In the clouded, stormy sky above a castle in the Everfree Forest, the blood of two sisters was shed in a drizzling, relentless rain and resounding lightning. Here at the storm's centerpoint was the worst of the weather, concentrated around this particular point while the surrounding areas grew more calm. It was as if all of hell itself was descending from these clouds, which it absolutely was. Above them, the portal to the demon realm was tearing open, spurred on by a beam of light shooting up from the tower, but neither could hope to stop it with the other at their throat.
And here, the boundless combat experience of two ancient protectors of the world were unleashed upon each other in both the physical and the arcane to settle the fate of the world. They clashed again and again, pierced each other with bullets, bloodied each other with their divine strength, burned and melted each other's flesh with magical fire and light. But as the portal continued to open and the storm grew greater, the two sisters would only grow stronger in equal measures.
"Luna! Please stop this!" The Sister of Light pleaded, her wings beating frantically to keep herself afloat in the maelstrom.
The Sister of Darkness winced, showing hesitation for only a second before shooting across the sky at her sister. She was still not in control of her own mind.
Shaking her head disappointedly, The Sister of Light had no choice but to continue fighting. She didn't want to hurt someone she loved so much, but at this point she was getting numb to the hesitation.
-----
The portal closed behind Flash Sentry, and he fell out onto his side in a calm, quiet area. There were no demons here, he was at the center of three curved bookcases, creating a circle around him with spaces between to pass through. From the ceiling, a chandelier burned with a magical light, bathing the room in a soft yellow glow. The room he found himself in was round, with more curved bookshelves ringing around the center until they pressed against the wall. Hearing the faint sound of rain on a roof from above him, he realised that he must be in the castle's tower, close to the top.
Going to check his inventory, he realised he was grasping something very tightly, the vial that Tempest had given him before throwing him through the portal. The cure for the demon virus. The virus that was now pulsing through his veins, making distinct black marks beneath his skin, and causing it to turn a pale orange. He hadn't noticed it before, how much his body changed, but just thinking about it made his neck throb uncomfortably, like his own blood was consciously plotting to betray him.
Here it was, the cure. He had to use it, he had to kill the virus before it killed him.
But if he did that, would he be strong enough to take on Adagio? He felt faster, stronger, and though not right away, his wounds still healed themselves. Was it not this power that got him here? Would he not have died sooner?
But if he didn't, what would become of him? Even if he did defeat Adagio and managed to somehow seal the demon world away, would he become like her? Worse? What if he was too late? How late even was too late?
No. He wasn't going to risk it, not with this much at stake. Holding the injector level with his neck, he pressed it firmly into his throbbing vein and shot the cure's green liquid into himself. It hurt, and he gasped, collapsing as he felt his blood burn. Pain behind his eyes brought them to a water and him to his knees in an instant, but as he gripped his head in an effort to keep it from falling off he saw that his palms were beginning to shift. Over the course of a minute, his skin returned to a livelier shade, the deep, dark marks beneath it faded to a grey color, and with time, his senses began to even out.
Taking a deep breath, he felt pain in his chest, but not from within it. The skin felt tender, soft, like it'd been torn open and closed back up... like he'd been shot. He had been shot, and he'd used the healing injector to fix that. But now... he could feel it. He felt more pain in his arms, his shoulders, his stomach, his legs. It was residual, fading, but he still felt the damage inflicted on him.
He smiled to himself, if tiredly. The virus was gone. If he died today, it wouldn't be as a demon.
It was time for an inventory check, then. He still had all of his weapons and enough ammo, he supposed. He only had three magazines for his machine gun after reloading, he would've preferred having a few more. Though, having less weight on him might prove useful. There were also grenades of various types, but his spare healing syringe was missing. That wasn't good, he must've dropped it before crossing the portal. Still secure on his back was his rocket launcher, a weapon that he really hadn't had a chance to inspect closely.
Unlike any weapon he'd ever seen, the launcher was a long tube with a blocky back end, with a handle designed to be gripped from an over-the-shoulder position. It had some sort of rotating mechanism in it that presumably chambered rockets automatically, but where it was loaded from, Flash couldn't see. There were ports along the back end that might be loading areas, and also a slide on the top that allowed access to the barrel, but they both seemed like awfully impractical spots to load a rocket into.
