Shrike attempted to block the spike, but his weapons were far to small to hold back the impact, and it impaled his upper back. The muscles in his right shoulder were severed by the time he pulled back, rendering the limb incapable of movement for the time being. Placing the sickles onto his belt, he vanished and appeared above the doorway. "Interesting.......it seems my limb is useless for the time being," he examined his limp limb, then observed the creature, "looks like I can't afford to play around anymore bud. Sorry, its nothing personal." He held out his good limb, as energy gathered around it, a chain appearing in his grasp.

Grey's eyes widened, as he watched Shrike fight the creature, and the technique he was about to use.

Ezekiel looked upon his brother, a hint of pity in his eyes, "Are going to respond to me brother, or are you going to act like a defeated hound." As he spoke, his armor shifted into a black suit of immense quality, and his blade became a tattoo along his left shoulder underneath his suit.

Spectre grinned, "Vulnerable, bad idea Ezekiel, if I was in the mood, I could actually kill you.......hmm......." The magma within the area began to heat up again, as Ezekiel suppressed his power.

Zigera had been informed by her parents to head to the academy, due to her need to be around knights, and get used to society. She had been traveling for hours, due to the limitations of shadow transportation. She felt the area trembling as she approached. It wasn't until she saw the undead monstrosity from before that she acted.

From a distance, Shrike saw the girl right as he pulled along the chain, and redirected his attack, watching as a blue beam of energy fired from a now illuminated cannon in the center of Shrike's chest. Rather than stop upon hitting the trees, the blast continued on, blasting through the ground below it, sucking the life from everything around it. This attack exhausted all of Shrike's remaining energy, and reverted his body completely back to that of a knight, before he fell from the doorway.

Seeing the man fall, Zigera was immediately below him, catching him within her arms, and setting him down, seeing that he was unconscious. This was when she looked up, and eyed the monstrosity with a set of cool, collected eyes. "We meet again."

Inferno had recovered enough now to rise to his feet, his trademark glare back on his face.
"If you're here to lecture me, kindly desist. I have had quite enough of idiotic prattle for today."

Griffin raised his eyebrow.
"You're sorry."
He took a step closer, and his eyes were blazing.
"Because of you, my son has suffered more in two years than he has in the entirety of the rest of his life. He's been hounded, chased, scarred, damaged, Ignirforce tells me he fought a small army just because of you yesterday. I am so RELIEVED -"
His voice shook the cottage.
" - that you are sorry. I cannot express my joy that the fact that my son's current irrevocable MENTAL DAMAGE has earned an apology. I am OVER THE MOON, that after everything that my son has done to keep you intact, including mentally KILLING HIMSELF, you can find it within yourself to tell me you're SORRY FOR WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY SON!!"
He was standing over her now, his eyes almost glowing with arcane power.
"So thanks, Chastity. Thanks a lot."

Ezekiel looked to his brother, and sighed, "If I were not to lecture you, then no one else would." As Ezekiel walked forward, his wings entered his back, as more of his power became suppressed. "Do you know why it is only on rare occasions that I come to this realm?"

Michael observed the two from the heavens, contemplating on whether now was the time to act, and have them executed, or whether it was the time to wait.

Ezekiel smiled, "I was going to say that coming to earth restores a bit of my humanity, and that side of me wishes to end the conflict between your daughter, you, and that demon, now tell me, how can that be accomplished?"

Michael's hand clamped down upon what appeared to be a scroll, as dozens of dark angels swarmed out of the heavens, and towards the realm of earth.

There was a knock on the door. Zenith's father let the person, who appeared to be a doctor, inside. He smiled and walked up to her.
"Hello, Zenith." He greeted her. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine." She replied. It was true. All her wounds appeared to be healing. Hyper-regeneration? She thought, but dismissed it. She'd never shown these properties before. All of a sudden, she remembered the fight, and who she became.
"Oh, my gods, FINALLY!" shouted Solstice in Zenith's head. "I thought I'd have to wait another decade to get your attention.
You're in my head?
"No, sis, I'm PART of your head. But that could just mean you're crazy. I mean, two swords?"
The HELL does that have to do with you being whatever you are?!
"Well, and I'm just speculating, but it could be a personality split based on our powers. It seems that light elementalists don't mix well with lightning dragons."

"You want to help? I'll tell you how you can help. Stay out of my affairs and let me take care of my own family."

Griffin looked at her crying, before giving a huff and turning away.

His mother looked at him, sadly, drying a plate. Melina shot her brother a look of disgust, before storming out.

"You know," the old lady said softly, "I once knew a boy like her. A boy who fell in love and was willing to do anything to make it happen. Going up against odds he couldn't possibly overcome, fighting forces he couldn't possibly match... and yet, he did it in the end. I thought he was going to end up dead or worse, but he never stopped telling me how he would never give up until he reached his goal - to be the only consort of the queen of lust."

She looked away from Griffin at the girl crying outside.

"I think you should not talk to me until you remember who that boy was, Griffin. When I see Mawthrough, I know he has that spirit in him, and I'll be honest - I couldn't wait until I could see it in action, raging fires, explosions, a war in one boy. Just like when I saw you. She has that spirit too, Griffin - as does your wife. The pair were clearly meant to be - the universe just hasn't realized it yet."

