The witch girl had a blackened right eye and the left looked swollen shut, her lip was split and there was a bruise along the left side of the witches jaw, the white skirt was stained with mud while the leggings were torn up showing cuts and scratches along her legs, the left sleeve of her leather coat had been torn off to show a splotchy pattern of yellowish bruising all along her arm.
She felt her jaw hanging open as she stared at the steadily reddening girl, a whisper slipped from her lips. "Hoooly shit"
The witch grit her teeth as tears prickled at her eyes and then she proceeded to scream, blue energy pouring off her. "Don't look at me like that! Just fucking die! EMOCHA OBJECTIA!"
Blue energy blasted off the witch in a big burst, a dome consuming everything, Gwen quickly lifted and activated her shield which blocked the energy, but she still found herself getting thrown back from the force onto her ass.
She rolled like she'd been trained to to disperse the force of her fall, coming up onto her feet and firing a warning shot at the girl.
Gwen tried to ask to figure out what the fuck had happened. "L-look, witch girl or whatever. Did your uhh-uncle? do tha-
Four stones rose up, tearing through the ground to defend the girl from the warning shot before beginning to float, the stones following the silver haired girl's gestures. Said girl grew redder at her question and yelled something in another language, making another gesture that sent three stones launching at her like spears while the four lifted up in the air, chips cracking along its surface.
She quickly dialed up her bracelet and fired, the shots causing the stones to explode into dust and rock, only to stare in shock as the cracks in the fourth stone turned out to be some kinda magic runes that were beginning to glow brightly.
"This is all your fault! Y-you ruined everything!" Witch girl yelled, sniffling with a bit of blood leaking from her nose. "Interdamoto ilabortor!"
The light from the stone turned pure white, the air shimmering as the magic was focused towards the tip of the stone. With a yelp of fear Gwen jumped to the side, landing in a hand stand and twisting before launching into a roll, good thing that she did as well as a golden beam of energy was fired with the force of a tank shell that slammed through the floor and the whole building rumbled as something exploded below them.
She quickly tried to reason with the girl. "I'm sorry your uncle hurt you witch girl! But lo-
"MY NAME IS CHARMCASTER YOU FUCKING CUNT!!" Charmcaster screeched loud enough that it was a miracle her vocal cords didn't tear, and she proceeded to prove her vocal cords were perfectly fine by continuing to screech. "YOU MADE ME FAIL! YOU MADE US GET DELAYED AND MISSED OUR PORTAL BACK! YOU CAUSED EVERYTHING WRO-
CRASH!
"HOW ABOUT WE SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE AND I KEEP CALLING YOU BITCH!"
BOOM!
Through the ceiling Kayden smashed down, carrying a whole solid wood bed and canopy, and proceeded to swing and smash down on a hastily made shield by Charmcaster sending her flying into a wall.
Landing close by, Absorbing Girl gave her a grin. "Hey LG, sorry I took so long. I was looking for something heavy"
She glances at where Charmcaster is pulling herself out of the wall and says flatly. "Well you succeeded, that's for sure. Let's keep up the pressure!"
"Right!"
They charged forward together and while she really didn't want to hurt the girls worse, it was clearly obvious that she wasn't willing to talk things out.
She slid low as Kayden jumped high, punching down on a shield that fractured, the blast she fired after hitting the damaged shield and almost seemed to be absorbed as it was repaired.
Cursing she rolled onto her feet and spun with a kick and then transitioned into a punch, something Charmcaster obviously wasn't expecting as that opened her up to getting a hammer fist from Kayden that sent her rolling.
Stone figures fell from the witches bag as she rolled, shakily the girl got up and spit out some blood before saying a word, the stone figures glowed pink and began to grow and move, taking the form of something almost dog-like.
"Shit, these things again" Kayden cursed.
She kicked one in just the right spot to make it break in half while Kayden punched two into dust, activating her shield she used it as a club and smashed a fourth across its face.
One of the stone golems jumped up and she blocked it, it grabbed onto her shield and she tried shaking it off only to hear Charmcaster yell. "Fallum Quarca Daminigan!"
The golem glowed and then her left bracelet exploded causing her to flinch and palm strike it back, she quickly shot the golem to dust with her remaining bracelet before hissing, her left arm had a big burn on it, having seared right through her jumpsuit.
Kayden turned to her in fear. "Lucky Girl! Shit! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine! It's just a burn!" She quickly assured her. "Stay focused!"
"Hehehheh~" Charmcaster giggled. "You think you can fight me twice and I wouldn't have figured out something for you?"
"Figure out this bitch!" Kayden yelled and charged.
However she noticed the pieces of the golems they'd broken had been moved into a circle on the ground, wide eyed she quickly yelled. "Wait!"
"Tch! Please, you were too easy, brat. Conteram Quod Solidum!" Charmcaster's hands glowed and she slapped the ground.
A fusion of multiple geometric shapes and symbols glowed on the floor, lightning crackled and then Kayden screamed, a big beam of light blasting upwards as the wood and metal was torn from her body, wind pushed Gwen backwards and she was forced to turn away.
When the light and when cleared she looked back in shock to see a groaning Kayden collapse to her knees and then fall face first into the ground. She grit her teeth in worry. "Fuck!"
Taking aim she fired at the witch bitch, only for a hastily spoken word and blue shield to block her shots, the shield glowing brighter after each time, Gwen glanced around, what should she do?!
Charmcaster grinned. "Stupid little bitch. I've already figured out a shield to absorb your blasts and you may be a better fighter than I thought but you can't win without your partner, now I'm going to flatten you!"
BOOM!
There was the sound of thunder and Diamondhead came down from the ceiling, having been blasted at an angle and sent rolling, glowing symbols flew through the air and down from the hole in the ceiling before slamming into Ben sending him flying into a wall, Hex slowly levitating down from upstairs.
"Ben!" she yelled in worry seeing how cracked he was, she didn't even know Diamondhead could get damaged.
Hex however wasn't bothered at all. "Niece"
"Yes Uncle" Charmcaster seemed to understand the order and flicked her wrist, the glowing shield shrinking into a bright symbols. "Appendage-a regoria!"
"Hrk!" Gwen felt herself freeze in place, unable to move.
