Kapitel 26: Gang Warfare (4)

Nathaniel collapsed into a sitting position on the sidewalk, smiling despite exhaustion.

"Hey," he called out, "Hey Diana."

"Y.. yes?" yawned Diana from her trolley, stretching and groaning from stiffness.

"We made it." he sighed wearily.

"We made it?" asked Diana, eyes widening with her usual alertness.

"We did." Answered Nathaniel.

"Yay-" began Diana before being cut short by the thundering echo of a nearby explosion. Nathaniel quickly looked up to see the glowing light of flames several streets over - right outside the British Museum. [In the last Divine Tournament the old men camped out there for months], thought Nathaniel, [if there's anyone blowing stuff up - it's them].

Hand still pressed against his blood soaked side, Eddie began to pant. His skin had paled noticeably and his grip on his yari was loose at best. [Fuck,] he cursed internally, [that fucking little arrogant kid who calls himself a king of all things has roughed me up pretty bad]. Eddie barely managed to dive to one side, avoiding another lightning bolt from a now glowing Damian. Electricity coiled around the Angelic boy's body and skin - forming armour while remaining as an effective ranged weapon. Eddie ducked behind a car, resting behind it. He took his hand away from his injured side which started to bleed faster. "VIN GODDAMNIT" he yelled between lightning blasts, "GIVE ME A LIGHTER!".

Vin immediately sprinted towards Eddie, smashing through students to get to his friend. From his pocket he threw a lighter at Eddie before continuing to sprint past him and the car - at Damian. Eddie gritted his teeth as he fumbled to light the lighter. After four tries a small flame flickered into existence which Eddie used to immediately light a piece of fabric from his shirt. He then pressed the fabric against his injured side. Eddie screamed almost instantly, eyes starting to water from the smoke rising up into his face. The sickly sweet smell of burning meat burnt his nostrils. He sat there for several seconds, panting as Vincent fought the ever elusive Damian on the other side of the car.

Vincent stepped forward into a sucker punch aimed at Damain's stomach. However his fist was repelled by the coursing white-blue electricity that ran along Damain's skin. Damian smiled as he blasted his opponent with his electricity. Smoke curled and billowed up from Vincent's fist but despite the electricity he remained unphased.

"FUCKING DIE!" roared Damian, increasing the flow of electricity around his body rapidly and directing into Vincent. The blue-white light began to flicker red as smoke coiled up across Vincent's body - the electricity coursing through this body. However instead of spasming, the old man remained perfectly still and incredibly tense. Several seconds passed before Damian found himself being thrown over Vincent's shoulder. Vincent had grabbed his arm while Damian had been focusing on electrocuting Vincent. Crashing into the opposite side of the car Eddie was recovering behind, Damian spat out a tooth. The impact of the throw had left an indent of Damian's body into the car and Damian was sure he had broken several bones by now.

Suddenly a shadowy figure flickered into existence in front of Vincent. Scout was awake. She stepped forward and plunged her blade of solidified darkness towards Vin's stomach. However she never managed to complete the blow. Holding onto the sword tightly with one hand - drawing blood - Vin smiled "Yeah, that's not going to work". He then immediately pulled Scout towards him using the sword while simultaneously striking at Scout's head. Scout had anticipated this however, vanishing into the shadows before she could be harmed.

"Fuck, you're annoying." exclaimed Vin as he sidestepped Scout as she reappeared with a new sword and slashed at Vin from the side. "You don't even talk, kinda boring."

"Shut up," spat Scout as she dropped into a half-crouch and summoned a second blade of darkness from liquid shadows that coiled out of her hoodie sleeve. She then faded into shadows once more, reappearing behind Vin with swords scissored across his throat. Vin quickly grabbed her wrists and started forcing them apart. However Scout summoned more shadows that surged along her skin, wrapping around Vin's neck and pulling the shadowy blades closer.

"That's not very nice." grunted Vincent as he pushed against the shadow girl's blades. Damian, having recovered enough strength, returned to the fight. Drawing upon a mass amount of red-white energy, he began condensing his electricity into a single bolt in his hand. Blood vessels burst in his eyes, leaving them almost as red as the energy he wielded.

"Two against one is not fair." said Vincent as Scout's shadowy blades inched towards his exposed throat.

BANG!

The sound of a single bullet rang clear through the air. Scout's muscles fell slack as she collapsed to the ground. A coin sized hole in her temple revealed destroyed brain matter behind, the entry to the wound was dusted with bone fragments and singed from explosive heat. A thin wisp of gunsmoke billowed up from the end of Eddie's modified Colt Single Action Army revolver - also known as the Colt Peacemaker. The former silvery firearm was now matte black, equipped with a reflex sight and a razored blade on the underbarrel that protruded several centimetres.