Heavily on Flash's mind was the fact that he hadn't loaded it at all since he got it. He'd fired it a considerable number of times and not once did it fail to fire, but its operation was inexplicable. It had no detachable magazine from what he could see, just a slightly exposed bit that rotated with each shot. Naturally, he had questions, but he wouldn't get answers by just staring at the thing, nor was he going to risk pressing one of the buttons above it's handle. One looked like a safety, but there were others, and he couldn't be certain of their function. If he made it out of this, perhaps Sunburst could take a look at it.
For now, he'd do what he'd been doing with it: pointing, shooting, and exploding. Adagio was about to get a heaping helping of all three. First things first though, he needed to get a hold of Sunburst and Trixie. Placing his earpiece in, he spoke into his radio, listening through the static for a response.
"Sunburst, are you there? It's Sentry. I've made it to somewhere in the tower, I think."
"Agent Sentry? Oh, it's so relieving to hear you again..." After a moment, Sunburst paused. "Wait- How'd you get there so fast, weren't you in the Siren's bunker?"
"They had a portal set up down there. Backdoored me to wherever I am now."
"Hmm... I can't get a lock on your signal, the storm seems really bad in a small area around the castle, I can only assume you're inside.."
"Well, I'm going to need a pickup once I get my friends out of here. Got room for six?"
"It'll be tight, but there's a spot for everyone. I'll tell Trixie to get one of the good parking spots this time. Stay safe, okay?"
"I'll try. Is Starlight still out here? Maybe I can meet up with her."
Sunburst sighed. "We don't know. But we found Spike, fixed him up, and he went off to go look for her."
Flash nodded. "Got it. I'm going to find a way up there and finish this."
"Understood. Good luck."
"Sentry, out."
When he took his earpiece out, Flash made his way to a staircase leading up on one end of the library. Up was the right direction, though he wasn't sure how far he up he had to go. He took a few steps forward, but a voice behind him would stop him before he got too far.
"Flash?"
Flash turned. On the other side of the room, there was a doorway that led to a staircase leading down, and standing in it was the harsh, surprised face of a red haired demon hunter in a long, yellow coat. She had a huge sword over her shoulder and two pistols in crossed holsters strapped around her back, and her eyes silently conveyed disbelief.
"Sunset?"
"You're alive, Flash..." Sunset's eyes melted into a relieved awe, but then shifted into something else. "How?"
"Long story, we don't have time." Flash shook his head. "We need to stop Adagio before it's too late."
"No." With a stern expression on her face, Sunset walked towards him. "I'll stop her. You're going to get out here."
"What?" Now he was the confused one. "I'm not-"
"Flash, I thought I watched you die back there!" Sunset's usually cool demeanor was not present, she was showing a full, uncharacteristic concern. "But you're not, you're still alive, so-"
"Yeah. I am." Instead of backing away from her like he might've before, Flash turned fully and stood his ground. "And I'm going up there to stop Adagio."
"No, you don't need to do that." Sunset said. "I'm here, I'll handle her. You're good, Flash, but you're only human. This isn't a job for a human."
"This is more my job than yours, Sunset!"
Without a word more, Sunset drew her blade from her back.
"If you won't listen to reason, maybe I can just knock you out and leave you here out of harm's way, then."
Flash's breath broke and his head fell as he tensed in frustration. Through his mind raced everything that'd he'd witnessed, everything Adagio had done to him, done to his team, his friends, to innocent people. He'd fought through so much to get here, lost people, endured everything, and now he was being told by someone who consistently underestimated him that he should turn around?
"You don't understand, do you?" Flash's head came back up. "Adagio- that woman, no, that monster, killed my entire team and annihilated a village full of innocent people! She had people slaughtered and turned into puppets, and she's about to make our friends her next victims."
Sunset was startled by Flash standing his ground. He saw her sword point to him, but he drew his pistol on her, taking her even further by surprise. When she brought up her blade, he walked past it unfazed, right up to her until his barrel was pressed into her chest.
"After everything she did to me, this close to facing her, you're going to tell me to turn back? You turn back! This is my fight, Sunset! And I'm going to finish it."
Her eyes shifted again, through her shock she looked like she was starting to understand, but still, Flash continued.
"You'd never get it- my soul is crying out for me to kill her, to keep her from ever doing what she did to me to anyone else, to save our friends from a fate worse than death- And if all I have to give to make that happen is my life..." Flash said, taking a breath, taking a moment to realize that he meant every word spoken. "You don't have to ask me twice."
When Sunset didn't respond, he lowered his weapon and turned away, but after a moment the demon hunter finally spoke.
"I get it. I really do."
Flash paused, sparing a glance back to her.