"Fuck! Lucky Girl, hold on! I'll be there in a second!" Ben yelled angrily.
He punches the ground, massive diamond shards growing from the ground as a shield to block spells from Hex and are then sent towards him as Ben charges towards her and Charmcaster, Charmcaster starts digging into her bag.
"Vitalis Eruptum!" Hex waves his staff calmly, plants tear through the floor and grab hold of the crystals. Grabbing his staff tightly, Hex, the staff, the plants and crystals all glow as he slams the butt of the staff against the ground. "Berdi-mordo-natta!"
The crystals shatter into dust and the plants burst into a massive fire ball that's launched at Ben, Ben grows a blade and stops for just a moment to slash the ball in two, each half going past him to smash through the wall behind him, before continuing his charge. However, that moment was enough time for Charmcaster to pull out a glowing ball and drop it on the ground, with a wave of her hand and an incantation. "Silicis Miles Suscitatio!"
"HYAH!"
Darkness burst forth before spinning together like a tornado and taking shape, out of the darkness a hand came forth and grabbed hold of Ben's diamond blade, stopping it cold as Ben's eyes widened, the darkness cleared letting Gwen catch sight of Zombozo's back.
A dark chuckle came from the demon as he snapped the diamond blade in his hand. "Hehe~ Heyah kid, been a minute but you didn't need to get me no diamonds!"
BOOM!
Ben was launched backwards from a punch before being grabbed by some sorta telekinesis and flung around, Gwen was forced to stare in horror unable to move until Hex grabbed her by the wrist.
Suddenly able to move she tried punching him in the throat only to scream as she was zapped, Hex stared uncaringly. "Foolish girl. You will relinquish my property, now sleep. Somnus!"
She felt something touch her head and then darkness.
—
Turns out magic users are a lot fucking harder to fight once they've got the chance to figure you out!
Ouch.
I roll across the floor and focus on manipulating Diamondhead's crystalline body structure, a cross forming along my chest, shoulders, arms and back.
Instantly I feel the crushing hold on my body snap as I twist to my feet, finally able to focus properly I take in the scene in front of me, firstly Zombozo grinning and still fully confident in fighting me.
Charmcaster a few feet behind the clown, though she doesn't look good. Holy shit, did the girls do that? Cause they fucked her up…I'll have to ask about that later.
Hex off to the side holding a limp Gwen, he takes the last Charm from her and throws her off to the side where she lands limply, the slow rise and fall of her chest the only sign she's alive.
Kayden far to the side, laying face down in a crater with smoke still wafting off her.
"Niece, Demon" Hex huffed dismissively. "Deal with the shape changer while I take in the power of the book and charms, the ritual will begin immediately"
"Yes Uncle" Charmcaster answered quickly, too quickly in a way that made my brain itch but I was too busy to actually think about it.
Zombozo nodded gleefully. "With pleasure, Master"
Fucking shit.
Hex began floating in a lotus position with his staff across his lap and the Archamada book appearing in front of him, he began floating upwards and smashed through the ceiling towards the sky as golden lightning trailed around him.
Charmcaster turned towards me with magic covering her hands and Zombozo cracked his knuckles, the two began advancing.
Thinking quickly I punched the ground and grew massive crystals, using my mental will I 'pushed' onto some of the crystals changing them and then sent them flying towards Charmcaster. Then I lifted two of the shards and slammed them against a third, fusing them together into a large crystal cross as the crystals I'd launched at Charmcaster hit her shield and proceeded to explode violently.
"̸͔̈Ȃ̵̜A̶͖͠Ả̶͙A̶̺͘Ḫ̶̎H̸̹͋Ĥ̶̢H̸̦͛Ḧ̵̩A̴̗̐A̷̰͗!̵͍̏ ̵̒͜F̶̢̒Ṳ̷̋C̴̭̎K̷̢̿I̷̞͝N̴͖͝Ğ̵ͅ ̶̩̕D̸̠͆A̵̧͆M̴̳̐N̵̞͠ ̶̯̚Ȳ̸͍O̷̫̔U̵̞͌ ̵͚͂B̸̘͌O̷̰̍Y̷͑ͅ!̶͐͜"̶̙̄ Zombozo cried out in an eldritch tone that made the air hiss sharply, his hands smoking as he was pushed back ten feet from the cross by an invisible force.
I pressed the dial and transformed in a flash of light back to human, moving quickly I took out the small square device I'd made not even an hour ago, pressing the button on it I drop it by the base of the crystal cross and begin walking towards Charmcaster while choosing another alien, behind me a clear recording of my voice begins to play.
"#Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas,-#"
I ignored Zombozo screaming as he desperately tried to force himself forward, as he pushed forward white fire began to lick at his form and he was far too preoccupied to focus on me, instead I pressed down on the Omnitrix dial.
Spoiler: "Fourarms!"
"HYAAAAH!"
I wasted no time stomping on the ground hard, a shockwave of force was directed through the ground knocking Charmcaster to her knees and interrupting her shield that had protected her, following it up with a thunder-clap so strong it blasted out a shockwave.
Charmcaster was sent flying and slammed into the wall before collapsing to the ground with a groan. I quickly rushed over to where Gwen was and shook her, trying to wake her as she groaned. "Come on dweeb, time to wake up and get off your bubble butt. We've got work to do"
"Uuhgh~...Hate..you…so much.." Gwen complimented me with true love in her heart as she woke up without any difficulty or complaints.
Note the sarcasm.
"Yeah yeah, Love you too. Now go get Absorbing Girl" I urged her as she shakily stood up, shook her head to clear her thoughts and then ran over towards Kayden.
"#-omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo-#"
I turned, tensing in my leg and leaping forward to clear the eight feet or so of distance before turning on my heel, shifting my weight and putting my full force behind both of my left arms. Zombozo had only managed to force himself around six feet towards the cross and Exorcism Player™, his skin flaking away as ash as white fire tore into him, he barely had a moment to turn before the double left hook slammed into his face with a comical honk and sent him fly ass over teakettle.
Boom!
"#-omnis legio diabolica, adiuramus te... cessa decipere humanas creaturas,-#"
I was distracted from following up as a blue beam hit me from behind, I turned to block with my arms and while it hurt it wasn't strong enough to do any real damage. Looking I see Charmcaster's gotten to her feet and she's blasting me with some kinda magic, tensing my arm I punch the ground.
