//------------------------------// // Climax // Story: Three More Things! // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Tchang Zu pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear it from the impact. "What hit me?" he growled out as he winced from the burning on his forehead, one he recognized as the touch of Divine Chi, a most dangerous force for a Demon Sorcerer to encounter. "That would be me." The demon's head jerked up at that calm voice, and the feeling of power in it. The filly he'd batted up into the sky hovered there, surrounded by a divine aura of lightning, her limbs showing the marks of strong chi infusion. Apparently, a divine thunder being had its eye on the filly when he'd dealt with it before. While at first glance it looked hopeless, further looks showed him that the struggle of containing the Divine Chi - let alone using it - was taking all the filly had. If he could outlast her, he would still win. "You will regret that," he growled at the filly as he gathered his strength. The filly smirked in response, slamming her front hooves together and hurling a divine bolt straight at him, forcing him to dodge...right into a body slam that sent him bouncing through the lot again. "Doubt it," she stated bluntly. "I think you'll be the one with regrets." Growling, Tchang Zu charged back into the fight. As Jackie and Valmont's sword fight continued, Viper found herself harder and harder pressed by Bai Tza's attacks. Had the demon's water tendrils behaved like the whips she was using them as, Viper would have been able to adapt and gain an advantage. If they behaved like swords, she could have gained an advantage easily. If they'd behaved like living tentacles...she'd have been a little uncomfortable and need to give the body suit she was wearing under her 'casual clothes' a thorough washing when this was over, but she'd still be able to pull through a victory. But they didn't behave like any of those. They behaved like telekinetically controlled water, responding to thoughts and will and limited in movement only by their wielder's focus and imagination. Much to Viper's chagrin, she was discovering that a centuries old Demon Sorcerer who had once been Queen of the Sirens had a great deal of focus and was fiendishly imaginative. When Viper tried to block a strike with her staff near the tip of a tendril, it would withdraw a few millimeters until it could pass the staff before extending longer than it was before to lash her. If she blocked in the middle, it would split around her staff before reconnecting on the other side. When she struck out, the water would slow the blow just enough to let Bai sidestep, or redirect it just enough to miss, both of which giving Bai an opportunity to counter-attack. "Realizing just how far out of your league you are?" Bai Tza taunted smugly. "Good. I'd hate to crush you when you still thought you had a chance." To Viper's surprise, the demoness gathered all her weaponized water into her right hand before starting to run forward. Hoping for a momentary advantage, Viper closed the distance. Bai Tza thrust forward...and the water in her hand seemed to explode, lashing forward like a storm of tentacle spears that pierced Viper's clothes and flesh. Each strike was only a needle-prick equivalent, but the sheer volume was doing serious damage to her in aggregate on top of the injuries she'd gotten so far. On top of that, with each penetration of skin, the salt water Bai Tza was wielding left a little salt behind in the wound, leaving Viper's entire body a burning, stinging, bleeding mess as she fell back with a shocked scream. "Viper!" Jackie cried out as he heard her scream. Ignoring Valmont, he turned to rush towards her, eyes expressing worry and rage. Valmont gestured peremptorily, and Daolong Wong's Dark Chi Warriors moved immediately to keep Jackie away from Bai Tza. Jackie seemed to blur past the Warriors, and when he resolved next to Viper his sword was strapped to his back. A few heartbeats later, the three Warriors split horizontally down the middle before bursting into smoke. The backlash of such a forceful 'dismissal' shot back into Daolong Wong, who staggered away from Uncle's next assault. As Jackie checked on Viper, Bai Tza rushed to Valmont's side. "Do you have a plan for this part?" she demanded worriedly. "I do," Valmont confirmed as he ducked a second divine lightning bolt from Scootaloo, noticing that the bolts had fallen to the ground rather than dissipate after being thrown, something Tchang Zu hadn't noticed...especially since he was standing at the intersection. "Time for us to withdraw!" Valmont called out loudly, trying to get Tchang Zu's attention. "I will not flee from mortals!" the demon bellowed as he gathered more power. "Your troops are not that diminished-" "Wǒ de shēntǐ shì máo!"(1) Tohru suddenly roared out, switching spells as he was no longer stuck in a brawl. All the magic focused throughout his body focused in his hands. Turning towards the largest concentration of Shadow Khan between him and Audrey III, he thrust his hands forward. A beam of pure Chi launched forward, not enough to damage a Demon beyond the kinetic impact but more than enough to disperse the weaker Khan...and it fed directly into Audrey at the opposite side of the yard. Audrey roared eagerly as he expanded, overwhelming the remaining Shadow Khan as he seemed to infest the entire lot now. His vines lashed out, sending anything he could reach flying as he struck out at Tchang Zu, trying to keep him pinned once the sixth divine bolt missed him only to drop to the ground, intersecting the other five at vertex points in a design that exactly matched Scootaloo's Cutie Mark. He then began to grapple with the Demon as Scootaloo shot back into the sky. "We are leaving now!" Bai Tza snapped out, seizing Valmont and pulling him away as Daolong Wong warped the other Enforcers away. Before Valmont could object, she had turned her entire body into water, enveloped him completely, and dove with him down a drain pipe where they both vanished. Scootaloo shot down out of the sky, slamming right into Tchang Zhu's head as he was held in the exact center of the Divine Lightning design. With the makeshift Seal of Solomon completed with that final point, the energy reaction triggered Tchang Zhu's portal, sucking him back into the Demon Netherrealm as Audrey released him. Scootaloo buzzed weakly down to the ground. "When you get to...that place...tell them Scoo..." The light faded from her markings and she slumped to the ground, unmoving. (1) "My body is a spear", the counterpart to Tohru's previous spell. Where the last one focused all his chi into his body to turn him into a tank, this creates a massive discharge of unfocused chi. Basically a Breaker Beam, but one that can be absorbed by a properly prepared ally for a temporary boost.