"It was my mentor who sealed that gate shut two thousand years ago." Sunset started, taking a much less hostile, but still forceful tone. "Celestia, the Sister of Light, whatever you want to call her, she gave me her amulet for safekeeping, but I let it slip. And now our friends are in trouble and MC Sings-a-Lot is trying to turn everything into demonville."
Flash just looked down, thinking on what she was telling him. "What's your point?"
Sunset's guard finally came down. She still looked focused, looked into Flash's eyes, but she'd made some connection in her mind.
"At first, I thought it was all on me to do this. Not cause nobody else could, but because I didn't want to put the rest of you in needless danger. But you're still here, you've survived this far, and after seeing you, and Starlight- hell, even Twilight... I get it."
Flash waited expectantly for her to finish.
"I owe you an apology, Flash. If you're willing to step up to the plate, I respect that. I should've respected that a long time ago, respected you, and I'm sorry I didn't. But I think this is just as much my fight as it is yours. I'm a student of Celestia, the one she chose to pass her power on to- I think that counts for something."
"I'm still going up there, regardless. I have a job to finish," Flash said. He wasn't entirely calmed down, but he appreciated Sunset's apology as he left for the door.
"Of course. But you shouldn't have to go alone, so I'm coming with you."
He gave Sunset the look of suspicion. "I'm not just gonna get in your way?"
"Nah. You've proved you can hold your own in a fight."
Flash felt himself relax. This was Sunset acknowledging him as an equal, and it was... relieving, of all things, like a weight had been lifted off of him. He couldn't help but smile back to his old friend.
"I'd be happy to have you."
"Just one thing... You should let me go first."
"Why's that?"
With her sword slung over her shoulder, Sunset shot him that sly grin he knew her so well for.
"You don't want to be in front of me while I'm swinging this thing."
Flash let out a playful scoff.
"After you, then."
-----
At the very peak of the Castle of the Two Sisters, before a shining, legendary sword orbited by two amulets of extraordinary power, Adagio Dazzle stood with her arms raised in the blistering rain, smiling in devilish excitement. Surrounding her, spread out across the open roof in even intervals and encased in orbs of multicolored magic were five individuals that wielded the powers of harmony, suspended in the air and unconscious, each of them a piece of a fully primed weapon. Beneath her feet was the fully lit platform from the throne room, now crowning the castle's keep, where the glowing sword was planted at the center of an engraving of a five pointed star and sending a beam of light into the sky to part the raging storm clouds and shatter the barrier between worlds.
She gazed back out at the two golden and blue lights in the distance overhead. Above her, the Two Sisters still fought.
Soon, soon their power would be hers, and this world would be reborn...
But before that, out onto the overlook with her, came two pairs of footsteps amidst the pouring rain. One last matter to tend to.
"Adagio!" A voice called out, a voice she was quickly growing to despite. Behind her, two figures approached with weapons drawn. "Your plans end here."
"Yeah, let our friends go!" Another voice added.
The siren did not turn. She knew who was there, and what they were there for. They were here for one last showdown.
"Celestia's legendary slacker and the wannabe guardian angel..." Adagio began. "Do the two of you ever tire of failing your friends?"
Her gaze fell, and she removed her streamlined sunglasses, staring at polarized lenses for a moment in thought.
"I hope not, because you're about to fail them one last time."
Without looking behind her, she immediately twisted her body and cast her arm out, tossing her sunglasses back before finally turning to face her opponents.
Flash Sentry caught Adagio's projectile with impressively fast reflexes, but he was momentarily taken off guard upon seeing that it was only her glasses. All it took was that one moment and Adagio was immediately on him, thrusting her palm forward and knocking him to the ground. Her glasses flew back up into the air, but beside her, Sunset made just as fast of a retaliation, throwing out a quick series of gunshots and punches, but with empty hands Adagio redirected the flashing gun barrels safely away from herself.
Tilting her head and swiveling her body, not a single bullet touched the siren. With her glowing demonic eyes focused on Sunset's movements, Adagio caught her by the elbow and pushed her arms up to the sky. Flash came back in with a punch and a loaded pistol, but Adagio batted his fist away and leaned past his bullet, then past two more from Sunset as she brought her guns back on target. With a sideways spin, she rolled under two more of Flash's shots while kicking Sunset in the chest, grabbed her by the shoulder, then spun again to throw a high kick into Flash's face and toss Sunset into the ground.