"Ahh! Fuck!" Charmcaster curses as she trips, she quickly flings out metal rings that begin to roll on the ground and grow in size.
Eyes widening in surprise I quickly plant my feet and grab onto the rings, halting them with a grunt of effort, my lower arms grabbing the rings are weaker than my main arms but have an easier time pushing backwards due to being closer to my core while my upper arms can lift. However even for me the two rings are big and heavy as fuck.
Charmcaster then throws two stones and commands with a glowing hand. "Those who are bound to my service, head my call and offer thy spirits! Meus Manus Manus! Rise, Baas'alt! Rhyoues Lite!"
The two stones glowed a golden light through them, shifting into two miniature figures before small carvings along their surface cracked and pink magic energy glowed from them, the two small stone figures then began rapidly growing as in front of me until they were nearly nine feet tall, only a little shorter than Fourarms twelve feet.
I took the easy option and swung the heavy rings towards one of the figures, the two large metal bands smashing through the rock monster. Swinging the other way however didn't work out as the stone golem grabbed the rings, skidding slightly as we pushed against each other.
I reared back and threw a punch only to be surprised when the golem dodged, the rings dropped to the ground with a loud ringing crash as I twisted out of the way of a punch. Jabbing with my lower arms, my upper arms up in a guard.
Step back. Rotate.
Lower left jab. Upper right swings around to grab wrist. Hold.
I breath in and out in a quick burst as I snap his arm like a leash, jerking him into a hard knee to the chest.
Push against elbow. Rotate wrist till elbow is down.
Upper left elbow down against forearm. Push up on elbow. Pull on wrist.
Dust sprays and rock shatters. I'm not done.
Lower left arm snaps around his shattered arm to wrap around his neck. Upper left arm goes across his side to grip his hip, hold him close against my side for control.
Lower right forearm jabs up into his throat, angle against my left arms and push in a choke to lever his head. Upper right arm proceeds to punch down into his face.
Boom! Crack! 'One'
BOOM! CRACK! 'Two'
"-BEN! BEHIND YOU!"
Splash!
"AAAAHHHHGGHHH!"
I turn to see Zombozo behind me distracted, his face melting from Gwen shooting him with holy water. That does work then, good to note.
I stop punching the golem and ignore it weakly batting at me with its remaining arm, my arms still slowly crushing it, instead I grab Zombozo by his face, the white fire covering my hand without any heat, and lift him off his feet till we're staring eye to eye.
"Now Clown…" Zombozo's eyes widen, I can feel that if anything I'm the one grinning demonically now. "You didn't give me the chance to greet you properly-"
I lift the clown high in the air as I tense my body, the golem finally going limp like a puppet with all its strings cut as its head shatters. "-So!-"
CRAAH-BOOOM!
I twist and slam his body through the remains of the stone golem and into the floor. "HIGHFIVE!"
I rained blows down on Zombozo, as a demon he simply didn't care though, I shattered his ribs and he laughed, I broke his arms and they moved anyway, whatever demonic spirit existed inside kept the pieces snapping back into place, but even still he couldn't overpower Fourarms and each blow forced his body to move a fraction slower which was all I needed to-
"#Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciæ, hos-CRACK!
I turned to see Charmcaster having stepped on the Exorcism Player™, smashing it into little bits and letting the white fire clinging to Zombozo sputter out as he started to hit harder.
Glaring, I lifted him up and slammed him down on the ground, smashing the floor before spinning on my heel, I picked up two stones and launched them before flicking my wrist to spin Zombozo like a frisbee.
Charmcaster quickly formed a shield that blocked the first stone, sending her skidding backwards as cracks spiderwebbed through it, the second shattered it and sent her on her ass.
Then Zombozo landed smack dab against the crystal cross like a white flaming comet, tearing through whatever barrier blocked him like paper before thunder clapped and lightning crackled over him, he seemed to feel actual pain in the blazing inferno covering him as he was stuck in a silent scream before there was a snap like a high-tension cab-
BOOOM!
I stared behind me wide eyed, I'd ducked on instinct as the crystal literally shattered into dust and Zombozo was blasted away like he'd been fired from a cannon, he'd smashed through who knows how many walls and was definitely somewhere on the other side of the house.
…
Yeah, demon or not he was going to be out of the fight for a bit, the 'Lord' just bitch slapped his ass back to Dante's first drafts.
I quickly looked around to assess the situation.
Charmcaster looks to be unconscious. Good, I'd be a bit worried about actually hitting her as Fourarms if I had to, magic users looked to be more durable than normal folks but I doubt she's that durable.
Civilians are gone.
Gwen..where..?
Oh! I noticed her off hidden in a corner where she seems to have dragged an unconscious Kayden, I ran over and kneeled down once I got close, Kayden's head was in Gwen's lap, Gwen looked at me with an expression of relief and worry. "Hey doofus, how's our delinquent doing?"
Gwen cracked a smile. "Sh-she'll be okay, there's some bruising and she's unconscious but mainly she's just exhausted, she should wake up once she's got enough energy back"
"Ahh~ That's good to hear" I said with relief. I'd learned that apparently people in this universe were even more durable and adaptable than my original world, at least brains were to an extent, people would go unconscious to preserve energy and or save themselves if they experienced too much stress, pain or trauma while the brain fixed itself.
It didn't necessarily make humans any better from surviving actual brain damage but at least it meant that if someone was unconscious they didn't necessarily have it, and it did make sense that Kayden wouldn't have much energy at this point, she's a relatively normal girl who grew up on the street with a power that mainly requires her to focus on physical combat so she'd been forced to be in more danger against Zombozo then me or Gwen, then whatever Charmcaster did to them…
Gently I reached down and one of my large fingers rubbed against Kayden's cheek while my other hand patted Gwen on the head, my voice soft for a twelve foot tall giant. "I'm sorry you two got overwhelmed, I should have stayed to help, you two did great though so once this is over just remember to improve"
Gwen sniffled and nodded.
