//------------------------------// // Necromancy and Dragons // Story: Friendship Shorts! // by Saro0fdemonz //------------------------------// "FUCKING SHOOT IT!" Vinyl yelled over the torrent of mana and the howling of the beast before her. She threw up her arms, catching its hands in her own and struggled to push it back, even as its cloak began to close around her. Spitfire and Cheerilee both raised their rifles, a pair of bullets slamming into the creature's skull, only to fall uselessly to the ground. "Fuck," Vinyl groaned, her mana barely holding back the deadly cloak. "Take on a Demon God of Death they said, it'll be fun they said," Vinyl continued to grumble. She blinked as another bullet slammed into the demon, causing it to stumble back. She glanced over her shoulder to find Cheerilee holding a different rifle, this one with some strange device hooked up to her arm. "FOCUS! I'VE ONLY GOT 5 MORE SHOTS!" She yelled, setting up for her next shot. Vinyl roared, flooding her body with mana and pushing hard against the creature. Just behind it was a massive door, opened by a now dead necromancer a few feet away. She just had to get him back where he belonged and then they could break the door. As if things were that simple. "He's...really...heavy!" Vinyl cried out, skidding back slightly, her mana starting to fade. "Vinyl! Get out of there! He's eating your mana!" Spitfire realized. Vinyl's eyes widened as she realized the Skyborn was right, the field around her was shrinking, even as she poured more mana into it. "Guess I couldn't run forever, huh?" She chuckled weakly, sinking to her knee, the creature looming over her. She looked up into the skeletal beings eyes, or sockets rather, finding a dark light there. It's mouth opened, revealing fangs sharper than hers ever could be. "HEY! I'm the one that gets to kill you!" Cheerilee yelled, firing a second bullet, knocking the creature away. Vinyl panted heavily, resting on all fours. "Move damn it!" Cheerilee yelled. "Sorry, but you ain't my boss..." Vinyl argued, struggling to move any part of her body. "Tell Tavi I'm sorry," she chuckled, falling to the ground. "Vinyl!" Spitfire tried to rush to her side, Cheerilee grabbing her arm. "You can't go in that mist Spitfire, you'll die instantly and then what?" she argued. "We signed up for this, we knew what was at stake. Listen. I've got four shots left. Fire rapid bursts between my shots and we can get him into the gate, understand?" Cheerilee ordered. Spitfire nodded, switching out her rifles. "On my Mark...Now!" Cheerilee fired, causing the beast to stumble backwards once more, Spitfire taking the chance to spray a hail of bullets into it while its defenses were down. She wasn't sure just WHAT that rifle was that Cheerilee was using, but she was grateful for it. Another round, another hail of bullets. But Cheerilee was struggling now, out of breath and shaking as she lined up her next shot. It was at this point that Spitfire realized; There were no shells coming out of the rifle. Nor was there a magazine loaded into it. Just the strange device hooked up to her arm. "Quit staring and get back to firing!" Cheerilee yelled, firing another round. Blood clung to her lip, her skin starting to look pale. "I-Is...Is that gun killing you?" Spitfire asked. "Ask questions later!" Cheerilee growled, lining up her last shot and wheezing as she pulled the trigger. Her last round flew well and true, burying itself into the creatures skull and placing it directly at the gate. Spitfire swore under her breath, hitting it with a barrage of bullets, but it refused to budge any further. "Damn..." Cheerilee mumbled before fainting. Spitfire swore under her breath, rushing to her friends side. She quickly pulled the device from Cheerilee's arm, shuddering at the sight of the needles that had been buried in her arm. And then the device started to breath and Spitfire realized they weren't needles. They were teeth. She gasped, tossing it aside. She shivered as the air grew cold around her, turning around to see the beast advancing towards Vinyl. "No you don't!" She lifted her rifle, firing off a round only for it to bounce harmlessly off its barrier. She cast her eyes to Cheerilee's rifle. "Six shots...Six shots..." she mumbled again and again, shaking as she reached for the strange thing, she gasped as a hand grabbed her wrist, looking up to see Spike. "C-Captain..." she stammered. His shirt was torn to pieces, barely clinging to his scarred frame, his pants were scorched and dried blood clung to what fabric still covered his body. "That's enough," he said softly, slinging the rifle over his shoulder and marching into the mist "Spike!" she called after him, but he didn't respond. He took a slow breath as a thin layer of scales coated his body, slipping his hands into the remains of his pockets. "Spitfire, I'm only going to say this once...Don't speak of what you see here today," he called out, his voice void of emotion. He seemed to vanish, appearing between Vinyl and the demon. It paused for a moment as flames swelled up around Spike, expanding outward and cutting through the mist. The dragon-kin exhaled slowly, his scales growing thicker and horns sprouting from his head. He shifted his stance, tilting his head back slightly as he inhaled hard. Spitfire only had a moments warning to rush for cover as Spike let loose a massive flame directly into the creature. She hooked her arms around Cheerilee, dragging the unconscious Gaian behind a large rock. Even with the intensity of the flames the demon pushed forward, clasping its bony hand over Spikes face and extinguishing his flames. Spike hopped up, balancing on his tail and burying both legs into the demon's chest, causing it to stumble back slightly. He didn't give it a chance to react, sliding across the ground and spinning, his tail slamming into the creature's rib before jumping into the air and spinning once more, his leg catching its head. Even before he hit the ground he tilted in the air, slamming his other leg into the creatures throat. Though the demon caught his leg in this attack, Spike reacting by coiling his tail around its arm. With a bestial growl he snapped the arm and rolled in the air, landing with a heavy thud and standing his ground. All the while his hands never left his pockets, the rifle still clinging to his bruised and battered body. The two, Dragon and Death God, stared at one another, the demon suddenly screeching, matched by Spike's powerful roar. Still, they stood there, Spitfire peeking at the battle from behind her rock. She cast her gaze to Vinyl, letting out a breath of relief as the vampire struggled to push herself to her knees. A small barrier sat around her and it took Spitfire a moment to realize it wasn't Vinyl's magic protecting her. It was Spike. Again the two roared, neither moving from their spot. Spike's scales grew thicker, the horns curving backwards slightly atop his head. His spines poked out the back of his shirt, growing more into spikes while his tail grew and thudded heavily against the ground. Smoke drifted from his mouth and nostrils as he roared again, hunched forward slightly. A scythe formed in the demons hand, the creature swinging the death coated weapon. Spike reacted in an instant, his hand slipping from his pocket to catch the blade. It sank into his hand slightly, but stopped. Spitfire could just barely make out Spike's arm. A thick coating of scales covered his arm from his shoulder to his fingertips which had turned into razor sharp claws. Spikes jutted out of his knuckles and around his wrist, a line of them running up to his shoulder. With his free hand, Spike slipped the teeth of Cheerilee's gun into his arm, twirling the rifle and placing the muzzle point blank against the demon's stomach. "Fuck off," he spat, firing round after round into the demon, walking forward with each blast, his hand holding back the scythe, leaving a trail of blood behind him. They stood at the gate, Spike panting heavily and struggling to stay on his feet. "You all fight well for mortals," the creature spoke. Spike shrugged weakly, his scales fading slightly. "This world is all we have. I may not be innocent, but the creatures beyond this place don't deserve your fury," Spike answered. "Perhaps in another thousand years then?" it questioned, the scythe vanishing. "I'll be waiting, don't go so easy on me next time," Spike joked. The creature shrugged and stepped into the gateway, the portal closing. Spitfire didn't know how to react. What she did know was that two of her teammates were at death's door and Spike could be following at any minute. She lifted Cheerilee onto her shoulders and slipped down further into the ravine to aid Vinyl. The vampire coughed and dug her fingers into the dirt, still struggling to push herself up. "Fuck Boss, coulda swore you were jus' waiting for me to kick the bucket," she joked as Spike sat in front of her. He let out a slow breath, his scales fading completely along with the spikes that had been growing out of his body. The horns remained though, they had shrunk slightly, but still sat atop his head. "The fuck was all that about anyway?" she asked as he helped her sit up. "Daegon, a powerful lich, more or less a God of Death, and an old acquaintance," Spike said softly, removing Cheerilee's gun from his arm and