The duo sprinted out of the house and realized that they were going to be too late. Ed drew frantic lines in the air and colors shot away from him, impacting the faces of the first row of people. Their charge stopped as they scrubbed at their eyes, but they were pushed forwards by the crowd behind them.
"What did you do?"
"I just blinded them, it'll fade in a few seconds!" They shouted to each other as they ran.
"Can you do the non-Euclidean wall thing again?"
"Against something so big??" But Ed pulled up short and shifted the pen into a brush larger than any Zavier had seen before. Colored lights flowed out of Ed and down his arm until the brush began to glow with a painful brightness. Zavier shielded his eyes as Ed painted on the air. Walls of shimmering color formed in the air in front of them, then expanded. It had the basic look and shape of the wall but was becoming more and more transparent the larger it got. Ed was breathing heavily as he painted, then pushed it outward with a gasp. It flew to the opposite side of the cul-de-sac and came to rest in front of a house across from the Bouchard's. The brush reshaped into a black marker and Ed scribbled furiously in the air again, this time pushing it towards the Bouchard compound. It passed through the crowd, unnoticed by them in their frenzy, and settled like a bad paint job on the wall in front of them. It wouldn't pass close scrutiny but in the darkness the illusions might just hold up.
Zavier cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted "WRONG DIRECTION, IDIOTS!" When the back row turned to him he pointed at the illusory wall behind them. Some had a look of confusion but herd mentality kicked in and soon the entire crowd was running the other direction.
"We need to try to unsorcell them!" Zavier yelled.
"Is that even a word?"
"It is now!" He yelled and ran towards the crowd.
"Zavier, I don't have much left in the tank. I can't block them all, man. I don't know if I could even at full strength - his hold on them is too strong."
Zavier nodded and pulled out his chain, holding the pen in his hand. "Nothing like a pop quiz on the first day of class." He started pushing his will into his newest skill.
"Well that did fuck-all." He panted as the crowd milled around on the other side of the illusory wall in confusion.
"I told you, they have to be willing, and this crowd can't even consider the notion of free will right now."
"So what do we do?" That feeling of impotence was rising up inside him again despite his best efforts to push the distraction down.
Ed just looked at him and shrugged.
"Okay then," Zavier said as he adjusted his grip on the chain. "I guess it's clobberin' time."
Ed cast a few more blinding spells at the ones that were running back in the right direction, but Zavier could see that they were growing fainter and lasting for less time. For his part, he was knocking people out left and right, the chains whipping around and thumping heads of anyone who got too close.
The half of the crowd closest to the pair had turned to fight them and Zavier was knocking away magical darts and balls of flame that were getting uncomfortably close each time. "You need to get inside man, you're dead weight out here."
Ed saw the truth in that but shook his head. "Not while he's out here. I've never been this close, Zavier. I can't sit this one out."
Zavier followed Ed's gaze and saw Gabriel standing on the stage, a huge shit-eating grin on his face. Then he realized who was in front of the stage. "Is that Cass? Is he fighting Tess??" A hammer blow took Zavier in the side of the head and everything went black.
The Huntress and Quicksilver
Tess flew backwards again, Cass flashing in front of her too fast for her to follow. He'd definitely picked up a new skill and it made him too fast. Way too fast. Had he reached level 10 already? How had he leveled up?
Tess feared she knew the answer and the thought broke her heart again.
"Cass, I'm not going to fight you!" Words to the contrary, she had Shimmer in one hand and Claw in the other. She had yet to strike at him, but the sword was better at blocking his attacks than the small knife. 'Better' was a relative term when dealing with the kinetic blowback of the shield and the power of the Boarcharge Boots.
"What's the matter, mom, am I too strong for you?" He flashed around her again, lightning afterimages registering in her mind too late as he taunted her. "Not so weak and pathetic now, am I?"
"Stop saying that!" Pain made her voice crack, the desperation of a mother who didn't understand how to get through to her child. "It's not true! It's never been true!"
Cass either didn't hear her or ignored her words. "And look at him. How pathetic is he now, lying there helpless from a bunch of level twos and threes."
Tess searched the area and gasped. "Zavier!" He was lying on the ground unconscious - at least she hoped he was just unconscious - with Ed standing protectively over him, waving a hammer around ineffectually. The crowd around him didn't seem desperate to push at him, though; their eyes were turning more and more frequently toward the wall. In ones and twos, they broke away to charge the wall. Tess breathed a sigh of relief as the last of them left the pair, sprinting toward the Bouchards. She turned back to Cass, her voice heavy with grief.
"Why are you doing this?"
He only sneered at her. "He sees me for who I am, mother. He sees the real me. He knew I was strong from the beginning and never treated me like I wasn't."
"It's a spell, Honey. He's cast a spell on you. On all of you."