Getting to my feet I started looking around for Hex, he'd gone through the ceiling so I looked towards there only to frown as I see buckets of rain pouring down from the new skylight, flashes of light and lightning could be heard as well. I narrowed my eyes, getting a bad feeling about this.
"That doesn't look good" Gwen voiced my thoughts.
I just nodded and told her. "Keep looking after Kay-Absorbing Girl, once she's awake and able it would be good if you could come back me up"
Stomping over towards Charmcaster, I roughly grabbed her and shook her awake, seeing her eyes widen in shock as I grabbed ahold of her and covered her mouth, leaning close my voice was a dangerous growl. "Listen closely, little missy. You hurt my friend and my cousin, so you aren't going to try anything while you answer my questions or I will punch you and worry about the consequences later, am I clear?"
The silver haired girl nodded slightly after a moment. Which was smart, don't get me wrong, magic is busted, but I'm directly holding her, unless she wants to lose a limb she'd need a miracle.
I take my hand off her face slowly, ready to slap the piss out of her if she starts chanting shit. "What are you and Hex planning? What's with the demon?"
"I..uhh…" Charmcaster gulps, looking genuinely scared. "U-uncle wants to restore the strength of Earth's magical power to Age of God's levels, back to the level it was before Christ when God's walked the Earth. He's using the Archamada book of spells and the Charms of Bezel to tap into the Earth's natural energy and then he's going to use the energy from the souls the demon's collected to turn back time-"
"What! That would hurt those souls wouldn't it?! Potentially hundreds of innocent people!" I yelled in anger, I'd read enough fantasy books and had enough logical deduction to assume that draining a soul of its power wasn't likely to be refreshing for the soul's involved.
"UHUH! Y-yes!" Charmcaster panics a bit at my anger, babbling. "There's so little life left in the Earth and we need the mana-
"Quiet!" I growled, silencing her. I dropped her on her ass, glaring down at her. "Don't move, try and keep fighting and I'll break every bone you have"
I turned and left the room, surprisingly Charmcaster didn't test me.
—
Biting her lip Gwen glanced down at the idiot currently unconscious, Kayden's breathing was even, there were a few marks, scratches and burns along her body but none of it looked like it was truly damaging. The best she could guess was that whatever spell had been used had overwhelmed her, maybe the feedback from getting forcefully taken out of her armor was too much?
"T-that was Ultra?" The witch interrupted her musing, turning to look at her over her shoulder Gwen could see Charmcaster looking at where Ben had just left, the girl was shaking like a leaf. "He's..uhh…scary"
Gwen rolled her eyes and turned away, focusing on the beginning to stir form of Kayden. "Yeah, he's protective of family"
—
"-Rava bilatis galametro-!"
Lightning crackled and the wind blew hard, a thick black storm cloud covered the sky, the clouds even twisting and folding violently over themselves like a twister was going to form soon. Hex was floating high up in the sky over the old graveyard behind the mansion, gold and red/black energy covered him, down below on the ground Zombozo was glowing and bright blueish pink energy was pouring out of his eyes and mouth upwards towards Hex.
Chanting filled the air and each whisper echoed impossibly even over the sounds of the cracking sky, off in the distance you could see the horizon flickering like a mirage, buildings slowly fading, vehicles aging, trees appearing, like two scenes over lapping. "Citaro macor-!"
"HYAAAAAAAGHHH!"
BOOM!
So I proceeded to javeline a fucking tombstone at him.
The tombstone exploded into a spray of dust and there was a clap of bright blue light as the chanting was interrupted, Zombozo fell to his knees with the energy quickly pouring back into him and Hex was sent hurtling through the air before landing off in the graveyard.
The horizon snaps back to normal but that doesn't mean things are fixed, I can see bright flickering fire light, smoke, buildings severely damaged by the storm and even a couple places torn apart like an earthquake had hit.
I begin stomping forward, breathing evenly to try and control my temper. Distantly I think how much time I have left, it feels like I've been fighting for both a few seconds and a few hours. I first transformed into Diamondhead, then detransformed, resetting my timer and changed into Fourarms. So at most I had…six? maybe seven minutes.
It would have to be enough.
Zombozo began to stand up just as Hex flew up from the dust cloud of his landing, landing on top of a crypt, the magic user spread his arms and brandished his staff towards me, seemingly having lost the Archamada book in the fall. "You dare challenge me! You are an impudent boy Ultra!"
I snort amused as I crack my knuckles. "Please, now you sound like my Mother"
"And yet more disrespect, what else is to be expected from a incompetent undisciplined child" Hex asked in that arrogant adult tone. "You cannot fathom the power I will wield! I will command this world! Time itself will kneel at my feet as I resurrect the Age of God's!"
I just shake my head. "Arrogance and worthless boasting, you abuse power while claiming to understand it, when in reality we're all just lowly dust doing dustly things. Now let's skip to the part where you get put in a box"
Hex breathed in sharply and furiously slammed his staff, hissing. "Darkela-vortium!"
Reddish black smoke poured down and into three stone gargoyle statues whose eyes glowed bright red, with the sound of grinding stone they began to move. One was very small and flew using wings, the second was a little bigger and scurried on all fours with a long tail,.the third was nearly as large as me with big horns and looked to be part bull. And leading the three gargoyles was a grinning Zombozo.
I planted my feet, raised my hands and waited as they charged towards me, forcing myself to stay calm as I tracked them all, the sky clouding as Hex focused back on his spell.
The stone bull gargoyle met me first in a full charge that I had no intention of trying to stop, instead moving to the side and pushing with a swift palm strike as I tripped him, leading the statue to flying past me.
The lizard gargoyle came from my side, I went to punch it but it wrapped around my arm, crawled up my back then began to use it's tail to try choking me. I grabbed on, moving out of the way of the flying gargoyle as I pulled and tried to get the lizard gargoyle off, need to-
"-ACK!"
Spit flew from my mouth as I'm punched in the side, out of the corner of my eye I see Zombozo had snuck up on me to jab me.
Narrowing my arms I try to punch him as he jumps back, kicking behind me as I hear the bull gargoyle charging to stop it, I twist out of the way of a punch and grab its arm, punching it across the face.