dropping it. The device burped and seemed to be snoring as if sleeping off a good meal. "That fuckin' thing is your friend? Sure has a hell of a way of showin' it," Vinyl wheezed. Spike nodded slightly. "Circumstances of Summoning. A summoned being has a required amount of time they must remain in their summoned realm so long as the Summoner still lives. Unless commanded to stay, they are free to return to their own realm," Spike continued. He glanced over at the necromancer, lifting his hand and snapping his fingers. Spitfire and Vinyl watched in horror as the man caught fire and began rolling about in a panic. They had been sure he was dead, and they had never seen Spike so ruthless or harsh. "Y-You uh...You had him on the ropes though, that transformation was new," Vinyl said quickly to distract from the man burning alive a short distance away. "I was just buying time and quickly running out of it," he growled, wrapping his arms around himself, the horns shrinking a bit more. He let out a sigh, his smile seeming to return slightly. "I'm just glad all of you are alright," "Half dead here, Cheerilee seems out cold, and I think Spitfire pissed herself, but yea, we're alive," Vinyl scoffed. Spike chuckled, the horns vanishing. Spitfire set Cheerilee down gently, throwing herself at Spike and hugging him tightly as tears stung her eyes. "uh..." "Just shut up and hug me Sir," she mumbled. Spike let out a sigh, gently wrapping his arms around her, his flames dying out around them. Vinyl glanced over to see that the necromancer was still just barely clinging to life, but the flames clinging to him were gone as well. She grabbed Spitfire's pistol from her belt, aiming carefully and pulled the trigger, finishing the job with one clean shot. "Alright, I'm gonna take a nap, ya'll just enjoy being sappy," she mumbled, giving in to her exhaustion and passing out. "Are you okay?" Spike asked Spitfire as she sat in front of him. "I'm fine Sir, I should be asking you that though...That change of yours isn't just physical is it?" "It's something I prefer to avoid, if that is what you are asking. That is all you need to know. Come on, let's get out of here," Vinyl groaned as she woke up, sitting up slowly and finding herself at home in her bed. Octavia sat beside her, several needles in her arm leading to an IV bag for the vampire. "T-Tavi..." she gulped, the Gaian glaring at her. Her glare died down as she leaned into her, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Rest, you've had a long day," she spoke softly. Vinyl laid back down, knowing she was going to suffer the tongue lashing of the century once she recovered. "Oh good, you're awake," Spike chuckled as he entered the room. "How's the rest of the team? And uh...how are you doin' boss?" Vinyl wondered, remembering how heartless he had seemed during his transformation. "I'm a Dragon, not much really gets to me. That is to say, I've already recovered. Spitfire is undergoing some therapy and Cheerilee is in emergency care. They'll recover, but perhaps not to their full potential. And you Vanessa?" he paused, his hands slipping into his pockets and his emotions fading. "Can I still count on your strength?" The air grew cold with the question, until Spike pulled his hands from his pockets with a laugh. "Don't worry so much, everything is going to be fine. Just rest up. You can return to duty when Octavia deems you healthy enough," "Thank you Spike, I'll see to it that she recovers fully," "I'm counting on you. Take care," he waved as he left. Vinyl glanced at her Gaian companion. "He does seemed changed, if that is what you intend to ask me Vinyl. But he also seems to be in pain...A pain he is trying to hide from us, something you MUST be familiar with," she scoffed, some of her anger showing. "You dunno how bad things got over there Tavi...The world could've ended and he just...he just walked up to that thing like it didn't mean shit..." "He's powerful, we already know this," Octavia argued gently. "But he totally admitted he was just buying time! Like he was gonna lose or somethin! It rubs me the wrong way," "Then it would be best not to bring it up, would it not? You should be resting, not stressing over things out of your control," Octavia pointed out, flicking her forehead. "yea, yea, c'mere!" she looped her arms around the Gaian, pulling her against her. Still, something's really fucked about that transformation...It's like all of his humanity just disappears. And even when he was like that... Her thoughts shifted to the battle, when Spike had come to her rescue, placing a barrier over her before the fighting truly began. Even like that, he still protected us...