"Last time I saw that gun…" trailed off Vincent, blood draining from his face and leaving him pale.

Eddie advanced towards Damian, handgun levelled at the King's head. Pulling the trigger, he unleashed a single round only for it to be deflected by Damian's electric shield. With each step Eddie fired another bullet, each one forcing Damian back as his shield struggled to cope. After six steps, Eddie's eyes turned darker than oil and shadows danced around his revolver as he summoned ammunition into the firearm. He continued to trudge forward - the cylindrical feeder of the Colt Peacemaker blurring from the insane firing speed and constant reloading. The cylinder spun so fast the metal began to glow crimson from the heat generated from each shot.

Several students threw themselves in front of Eddie. The demon did not falter. He simply pierced their stomachs with the blade of his Colt Peacemaker before slashing open their throat. Oesophagus dangling amidst a waterfall of blood, Eddie fired two shots into the head of all the King's remaining defenders - one for each eye. After four students dying in barely a few seconds, Damian's remaining forces began to retreat.

Eddie did not care.

Roaring, he flung himself towards each and every escaping student. The student screamed in terror and raised his hands to protect himself. He failed. Eddie's bladed Revolver drew lines across his face - revealing the reddened muscle and sinew hiding beneath. The old man then spun, slicing off three of the screaming student's fingers in one motion. Stabbing through the student's throat, Eddie pulled his Colt Peacemaker's trigger rapidly. Air around the gun now vibrated visibly from heat as Eddie fired a total of sixteen times into the boy. Eddie then grabbed the boy by one shoulder and flung him aside to start hunting the next. Seven students died in similar ways, the rest evacuated by Vincent. One girl was beheaded, another disembowelled. Eddie even managed to embowel a student - filling him with so many bullets the entire inside of his ribcage became visible.

Finally all that remained of Damian's Kingdom was Damian himself.

Eddie slowly turned to face Damian, eyes burning through the boy's soul and into his own mortality.

[HE'S A FUCKING MONSTER] panicked Damian as Eddie bounded towards him while unleashing a constant stream of bullets from the blurring and burning Colt Peacemaker. The energy shield was taking a heavy toll on Damian's body and the running left him dripping wet in sweat after only a minute of pursuit. Eddie, either by cunning or accident, had chased Damian into an alleyway corner. Behind him stood Vincent solemnly, as Eddie prepared for another kill. [This'll kill me if I try it,] despaired Damian [but I'm going to die anyway so I may as well try and take that fucking demon down with me].

"OVERLOAD!" screamed Damian. Almost instantaneously his skin, muscle and sinew burnt away filling the air with the sick-sweet smell of cooking human flesh. Behind stood a blood covered skeleton covered in golden lightning. The electricity danced and flickered rapidly, replacing the destroyed muscles and ligaments. Bright yellow suns that hurt to look at directly burned in the skeleton's eye sockets.

The skeleton raised one open palm to the sky and quickly closed it into a fist. Sky flashing, a golden bolt of lightning struck Eddie - electrocuting him. The old man spasmed and frothed at the mouth. His eyes rolled back as the damage dealt accumulated. Vincent caught his collapsing friend and lent him against the alleyway wall - where Eddie almost immediately lost consciousness.

Vincent unsheathed his standard issue M1911 pistol, holding it steady with two hands. He fired several shots only for the bullets to melt into molten metal before reaching Damian. The skeleton raised both of his arms up again after the M1911 clicked dry.

Suddenly a tanned man in a suit and tie complete with a greatcoat charged into the alleyway. In one hand he held a Glock 17, in the other he pushed a shopping trolley containing a blue haired and equally blue eyed girl. He quickly stopped the shopping trolley with his foot and continued to sprint forward.

"Hey, what the fu-" began Vincent before the man collided with him. Usually Vincent would easily withstand such an impact but he was already tired and was surprised. The collision knocked him forward and twisted him onto his side between the man and Damian. Golden lightning struck once more as the skeleton closed his electric-coated fists. However as the sky flashed and the energy began its descent the man whispered one word; "Retribution".

The lightning - nearly a pillar of energy now from the increased intensity - burnt through the man's skin and muscle only for it to heal immediately. Once the beam of lightning faded it appeared above the skeleton. Screaming silently from a lack of vocal cords, the skeleton's bones cracked and blackened before burning into ash.

"Who the fuck are you?!?" exclaimed Vincent, eyes wide from the display of unimaginable power.

"I'm Nathaniel Torres," smiled the man wearily, "and I hope you're Vincent."