I try to twist and punch Zombozo only to be forced to dodge as I almost get sprayed with a toxic green liquid that melts the stone where it lands, one hand bats aside the clown while another bats aside the flying gargoyle. Tensing my arms I swing back and hammer fist the gargoyles tail around my neck, cracking it.
Something slams hard into my back and I skid along the ground, rolling I shift my body to wrap an arm around the bull gargoyle and transfer the momentum into a throw, launching him away. I duck under a punch from Zombozo and block another, standing I put my weight into punching down only to miss due to the lizard gargoyle choking me and the flying gargoyle flying in to try and claw at my face.
I swat away the gargoyle only to jerk to the side, my head spinning from a haymaker that's followed up by a boot to my head.
I roll with the surprisingly strong blow till I get to my feet, spitting out blood and breathing strained, thunder rumbled above me and on instinct I cross my arms above me as a crack of thunder spli-
CRA-THOOOOM!
…
…
…
I..blink…groaning.
My arms are trembling. Breath ragged.
Sparks and muscle spasms trail across my body.
I'm on all fours trying to get oxygen.
A shadow steps in front of me, bad idea.
I push myself up using my lower set of arms while throwing a hiraken throat punch, which nearly decapitates Zombozo, uncaringly he knocks my arm aside and punches me, stars explode across my vision.
The next punch I stop at the elbow, killing all of it's force before I dragon punch the demon in his knee, completely shattering the knee and throwing him off balance, before I proceed to actually pick him up and fling him towards the flying gargoyle that was coming in again. Satanic hell spawn capable of ignoring damage or not, he still had a physical body and I'm currently a twelve foot tall, multi ton brick shit house of an alien bodybuilder.
It'd only take one more blow to break the gargoyle suffocating me, but before I could that damn fucking bull charged at me again, my vision blackening at the edges.
I needed to get a bit risky.
The bull gargoyle charges again, loud and fast, tensing and shifting onto the balls of my feet, I prepare to feel pain.
I meet the bulls charge head on, my lower arms grabbing it by the shoulders as I skid backwards, turning to the side I slam down both my upper arms in a harsh hammer blow, the bulls charge is redirected into the ground as he eats shit.
I punch back with all four of my arms and grab onto the lizard gargoyle, screaming with rage as I tear him off and slam him into the back of the bulls head, then I wind up and punch as hard as I can.
BOOM!
The gargoyle freezes, losing all movement as its head and shoulders are turned to powder, the stone under my punch cratering like it had been hit point blank by a cannon ball.
Getting to my feet I took in a massive breath of fresh air, panting tiredly, I turned to see the flying gargoyle and Zombozo getting ready to fight me, I rolled my shoulders and took a fortifying breath.
Vvv~rooch!
Vvv~rooch!
Vvv~rooch!
I grinned at the sweet sound of backup, the storm above disappearing again and at nearly the same instant a blast was fired out, the beam hitting the flying gargoyle and rendering him into dust. Zombozo's eyes widened and then he proceeded to scream, white fire blasted out of each of his pores as the very air in the graveyard changed, feeling fresher and easier to breathe like going to a sunny park.
Grandpa must have finished pouring holy water around the property and then called Kayden to consecrate it.
I grinned viciously. Plan B is a go!
—
Once Kayden had gotten onto her feet and she'd checked the girl over to make sure she didn't have an obvious concussion or anything, they both quickly ran to find Ben.
Even without the charm though it seemed like their luck was holding strong, since as they came outside and she spotted Hex, Kayden's phone dinged signaling it had a message.
Gwen dialed the strength of her bracelet up, aimed and fired twice. The first hitting Hex in the stomach and the second in the head sending him flying towards the ground, turning she then fired a shot at Zombozo only she missed and hit some weird flying stone baby thing…ehh.
"Grandpa's finished, I can consecrate the place now" Kayden informed her.
She nodded sharply, distantly noting that Kayden had been very happily and pointedly referring to Grandpa as Grandpa the last few days. "Do it"
Kayden quickly pulled out a rosary, put her hands together, closed her eyes and breathed deeply before whispering faintly in Google translated Latin. "Ritum sacrum hanc terram consecro"
She figured it worked since the clown instantly burst into flames in the distance, anyway Ben could handle that. "Let's get Hex!"
Kayden bent down to absorb a layer of stone before they quickly charged after where Hex had fallen, first sliding down a grassy hill into the graveyard, then we had to move through the dark and winding rows of graves. Kayden kept close in front of her, acting as a shield for her while Gwen herself kept her remaining bracelet on blaster mode.
Spotting something next to one of the graves she called out. "Absorbing Girl, I see something. Cover me!"
Kayden nodded, turning her back towards her so she could keep an eye out. "Right!"
Gwen bent down and rummaged through the dirt and grass, her eyes widening as she stood up. In her right hand was Hex's old looking wizard staff, in her left was his necklace sash that had all five of the charms in it, Gwen grinned seeing them, pure greed in her eyes. She could already think of a few good names to switch to.
Magic would be appropriate, maybe a little too on the nose though?
Magus or maybe Miracle?
Hmm, she wanted something that could still relate to Lucky Girl in some way, even if she didn't keep the name for long it would be good to keep them linked. She'd also thought a bit about Kayden's potential name, really she was annoyed at Ben, asshole just immediately came up with an awesome name on the first try.
Ultra: Noun: a person with extreme views or beliefs. Adverb: very or extremely.
Like, hell! Fuck her apparently, because shit if that didn't describe him pretty fucking well, she was absolutely certain that he'd had to have been thinking about it since he got the watch or something like that. Haaaah~ Definitely picking up a dictionary and a journal whenever they get a chance.
"Hey, Lucky Girl! Focus up, we've got company!" Absorbing Girl hissed at her to draw her attention.
She turned to see Hex stumbling out, a groan coming from him as he rubbed his head before focusing towards them and glaring, sounding obviously pissed as he began marching towards them. "Relinquish that which is mine girl! You cannot fathom their power!"
Kayden shifted into a boxing stance and she held out the staff in front of her, not really sure how to use it but willing something to happen. Hex though did not seem impressed and just scoffed. "That staff can only be used by a master girl, do not be a fool-
Booom!
