’re drawing a magical circle!” She watches Mari draw the runes with interest.

Mari encases them within a circle and stands up. “We’re gonna send ‘em runnin’ back ta his lil’ bro!”

Cerys laughs. “With your writing it looks more like you’re going to summon a hamburger for him.” She steps towards Mari and sticks her hands out. “Give me that, let me fix these so they’ll actually help us get rid of him.”

Mari hands it over, frowning. “Ya ain’t gotta be mean ‘bout it.” Cerys ignores her quip and gets to work, drawing the runes even sharper and clearer. As Cerys works her way through, the circle begins to glow; the light increasing with each rune corrected. Cerys stands up after a bit, wiping her forehead. “That’s how ya do it.” She tosses the lipstick back to Mari, who catches it.

“Now, jus’ this ain’t gonna be strong enough. We gotta pour a whole buncha our mana into it. Y’all know the words ta the Nephilim’s Salvation, raight?” The other two nod.

“One of the first things in Alcott’s book.”

Cerys smiles. “Thanks, mom.”

“So, take mah hands, and when it’s ready, we’ll get the others to drag him over here and let the circle do tha rest.”

The three join hands in a triangle around the inscription and begin to chant. “Wait, wait.” Katsuki says, looking up at Cerys. “Mari and I are saying it, what the hell are you saying?”

Cerys glares at Katsuki. “I don’t know it in Japanese. Besides.” She nods towards the circle, which is now pulsing lightly. “It looks like it’s taking it anyway, English or Japanese. Now shut up and chant.” The three do so, hoping that they’ll be given the time to complete the ritual.

Marchosias sweeps his arm to the side, brushing away an attack from Akina. His other arm tries to do the same with Raidou, but his extra fists break through and slam into his side. He grabs one of Raidou’s arms and throws him to the side, apparently unaffected by the hit. “Hah, is that all you have? Disparate thrusts and weak attacks? This is child's play.” He gloats as he continues to block their assault.

Yuudai runs up and throws another punch, holding it back as he senses Marchosias’ intent to counter it. “There is one more thing we have!” He says as he rolls to the side to find a new angle, only to be met with a punch of Marchosias’ own.

“Oh, and what is that? A set of broken ribs?” he cackles as he replies.

Yuudai coughs up a bit of blood, staggers, and grins. “No… your attention.”

“Huh?” is all Marchosias can say before he feels a slice against his back. His supernatural speed allows him to avoid the full brunt of the attack, but not escape it completely. A loud hellish scream emanates from him before he regains his composure. “Oh, so you have tricks, too!”

“Yeah, we got tricks for da-” Saito tries to reply, but is quickly cut off by Marchosias’ serpent tail coiling around his torso, binding him in place.

“Well... I DO TOO!” He yells, blocking another attack from the front. “Yours won’t work on me again, though… Since YOU’LL be doing MY bidding even earlier than expected!” His segmented snake tail lines up with Saito’s eyes, aiming directly into them. Saito tries to close them, but he can feel it’s influence bypass even his eyelids, as if it was prodding directly into his soul.

“Hahaha! I may not claim your soul, but I can claim your body! And…” A flash of light engulfs Saito before leaving him with a purple aura as the tail releases him. “Now… Go against your heart.” He points at Yuuri. “Deliver your girlfriend into the depths of hell!”

“Nnhhgghh… n...no…!” Saito tries to resist, but his body betrays him, almost eagerly brandishing his scythe and breaking out in a sprint towards Yuuri.

“Saito...” Yuuri gasps. “Why…”

“YUURI!” He screams. “RUN! I CAN’T CONTROL MY BODY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!” He swings at her, Yuuri barely able to dodge out of the way.

“Saito! Please f-fight it!” Yuuri pleads with him as he unwillingly swings at her. She ducks under his scythe and runs up to tackle him.

“No, just, g-get away!” He yells. His body betrays him, he grabs her and spikes her into the ground. She skids across the ground before coming to a stop. He pulls back, and only has time to yell “ROLL!” before his scythe swings down, allowing Yuuri to get out of the way just in time.