The two demon hunters both slammed onto their backs, and Adagio just placed her sunglasses back onto her face with a smug smirk, having caught them somewhere in all of that action. She then turned away, pacing back towards the Devil Sword in place at the tower's focal point.
"You're simply too late. Once the sword finishes absorbing the amulet's magic, the gate to the demon world will be opened in full, and through it, the power of the Sisters will be mine to command."
"Why are you doing this?" Flash asked. He took aim with his weapon as he cautiously rose to a kneel. "What does this accomplish?"
"Still so ignorant..." With a condescending frown, Adagio turned to Flash. "The Devil's Contract Virus, the 'D-Virus', was not intended to be a virus at all. It was a vaccination against infernal radiation, the arcane stuff of the underworld that erodes humanity and drives one insane."
"Sounds like you still need to work on it." Flash's shotgun howled out against the storm, but Adagio just warped out the way of its spread as she continued to talk.
"Hardly. I realized that only some of us would ever be strong enough to control it's side effects, and so it became a tool, I optimized it, made its side effects into strengths, and I used it to make myself perfect."
Another shot, and she warped again, now slowly pacing towards Flash from behind.
"When the demon gate opens, the entire world will be besieged, but my Sirens will be the vanguard of a new order, and those given the Devil's Contract shall live to see a new world. My world."
"Yeah, and who gets to decide who lives and who dies? You?" Flash swiveled, fired, and missed again.
"Of course. My blood was the key to the virus's success. Would you believe that I have the perfect resistance level to demonic radiation? Only those with such power survive, Sentry- the powerless will serve them, or die."
"You'd kill billions of people..."
"You do realize that they are already dead?" One more shot, and one more warp. Adagio was right in front of Flash as his shotgun magazine went empty, one hand under the barrel and ready to yank it away. "Only a handful of people would survive the demon realm's invasion anyway, no one could save them all, even if they were worth saving."
Sunset then intervened, dashing across the roof with her sword held forward. When her swipe came in, Adagio was gone, blinking back to wind up a punch, and then forward again to throw it in her direction. With the pommel of her sword Sunset caught Adagio's fist and shoved it aside, but when she swung her sword again Adagio reappeared behind her.
"Foolish girl. Nothing but a half-breed..." With her fingers held straight Adagio threw another palm strike into Sunset's back, but with a quick turn and small pulse of magic Sunset held out an open palm of her own and made a bright red, domed barrier between them.
"You really need to lay off the comic books, lady."
Twice more, Adagio struck against Sunset, with a strong standing punch and a pivoting side kick, but twice more Sunset created barriers to block. Her sword was put away, these improved guard techniques required both hands to perform.
"I mean come on, could you get any more cliche?"
Blinking again, Adagio appeared behind Sunset, finally getting a fast hit past the demon hunter's defense. A front kick took Sunset to the floor, but she rolled up into a recovery and channeled the magic used to block into pushing herself into a dash of her own. She stopped right in front of Adagio, ducking under a high kick and sweeping low with a kick of her own. Her leg knocked Adagio off balance, but before she fell completely, Sunset engaged her Demon Reflex and swung her sword and launched her back towards the center of the platform. The moment she hit the ground she blinked again, reappearing in a standing position and giving Sunset a dangerous glare.
Flash's machine gun went off immediately after, tracking Adagio as she again began to blink around the battlefield. Again, Sunset activated her Demon Reflex, but this time she waited until Adagio was mid-dodge, sweeping in with her sword as the siren ducked out of the way of a projectile. Adagio's response was faster than expected, though, she leaned back further, caught herself on her hands, spreading both legs and kicking both Flash and Sunset back as they approached, dodging both blade and bullets alike as she completed her flip.
Her long, dark coat fluttered behind her as she made her aerial maneuvers with malignant grace, adjusting her sunglasses again and putting both hands behind her back as Sunset charged her. Instead of swinging her sword, she jumped over Adagio, pulled her guns out and channeled her magic through them, spinning herself around and raining glowing red bullets down in a spiral around the siren.
Another shot came from Flash's shotgun, a shell loaded with a burning incendiary spread, one that Adagio had no hope to avoid. Even though she dodged between the individual pellets, the flames engulfing them still burned her as they grazed her body. It was enough for Sunset to land a few more shots on her, dropping down with her sword and driving out vertical waves of energy from it as she directed power through it too.