Cass laughed. "I know it's a spell! I've seen him cast it on the sheep. The only spells he cast on me were to bring out my confidence. My strength. That's something you and dad could never do."
"You know?" Tess's voice was wracked with confusion.
"And you think I'm dumb, too." Cass said. "Figures."
Before they could say anything else the walls around Bouchard Keep lit up.
The Bouchards vs… well, everybody
The scent of ozone filled the air and lightning crackled across the front ranks. Bodies dropped to the floor in twitching, spasmodic dances, eyes rolling back in their heads.
"Luna!" Tess shouted through the interface. "What are they doing??"
"I'm sorry, mom!" Her frantic voice came back. "They're doing what they can but the defenses are automatic!"
Tess sprinted then, Cass hunching down with a smile on his face as she came at him. He put his shoulder to his shield then looked past it in confusion when the impact never came. He never saw her flip over him, or her sprint to the wall. She was there before he could stop her, throwing people bodily backwards and trying to pull limp bodies back without getting shocked herself. She watched the guns and realized they only targeted people who touched the walls so she adjusted, flinging herself in any direction that kept her away from a person who was about to be hit by the lightning.
A groan reached her ears and she turned to see Zavier behind her, rubbing the side of his head. "Sorry, Love, had to pop a healing pill."
She wanted to throw her arms around him but there was no time.
Ed touched her arm gently. "We'll help as many as we can. You have another job." He nodded towards Gabriel who was watching the whole ordeal with glee.
"Fucking Palpatine vibes, that one," Zavier said and Tess and Ed could only nod.
Turning towards the stage she settled into the cold mantle of a huntress - an apex predator about to kill a fucking laughing monkey.
She was off like a streak of the purest blackness, making no sounds as she rushed the stage. A shimmer of electricity registered at the corner of her vision but she was done with being the understanding mom. Sometimes a kid needed to be reminded who the parent was.
She dropped into a slide, passing smoothly under Cass's outstretched shield. Her boy had gotten strong and scarily fast, but he was predictable and unimaginative in his attacks. He relied too much on his gear and the overconfidence of youth. Shimmer struck out and carved into a boot, its point far too sharp for even their durability. Cass screamed and tumbled past her in a flopping roll almost too fast for her to see. She was on her feet an instant later, rushing the stage again.
Her smile widened when she saw the look of horror and fear on the man's face. A few more steps and she would be there, and she wasn't going for a hand. She would take his heart and show it to him as he died.
Pain erupted in her leg and she slid forward in a crunch, hitting her head on the side of the stage. She looked down and saw Cass's shield embedded in the back of her calf. She looked up in disbelief and saw him limping towards her. His gait was becoming steadier the more he walked. She realized that his increased speed must speed up his healing too. How long can that skill last? Surely this is the last of it!
He reached her then and stood over her, bat resting on his shoulder. "I'm sorry mom, but you should have listened. I'm not your little boy anymore."
She craned her head upwards and saw Gabriel leaning over the stage, looking down at her. Down ON her. "Awe, does that hurt? Does it all hurt? Want me to make it feel better?" He made as if to touch her, then stood up with a cackle. "Fucking take care of the bitch," he said, looking at Cass.
Cass hefted his bat. A glimmer of hope entered Tess's heart as she saw the emotions warring inside of him.
"Just do it!" Gabriel yelled.
Cass looked down again, then back at Gabriel. "She doesn't need to die, I just wanted her to know how strong I am. She can see that now!"
Gabriel looked at Cass with bile in his stare. "Fucking weak. Fucking pathetic. Why did I waste so much time on you?"
Cass staggered. "What? Why would you say that?"
"I fucking knew it the first time I saw you. I saw a weak little boy who hated his daddy. A boy who would do anything I said if I just showed him a little bit of attention. If I knew how pathetic you'd turn out to be I never would have bothered!"
"You," Cass's voice broke. "You don't mean that. You can't!"
Gabriel hopped off the stage and moved to loom over Cass. He stared him down until Cass looked away in shame. With a snort of derision he grabbed the bat from Cass's hands.
"Fine, I'll fucking do it."
Gabriel turned to face Tess. "So, sure you don't want to beg?"
Tess's sharp-toothed snarl was the only answer he got.
Gabriel shrugged. "Okay then." He lifted the bat high over his head. Tess turned to look at Cass and couldn't find it in her heart to hate him. She was disappointed, hurt - crushed really, but the look she gave him was filled with only the purest love a mother could have for a child.
He turned his face away from hers.
Another arc of lightning and ozone filled the air again. Gabriel dropped to the ground in a heap, Luna standing behind him holding a small rod crackling with electricity.
She turned to Cass, her eyes wide in disbelief. "What is your problem?"
Cass looked at her, Tess, and at Gabriel. His own lightning flashed and he was gone, taking Father Gabriel with him.