They all ducked as Ben came smashing through a nearby mausoleum, one hand around a flaming Zombozo who looked like a bright star at the moment, and three other limbs punching and laying down blows repeatedly that she was sure would kill most people, Ben proceeded to continue running and smashing Zombozo through obstacles as he pulverized the limp and probably very sorry demon.
Hex charged at them in the confusion and she quickly stepped back as Kayden moved in front of her and threw a punch, Hex formed some sorta hand sign and spoke. "Contego!"
In front of his hand a thin pink circular shield formed that quickly turned a sickly, ugly black with red veins coiled through it and a bloody aura covering it, red veins coiled along Hex's arm as well and seemed to hiss at his skin. Kayden's fist slammed through the red mist and the shield cracked, Hex's eyes widened in shock before he flung out his hand and the magic energy blasted out in a wave.
Kayden blocked the wave of energy that swept over her, with Gwen staying safely behind her now favorite human-shield(affectionate, she swears!), she could almost hear the grin in Kayden's voice as she pulled back her fists. "It's alright Lucky Girl, I've got this! Seems like mister magician here isn't actually that strong without his accessories!"
"You insolent whel-Crack!
"AHHGHHHH!"
Hex attempted to complain while building up some energy in his hands, only to lean forward directly into a left jab from Kayden directly into his jaw, which sent that wizard reeling back. Gwen blinked in surprise and took a step back, tilting her head confused as Kayden began to lightly bounce on the balls of her feet and hop back and forth around Hex.
Hex would form a quick shield.
Kayden smashes through it.
Hex forms a blast of energy.
Kayden dodges the slow blasts, punches through the fast ones and utterly ignores the weak ones that splash against her.
Hex waves his hands, stepping back as he twists and turns, calling out a deep carefully intoned word from some random dead language. Magic quickly builds, obviously meant to lash out in some sorta strong spell.
However it's becoming clear that Hex doesn't actually know how to fight, because as he speaks and lightning begins to crackle, Kayden simply jumps to the side since she'd been given ample opportunity and delivers a spine shivering right hook directly into Hex's liver.
Hex doubles over as his spell pops like a balloon, spewing out the contents of his stomach as Kayden cackles with cute delight, looking absolutely radiant with a twinkle of vengeful schadenfreude in her eye and a large grin.
"Hah-hey kiddo-!
"EEEEEHHHEEE!" Gwen jumped in alarm as someone came up behind her, only to relax when she saw it was Grandpa who was breathing heavily. Sighing in relief she turned away from Kayden to ask. "Oh! Sorry Grandpa, you surprised me. Are you alright?"
Grandpa chuckled and nodded, wiping a bit of sweat off his forehead. "I-I'm fine pumpkin, j-just not as young as I used to be. Ohhh boy~ Definitely not going to be doing any full day marches again"
Grandpa leaned against a tomb and looked past her, gaining a flat look before then slowly panning over to where Ben was causing a small earthquake with his fists. "...huh. Well it looks like those two are having fun working out their stress"
She followed Grandpa's gaze and hesitantly asked. "Shouldn't we..you know? Get them to stop so we can lock up the bad guys or get them to the police or something?"
"Do you want to get between either of them?" Grandpa asked with a raised eyebrow, which made Gwen glance towards the two in question.
Kayden-
"Come on you FUCKING PUSSY! Put um up! Put um up! You just letting a little girl beat you' ass? No fancy words? Well I've got some, GeeermAN SUPLEX!"
Ben-
"-STUPID FUCKING HELL LICKING DEVILS TAINT SUCKING SCUM! BETTER BEG FOR AN EXORCISM BEFORE I GRAB SOMETHING AND TWIST-!"
"Yeah, that's fair" She said flatly. She definitely didn't feel like getting involved in that mess, apparently neither liked getting beaten up.
So Grandpa and her both got the chance to sit down and catch their breath.
Surprisingly after only three minutes it was Ben who finished his 'fight' first, a thick column of black smoke blasted out of Zombozo's mouth and bright blue glimmering runaway stars tore themselves from the smoke before racing off, the black smoke swirled in the air before racing down and slamming into the floor, being sucked into the ground like it was a vacuum as the dirt began to glow and bubble like magma.
Ben quickly called out, urgency in his tone. "Lucky Girl! The charms! Now!"
Did she know why Ben needed the charms? No. Was she going to waste time when he sounded like it was life or death? Fuck no.
She threw the charms towards him and he grabbed the sash thing out of the air, before pressing it to the demons chest, only as she got up and ran over in-between blinks, the clowns skin began to change into a normal hue and his clothes and proportion shifted subtly to be a tad more human.
Then one of the charms glowed bright gold, Gwen stopped and stared in shock as flesh, bone and muscle shifted, regrew and wound themselves back together. It was like time was reversing and she realized, much to her horror, that this was the human Zombozo, that all the injuries hadn't stayed with just the demon or vanished but instead the poor man had had to carry all of it.
Much to her relief the man looked perfectly healthy and healed within seconds and appeared to be unconscious, the glowing charm dimmed as the man breathed shallowly, Ben carefully picking up the charms off his chest as she slowly inched forward hesitantly.
"I-is he okay?" She asked nervously.
Ben carefully looked him over with a grim look on his alien face, Fourarms did not look good grimacing, it pulled at his muscles wrong and what usually looked like a bold and towering heroic figure of well sculpted strength instead looked less human, more viscous and predatory like a wolf. "Physically he should be perfectly healthy I think, but mentally? I have no clue what he's experienced or how bad it was"
Ben glanced over behind her, she turned to see Grandpa helping Kayden to her feet while Hex appeared to be unconscious on the ground, heavily bruised and bleeding.
Ben's voice was soft even for his limbering size as he gently picked up Zombozo. "Can you go look for the Archamada book and then go with the others to leave? I'll take Zombozo here to the authorities since they should be here soon, try and explain what happened and then I'll sneak back to the RV"
"O-okay, be safe" She pleaded, feeling slightly worried for him.
Ben just smiled. "Always"
Then Ben rushed off at a jog that could outpace some cars, being careful not to hurt his charge. Sighing as she watched him run off Gwen looked around, she really wanted to get to her nice comfortable bed right now, so where the fuck is that damn book.