Their battle grew closer to the beam of light at the platform's center, to the shining sword sunken into the floor, and as it did each of the Elements of Harmony surrounding it began to glow. Adagio let Sunset approach, weaving tightly around the powerful energy blasts Sunset released from her sword. Flash closed in again too, rolling between her and Sunset as they pushed away from each other and coming up with his machine gun.
With one hand, he opened fire, peppering Adagio's area as she began her routine dodging, but with his other hand he tossed a live grenade to her left, doing his best to force her into its blast radius. Her response was too quick, too collected, and she caught the grenade, swiftly throwing it back in Flash's direction and forcing him to roll again, this time into her attack range.
The grenade didn't detonate, though, instead Sunset jumped in to block it, bouncing it off of her claymore and back at Adagio within the brief second she took to throw it back. Flash followed it as he came back up, readying his pistol and shooting the moment Adagio appeared next to it.
His bullet pierced the live explosive, setting off it's charge and detonating it right in Adagio's face. Again thrown back, she righted herself and shook her head clear, her sunglasses blown off and seething anger now visible in her eyes.
"You can't stop the inevitable..." Adagio began, bolting off in a blur as Sunset drew her pistols, but catching her with a jumping knee strike before she could fire. "The gate to the demon realm will open, and this world will fall. Only I can lead humanity to their destiny!"
Flash again lit her up with his shotgun, but Adagio closed in fast to strip him of his weapons one by one as they began to trade punches. In his hands, the shotgun was the first to go, but Flash actually landed a hit on her before she could pull it away, and the flaming rounds ignited the tail of her coat. His shotgun clattered to the ground but he pressed her instead of backing away, smashing the front of his machine gun against her gut and letting more shots off as she reached to pull it from him.
The armor piercing bullets shot straight through her, but her angered glare only grew more so as she stumbled back. Flash backed away, holding the trigger of his gun down as Adagio jumped into a spinning side kick, dodging his bullets and aiming her boot at his head. Seeing the incoming attack Flash held his forearm up to stop her at the shin, but she then vanished into another blur as soon as she made contact.
To his left she reappeared, still mid air and shifting out of her side kick and into a powerful, rolling axe kick, her leg coming all the way over her head and causing her burning coat to leave a smoking arc in her wake. Flash blocked this kick as well, but she hooked her heel in and caught him with a quicker kick in the shoulder. One more disrupted his balance, and from there she easily grabbed him by the gun and slammed him on the ground.
An eruption of energy and light was let out behind Adagio, and when she turned she saw a dark eyed, red headed demon with great leathery wings and a sword engulfed in flames charging right for her. Even with her incredible speed Adagio was unable to warp away in time, the demon-turned Sunset had her blade bearing down on her far too fast. She did manage to duck in time, and barely dodged several more viciously precise strikes as she made her way out of Sunset's range. When she did, though, she was greeted by Sunset's pistols, charging with red light and ripping out a vast flurry of bullets with pinpoint precision. The siren spun, flipped, and dodged just quickly enough to reach the center of the platform, where the Elements of Harmony began to gleam brightly around her in the light of the central beam.
"Give it up!" Sunset shouted, her voice carrying its great scratchy distortion. "You're no match for a real demon!"
Shouting, Sunset brought her claymore to bear and kicked off the ground, diving into Adagio with wings outstretched. As she did, Adagio lifted her hand with her fingers held straight out, and in a swirling array of rainbow energy, the Elements of Harmony crackled with power, focusing through Adagio as she met Sunset's dash and drove her hand forward with terrifying velocity.
Flash watched in horror as Adagio's hand pierced straight through Sunset's chest and a brilliant beam of multicolored light engulfed her, burning away her demon form and leaving the demon hunter collapsed with a hole in her chest and smoldering fumes coming off her body.
"But you're no match for the power of Harmony." With a cruel smile and sparkles of the Elements fading around her, Adagio then lifted her boot to stomp down on the fallen Sunset's head while she tried to get up.
A rocket suddenly streaked into view, but Adagio caught herself just in time to blink out of its path and engage it's firer. She crashed into him, but he stood his ground, dropping the rocket launcher but catching her hand as she attempted another piercing chest strike. The beam of light began to surge brighter behind them, but Flash defiantly held strong against the siren.
He broke off and readied himself as Adagio pulled her hand back, and leaned around another piercing strike as it came for him. Right after, he drew his fist down and threw a hook into Adagio's side, then into her shoulder, following up with an uppercut from his other hand. His hits were dead on and powerful enough to stumble her back, and he then took the last of his grenades and threw it at her feet as he backed up. It did not explode into metal fragments, rather, it was a burst of light and deafening sound, a stun grenade that left the siren dazed and open for another attack.