Raidou turns his attention back towards Marchosias. “You son of a bitch!” He starts to run forward angrily. “You tryin’ to control my crew, and tryin’ to make them hurt each other? I’ll pound you into the ground, asshole!” His four arms flail wildly at Marchosias. He lifts his hands to block, but the fists start to overwhelm him, he grunts as the punches land one after another. His face shows worry, but only for the moment it takes him to leap backwards out of Raidou’s reach.

“Haha, you actually surprised me, Raidou.” He wipes a bit of blood from his lip. “Not bad…at least the harlot human you call your mother didn’t dilute the demon blood within you too much!”

“You… YOU DON’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY FAMILY!” Raidou begins to glow with a faint red aura as he rushes Marchosias again. This time, though, Marchosias is able to counter them much easier, his hands almost creating after-images as he parries all four fists. “Yes… let your rage consume you, focus only on killing… It will be your friends’ downfall, and then your own!”

Yuudai turns to Akina. “C’mon, we gotta go help him!” He says before turning, but Akina grabs his sleeve.

“Wait. This is what he wants, Yuudai.” Akina says, looking intently at the two battling. “Why do you think he can block those attacks so easily now, whereas the ones before he couldn’t?”

Yuudai looks at Akina with a bit of anger. “I dunno, maybe he just figured out how to control the demon in him again or somethin’! All I know is if we don’-”

“If we don’t help, he and the rest of us are done, yes. But rushing in without thinking… No. That will help. But not in the way Raidou is.” Akina turns her stare towards Yuudai. “Before, when you hit him, you just swung wildly, right?”

Yuudai nods in angry confusion. “Yeah, I just wanted to get him any way possible, didn’t even think about it, just let my fist fly.”

“Yes. You had no thought, no idea, just heart. Before, Raidou fought from his heart, not thinking of his intent. Now… now he’s a beast thinking of only the winning blow. His rage is readable to a fighter like Marchosias.”

“What are you saying? Isn’t he just mindlessly fighting right now too?” Yuudai asks.

“Yes and no. Yes because he isn’t thinking of any technique. No because he is only thinking of fighting. That single intent can betray a whole plan to one who can read flows such as ki.

Yuudai rubs his head. “I don’t get it… but you’re saying to just fight without thinking, not even thinking of fighting?”

Akina nods. “I can channel my energy and hide my intent, but for you, it would be best to focus on who you’re fighting for, rather than how to fight for them.” Akina lets go of Yuudai’s sleeve, then nods at him. “Let’s go get this beast under control, and combine to overcome the obstacle we now face.”

Yuudai shakes his head, then turn backs towards Marchosias. “Hey, fightin’ for my friends… That’s all ya had to say! I’m pretty good at that!” He smirks, then runs off towards the enemy, with Akina close behind him.

They both run in and join in with Radiou, getting solid hits against Marchosias despite his best efforts. He focuses on blocking Raidou’s attacks, swatting them away with ease, but is forced to take more than a few hits between Yuudai and Akina. He grits his teeth, but then smirks. “Fine, if you want to punch someone so much, how about THESE TWO?” He yells as he drops to his knees, ducking under Raidou’s arms.

Raidou’s punches just barely swing by Akina’s cheek and Yuudai’s torso, causing Raidou to stumble. As he tries to keep his balance, Akina and Yuudai catch him, keeping him upright. “Hey, bro, calm down!” Yuudai says. “I dunno the whole meaning behind it, but Akina’s sayin’ that he can read your rage, so you gotta calm down if you wanna hit him and not us!” He and Akina lean Raidou forward, the red aura around him starting to fade.

“But… He’s makin’ all this crazy shit happen, and if we don’t-” Raidou tries to say but is stopped by Akina.

“You’ll be sucked into the crazy if you let him force your rage like this. Be in control, or your power may as well be his.” Akina says before running towards Marchosias and swinging. He blocks her attack but not the follow up cross.

Raidou blinks as Yuudai runs after her and does much the same thing. “Well, it seems to be working so…” The red aura dissipates from his body. “Yeah, I’ll fight without thinking, just like always!” He rushes in, joining the suddenly effective offensive.