Rustbucket - On A Random Road/9:45/Late
I sigh annoyed as I record the last of my notes and put the Archamada book of spells in a metal lockbox, along with the Staff of Ages and three of the Charms of Bezel, closing it and clicking the padlock on it I quickly cycle through my transformations before transforming into Diamondhead.
Gwen watches from over my shoulder, along with Kayden peeking from the stove where she's currently helping by watching the sausage cook and making sure it doesn't burn, as I cover the lock box in diamond shards and shape the crystals into a densely packed shell.
Gwen rubs the bandage on her left arm, the Charm of Reincarnation slotted into her right bracelet and speeding up her healing while the Charm of Luck is stored in her pocket, once I have the chance to fix Gwen's other bracelet she'll be able to use both. Though the Charm of Reincarnation is healing Gwen far slower than what it did for Zombozo and I didn't know why, I had a few possible ideas but nothing concrete, it could be that it scales with the severity of the injury, that was my leading theory though I was hesitant to trust it.
Gwen leans in closer to see the small symbols that I'm forming directly inside the crystals, a pentagram with runes inside it, four words in a foreign language written around the outer circle of the pentagram and runes along the edges of the crystal.
Gwen whistles. "Wow. What's all that supposed to be?"
"There called warding" I say absentmindedly as I carefully shift the crystal structure around so that the markings don't cause weak spots. "From what I looked up in the Archamada, the magic symbols apparently have some inherent magic or whatever, so they'll do their job even though I don't know any magic myself. From what I read there's anti demon wards, anti angel wards, anti magic, anti vampires, anti ghosts...a lot basically"
Gwen had stars in her eyes as she looked at the crystal with wonder, whispering like speaking too loud would break it. "Cooool!"
I nodded, carefully putting the now very large and heavy opaque crystal down where it wouldn't hurt anyone. "We can practice with each of the charms over the summer and maybe look through the Archamada to learn magic, but first I want us both to get a bit of practice controlling the charms so that we're not completely clueless, switching out the charms over time will give us both a chance to use them"
Gwen nodded. "Okay, I guess that's reasonable. Shared custody it is then"
We chuckle as I quickly switch to Upgrade and proceed to hide the large crystal in one of the hidden crawlspaces inside the RV, I could see a lot of the mechanisms in the RV as Upgrade but there were sections that folded in on themselves using some sorta space manipulating tech or portal tech, I wasn't exactly sure without taking it apart and I couldn't see inside them sadly but it meant that the RV actually had a lot of empty pockets inside it to shove stuff.
Once that was finished and I transformed back I took the chance of switching out with Kayden, stirring the sausage around and adding a mix of garlic and onion powder, pepper, seasoning salt and buttery steak house seasoning, I spent the next few minutes stirring them and letting them cook fully before I added in flour and milk to make a nice gravy.
As that began to mix I opened up the stove and pulled out the biscuits I'd put in there, they were just regular store bought biscuits but I'd cut them open with a butter knife and put some shredded cheddar jack cheese in them and covered them in garlic butter.
By the time I'd finished we'd already parked at a rest stop a couple miles outside of town, Gwen looking at some of the notes and copies of the Archamada's information on warding I'd made, across from Gwen was Kayden and Grandpa. So after getting a confirmation on how much everyone wanted I filled four plates and put them on the table, spent a few seconds putting away the leftovers and tossing the dirty dishes in the sink then finally I sat back down to eat.
"Mmmhm~" Grandpa Max closed his eyes and smiled as he took a bite of a biscuit covered in sausage gravy. "Kayden, Ben, these are amazing. You both out did yourselves, especially on such short notice"
Kayden blushed. "T-thanks Grandpa. Though I just made the suggestion when Ben asked and watched the food while he was busy to keep it from burning, he did the actual cooking"
Huh, she's been calling him Grandpa a lot…wonder why?
"Hey none of that, you'd be surprised how many people struggle with just that" I said, deciding to focus on boosting Kayden's confidence, glancing towards my right with a flat expression.
Gwen blushed and swatted my arm, pouting. "Hey, no fair! It was only one time!"
I smirked and chuckled before taking a bite, swallowing and asking. "You sure you don't want to try learning magic Kayden?"
Said girl very quickly shook her head. "Nope. I've already got my powers and it may just be a result of getting repeatedly beaten up by magic but personally it makes me very uncomfortable, I'd be much happier letting you two deal with it…though I have been curious about that blaster you made for Gwen, if you need a bit of extra muscle as a helping hand maybe I could give you a hand rebuilding it? I'd love to learn"
I thought about it. Gwen was smart but mainly she just watched and helped me by giving me tools or acting as a pair of hands for Greymatter, she didn't have the intuitive knowledge and understand that I gained when transformed that was required to truly help, though she was studying the same blueprints I was at around the same speed.
Kevin was supposed to be some kinda tech wizard in canon though right? Well just based on what I know of Kayden, I'm fairly certain she'll learn by doing instead of researching like Gwen and I, so I don't think it'll be that hard for her to catch up and her strength is higher than mine or Gwen's so she would have an easier time with wrestling stubborn parts or pieces.
I shrug. "Sure. I need to basically rebuild Gwen's bracelet anyway and I don't have enough alien tech to do it, so I'm going to be fabricating stuff using junkyard trash with Upgrade then basically making a totally new pair, I'll even be improving them some since I might as well. Gwen will be getting a chance to work more hands on as well so you can help her, it'll give you the perfect opportunity to learn by watching her"
"Yes!" Kayden fist pumped cutely with a big grin.
We all chuckle at how cute Kayden is which just ends up making the girl blush and look away in embarrassment. We each ate our fill, the warm tasty food helping each of us settle and focus on the present, after such a trying few days it's a relief to have a good home cooked meal with family.
Also holy fuck these biscuits are amazing, I'll have to remember to make them more often.
—
I yawned, feeling fairly exhausted but full of good warm food and satisfaction of a well spent day, in other words the perfect way to go to bed.
Gwen and Kayden were getting comfortable in the top bunk while I was busy slipping on my pajama pants, which were fairly common since it was two thousand five though I preferred to go without a shirt.
"Hickhim~ Kiddo" I looked up to see Grandpa by the door, opening it and nodding outside. "Can we chat for a minute?"