She looked back at him.

"I would say I'm disappointed in you, but you stopped caring about what I thought of you long ago, when you first told me of your plan to take Maerna for your wife. I can't stop you. But I hoped you could stop yourself."

And with that, she returned to the sink, and left Griffin alone.


Voices floated to Chastity's ears, and she recognized them.
Walking up the path towards the house were two familiar figures...

"So, anyway, they're bent over, and the next thing you know, their best friends want in! I would not have said no to that offer, but unfortunately, it turns out one of them was an undercover cop. That wasn't the problem, I had her wrapped around my finger - her sadly MALE back-up was though..."
Mawthrough was regaling Ignirforce with his adventures when he suddenly caught the scent of a hormonal female.

He looked up and saw Chastity beneath the tree.
"Excuse me sir, I think a damsel is in need of a brave dashing hero to sweep her off her feet... and put her down in the bedsheets."

A moment later, he was leaning next to Chastity on the tree.
"Well, hello there my lady. You appear to be troubled. Fortunately, I know an excellent way to solve problems."
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"You, me, a night under the stars, and some wine... minus your underwear of course..."

Ezekiel looked down at his brother, "And how exactly can you take care of anyone, let alone yourself, when you let your rage do the thinking.  Brother, what has that rage ever earned you but pain and suffering, and the hatred of those around you?"  He walked around Inferno till he was at his brother back, "And yet, through all of that, I still value you as my brother, and because of that, I shall uphold that bond, how little it may mean to you."  It was at this time that True Death slipped from Ezekiel's skin and formed into its physical manifestation, "You disturbed the peace, and Michael has ordered your death!"  He held his weapon to his brother's throat, "I am sworn to follow heavens laws.......however, I also swore long ago to protect my siblings from harm, and to do what they could not, to make the decisions that they would never be able to do. Which of these, do you think I chose?"

There was a slight pressure at Ezekiel's ribs, and Inferno gave a growl.
"What did I say about prattling? If you're going to kill me, do it. If not, then stop the dramatics."

The instant she said his name, Mawthrough was on high alert.
Jilted sister? Jealous daughter? Just really good at guessing names?

He cocked his head.
"I honestly don't recognise you, baby - if a booty that fine came through my vision, you can be sure I'd remember that kind of badonkadonk."
Before Chastity could say anything else, he then shot her an astute look. "However, the way you say that makes it clear that I should recognise you. Which, combined with the fact that a demon sent from my dad brought me to here, I'm gonna assume I'm in some sort of trouble. So, why am I here? And more importantly, why should I recognise you?"

Ezekiel simply said as he pulled his blade away, "I chose to refuse, and now I am banished from the heavens. May have also sent Michael through a few walls. Whatever the case......." He retracted his weapon, and cased it, "the heavens are no longer my home."

The doctor looked at Zenith.
"Just fine?" he pondered. "Splendid! So you ARE a light elementalist! No matter what type of wound we gave you, your skin would just regrow. Not even poison could infiltrate your body!" He saw how pale she was. "Though it clearly takes its toll."
"You did WHAT to my daughter?!" Yelled Zenith's father in horror.
"It'll take a toll on YOU!" Zenith roared, terrified and suddenly self-conscious. She grabbed the doctor by the shirt. "How long have I been your test subject?" The doctor seemed caught up in his own world.
"Yes," he said. "The first we've ever seen! We'll be rich!" Zenith tossed him aside, furious.
"I could've been back up in a day!" Some of the hospital's security rushed in to secure her, hearing the commotion. Zenith turned to her father. "My gear." He nodded and pointed in a direction.
"I'll hold them off." He replied with more force than usual. His eyes glowed and the air shimmered. All the light in the room seemed to bend towards him. "GO!" She feinted around a guard and ran. She was confident he'd not be capturing her, but she wasn't having the best day.

Grey prepared to charge the monstrosity, only for Genesis' energies to hold him place. For some reason, the entity wanted him to take this attack. He tried to aim his weapon up towards the creature, but his hand froze, as shadow began to clamp down upon his flesh. "Dammit....move damn you.....I said move body!!!!" But it was no use, he was paralyzed, seconds away from being impaled, when a massive broadsword impaled the wall in front of him, blocking the thing's blade arm. Grey had closed his eyes, only to open them a second later, to find Lucia standing in front of him, her broadsword held with both hands, as she held back the being's attack.

Zigera aimed for the being's back, but couldn't get a good shot at its head.

Mawthrough's eyebrow raised, very slowly.
For a moment, he didn't say anything.
Then he leaned in and poked Chastity's breast.

"Worth," he said conclusively, then walked past her, taking her shoulder so she had to walk with him.

"So, me in love? What am I like?" he asked her as they walked back towards the house, Ignirforce following along behind.

Inferno's enraged gaze softened, one iota.
Then it returned, just less intensely.
"About time. You really should have backhanded that pompous rich-boy years ago. If you want, you can stay with me until we can find a place for you."

Genesis kept the boy paralyzed, hoping to have him killed, just for laughs.

Ezekiel simply said, "I would be appreciative brother, as I do not wish to draw unneeded attention from the other beings of this realm." With that, he looked to the sky, and flipped Michael the bird, knowing he was watching.