***

‘I have to wake him up’ Yuuri thinks to herself as she dances between Saito’s scythe swipes. ‘Wait, wake him up! Of course! I coul-’ She’s too preoccupied with thinking about how to get around this that she trips up when avoiding the next attack, fortunately only being hit by the pole of the polearm. She falls to the ground with a cough, looking up at a crying Saito.

“Yuuri… I’m sorry…” he said, raising his arms up behind his head, his hands shaking as they prepare for a fatal downward slice.

“Purrfect!” Yuuri yells as she quickly leaps up to her feet, and just before the swing can reach her, jumps into Saito’s torso. The impact causes him to drop the scythe, clattering away as she brings her face close to his.

“What are you doing?! You have to get-” is all Saito can get in before being interrupted by Yuuri’s lips against his, holding onto his head to pull him even closer in. Saito’s eyes widen in panic and fear. He tries to mumble out through her lips, but soon even that ceases.

His arms suddenly wrap around her tightly, squeezing her. Saito tries to warn Yuuri, but she wouldn’t break the kiss. The panic and fear and confusion and excitement battled in Saito’s mind, completely overriding Marchosias’ hypnosis. His arms tightened again, but this time not out of malice; the purple aura around him dissipates, and now he was simply hugging the one dearest to him.

Yuuri breaks the kiss, wincing slightly. “Hey, Saito, that’s a bit too tight… it kinda hurts!” She says somewhat jokingly, but Saito doesn’t weaken his grip at all.

“Yuuri… Don’t joke right now. This isn’t the time for it… I almost had to… had to end you. And now… I never… never want to let you go,” is all he can say. It’s enough to cause Yuuri to turn completely red, though with a smile that wouldn’t quit. Their moment is cut short as the sound of glass shattering rings out, bringing even the battle across the room to a halt.

A crack forms in the sky, then another. It breaks like glass, revealing the clear blue sky of the normal earth. The sun shines like a spotlight on Marchosias, its rays encircling him like a jail.

“What...What is this?” He yells, pounding against it, the light acting as a full barrier.

“This is our combined power! Our blood, runes, and chaos!” Katsuki yells.

“It is the unified power of those who don’t wish to be controlled by a demon with a god complex!” Mari yells.

“This is our world, and it has come together to reject you!” Cerys yells, as if completing a chant. Indeed, upon her words, the sky cracks even more, the sun’s rays getting brighter. “NOW, RETURN TO HELL AND REPENT YOUR SIN!” They say in unison, completing the ritual.

A hellish scream comes from Marchosias as the light fully engulfs him, his hell-plane breaking apart around him. The Paranormies brace themselves, though the falling metaphysical debris dissipates before it reaches them. As they look back up, they see their normal world, their normal school grounds, but only a pile of rubble where their school formerly was.

“I guess we couldn’t save everything.” Cerys quips before looking back to where Marchosias was… only to find him still there.

“What? Did it not work?” Katsuki yells in fear.

Marchosias gets up, back in his human disguise. His clothes are ragged, but he still dusts himself off. “No, it very much did. I’m staving it off with all my power, and in a few moments I will be returning to Hell. You have fought admirably, the day is yours. But I am not the end, merely the beginning. There is a power far greater than myself; steel yourselves for her reckoning, or all you’ve fought for will be lost,” he says, his form starting to dissipate.

Mari steps forward to speak, but he stops her. “I know your question. My hold on Kirika will collapse once I return, and she’ll appear beside you. Protect her with the same zeal you fought me.”

“We will! Nobody will harm our friends, or my world, not on our watch!” Yuuri says, shooting her arm up into the sky.

The others follow with their own affirmations and arm raising,

He smiles, not as a demon, but as their former principal. “Then, farewell Paranormal Club. And… best of luck.” He fades into nothing, leaving a warm breeze, bright sunlight and a slumbering Kirika.

Mari picks her up into a big bear hug, squeezing her tight.

“Welcome back, Kiricchi.”