Sigh…
Well better now then later. "Sure Grandpa, just a second"
I pulled out my thick slippers that I didn't really use often since I preferred to go barefoot when I was relaxing, but it was late and I refused to walk outside barefoot, then I slipped my hoodie back on and followed Grandpa outside. Outside there was a slight breeze, mithril clouds puttered through the sky, the moon was full providing plenty of light, it made me happy that I'd had the forethought to wear my hoodie.
Grandpa groaned and one of his knees popped as he got down on one knee in front of me, he put a gentle comforting hand on my shoulder and spoke softly. "Okay Ben. Firstly I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for fighting with you since letting myself get that angry wasn't very mature of me, you were right to be worried about Hex and the book. I still don't approve of you taking the book but I do agree that you did the right thing trying to keep it away from him and give him reason not to attack the museum"
I swallowed a Ed, Edd and Eddie jawbreaker sized lump in my throat, trying to formulate how I wanted to…uhh. Oh fuck it, I was having trouble thinking words because of how I felt, there. "T-thanks Grandpa..but…I…I did have selfish intentions, I didn't realize it at the time but seeing real actual magic..I couldn't help but think about learning it"
I close my eyes, breathing deeply and look away. "Also I shouldn't have talked to you like that…I'm so sorry, I was angry and scared and yes I was also being defensive because I wanted to learn what it was that's in that book, but you've been so kind and helpful towards us this summer, giving us this awesome vacation and willing to help Kayden and…"
I grit my teeth, I'd always had trouble starting self reflection, I'd had to learn to force myself to calm down and give myself a hard look back when I was a teen suffering from anger issues, even now I can't say apologizing is easy and I never really know what to do with myself. "Thank you for being such an awesome Grandpa.. I'm really grateful"
"Oh kiddo" Grandpa gently pulled me into a hug, absently I noticed my cheeks were wet, two or three tears leaking from my eyes. "Its been my absolute pleasure to spend the summer with you and Gwen, and taking in Kayden has been just as much of a pleasure, you..yes you hurt my feelings and you were out of line for what you said, I won't patronize you by saying or acting like that's not the case, but you're my grandson and I love you, this summer so far has been a time I will treasure forever"
Grandpa gives a slightly tighter squeeze and then separates, I breath slowly to calm myself and rub my eyes, looking back at him I found that Grandpa Max looked at me with a complicated mix of emotions, his voice tight. "You are a very responsible boy Ben and I understand that selfish urge, it's human and it's remarkable that you were able to see it and willing to call yourself out on it, that is a show of good character as long as you're willing to work on overcoming that lapse in judgement. We can never guarantee anything in life and it is not your responsibility to do everything, you used your abilities to help how you could and admitted your fault, everything after that is simply how things happened and we pick up the pieces"
Huh, that reminded me of something. "With great power comes great responsib-Oww!
"No! It comes with regular responsibility!" Grandpa urges sternly, tugging me sharply by the ear. "You share 'great' responsibilities with others instead of taking them all on yourself, that idea is self destructive and extreme. I know you struggle with that so let me be clear, talk to us and stop being so quick to do everything yourself in the most excessive way possible, let us help"
"Alright! Alright! My ear! I'll talk more and not be as violent with scumbags! Let'o already!" I whin-manly complained while waving my arms till Grandpa finally let go, sighing in relief to see my ear still attached. "Aaahhhh~ Shit that hurt"
"Oh, and you are still grounded for a week for being rude"
"...yeah I figured, that's fair"
Yep, the Circus Freak Trio got a bit of a character redesign into less antagonistic and one note people, now they're just people. If they show up again it'll be a toss up whether they'll be villains or not but even if they are bad guys of a chapter don't expect them to be major villains, at most they'll be pulling a B&E or minions of the main villain or maybe allies.
Boom, demon possessed Zombozo with a soul stealing depression machine. Bet nobody thought of that before!
Also poor Gwen, she's not ready to handle depression at her age lol. Because that's sorta what Zombozo's machine does, it leaves you chuckling and laughing while internally you're hollowed out and left feeling 'glum' as Grandpa Max says in canon.
Speaking of, Grandpa Max is a grown man so he's better equipped to kinda 'muscle' his way through it since the process wasn't finished and only a bit of their positive energy had been taken, though he's also seen some shit in his life so he's still getting hit extremely hard by this depression, he's got a little bit of drive in him and that's enough for him to get Kayden and Gwen moving. From there once they've got a bit of emotion and drive back Kayden's temper can keep her going and Gwen doesn't really have to have much motivation to point and shoot.
Meanwhile Ben, well I've had my doses of depression and honestly in my opinion everyone who's been alive during the last five years deserves at least a mild resistance to any form of weaponized depression, for obvious reasons. So he was basically able to set a goal and just get through doing that even without the motivation to actually do it.
Poor Kayden, I'm just sorta realizing as I write her that she really is just a 11 year old with powers and no training and most of her strongest powers she can't use without going crazy, Ben and Gwen both actually have training, meanwhile Kayden is only just learning so she's getting her ass beat pretty often. Which to be fair, it is a very good way of learning what not to do.
Yeah to those curious that's what my mild meltdowns were like when I was a kid, I'd get so angry my brain would just stop functioning and it would come out in rage and tears and everything, this is a 'mild' one because Ben still has enough sense left to control bits of what he does and keep from going too far but it's a very near thing.
Hex is not a good guy and we see based on how Charmcaster acts in her first episode that she's scared of her uncle, or at least she wasn't too convinced he wouldn't blast her and was very willing to betray him. Thus here with her being younger and dependent on him and him being more stressed because of that, she ends up being an easy outlet for his anger.
Also Hex is not a fighter, not really anyway, he's a magic user and basically a scholar, it's like a scientist who happens to have a big powerful laser, he knows how to make it work and can use it like a weapon but he isn't a soldier. Thus when he doesn't have his tools and suddenly has to do all the magic without the easy simplifying shortcuts he suddenly loses a lot of his available power due to just not having the time or understanding of combat to effectively use his power.
Grandpa and Ben made up! Yay!!!
How long will it last though is the question
Also check the extra section, I'm going to be adding some information.
Remember to like, comment and let me know what you thought, remember that discussion feeds my motivation.