Flash drew his pistol, and landed five shots on Adagio before she snapped out of her daze and spun away into a blur again. When she reappeared, she looked fully angry rather than casually irritated. This was the first sign of pain she'd ever shown, and she wasn't about to make light of it.
Shot number six was fired into the ground as Adagio appeared in front of Flash again, going for his throat and lifting him up off his feet
"I underestimated you, Flash..." Adagio said, meeting his eyes with a tempered hatred. He struggled, unable to keep his hold on his pistol as she began to choke him. She reached into her coat and pulled something out, a green injector vial, the same kind Flash used to cure himself of her virus. But she noticed something else as she held him there, looking into his eyes. For the first time, she was surprised. His eyes were not like hers, they were not of a demon's.
"You cured yourself. You're not under the effects of the virus... I really did underestimate you."
"Yeah?" Flash managed, forcing himself to sway in her grip as oxygen failed to reenter his lungs. "Wouldn't be the first to..."
With a quick motion he drew his knife and sliced across Adagio's forearm, and in her pained reflex she dropped both him and the injector. His first few breaths were deep and hurried, but he steadied them out as he slashed out again at the siren, making quick back and forth motions as he steadily pushed her back. The resentite blade stung at her body, weakening her demonic powers gradually with each pass it made through her flesh, but after a few moments of this she finally caught Flash at the back of the wrist as he finished a swing.
Flash was ready though, and crossed his handgun over both of their arms, shooting her three more times before a palm strike launched him back to the ground.
"Do you really think you'll defeat me, Sentry?" Adagio let out a breath, her first sign of exhaustion, but Flash and Sunset were in much worse shape. "You, a human? Against a god?"
"Careful," Flash shot back. "Your complex is showing."
"Do you honestly believe this world is worth sav-"
Adagio screamed out as Sunset's Redemption sword suddenly found its way through her back, a hole being torn in her own chest as Sunset's own was healing up. Even drained of her power, Sunset still rose to fight, twisting her blade through the siren as she doubled over.
"I do!" Sunset growled. "I live here."
"Then you..." Adagio bashed her elbow back into Sunset's cheek, pulled her over a shoulder by her head, and with a swift crunch of her neck she flung her ragdolling body further from the center of the ring. "You will die with it!"
She then turned to Flash, after managing to pull the sword from her as she steadily marched over to finish him off. His weapons were all empty or dropped, and he had no grenades left. It was just him and his knife, with imminent death via orange hair and black trench coat approaching.
To his side, reeling in a sitting position, Sunset gave him an answer.
"Use this, big guy-" With an effort-expending kick, she sent the dropped rocket launcher sliding across the ground towards him before falling flat on her back. "Make it count!"
Flash knew what he had to do. As fast as he could, he took up the launcher and came to a kneel, getting a sight picture on the silhouette of a raging, wounded siren taking staggering steps towards him before a towering beam of light.
"Flash!" She cried, arms reaching out as she leaned into a run.
His sights aligned, he exhaled, relaxing himself as his finger curled around the trigger of his weapon. Time to end this.
Click.
Fw-WHOOSH!
Across the peak of the castle a single rocket streaked, a jet of fire behind it lighting its own path past the dimmed Elements and the blinding white pillar. Streaked towards two enraged, panicked eyes, screaming out for more time. Even with her enhanced awareness and reflexes, Adagio simply didn't have the strength to jump away in the quarter of a second she had before impact, not with a gaping hole in her chest.
"No!" Bringing up her hands and reaching out with everything she had left, she stared down the explosive just inches away from her face.
And she caught it. She caught the rocket and braced herself against it, struggling as it wiggled and blew more fuel out the back, just barely keeping it from detonating with her bare hands and fleeting determination.
"This... isn't... over!" Adagio grunted, the tip of the rocket so very close to brushing her nose, the pressure sensitive cap on the end just itching to dig into her skin.
"It is now!"
Flash stood fully, and with a flick of his wrist he sent his knife spinning across the gap between them, embedding it straight into Adagio's still healing chest wound.
The sudden spike of pain through her heart was all it took for her fingers to slip.
In a huge explosion, Adagio was catapulted far across the roof, landing just on the other side of the light beam. In the smoke and kicked up dust, Flash searched for the vial of green liquid that Adagio dropped. There it was, laying innocently in an indentation within the lit platform.
Even after all of that, Adagio was standing back up, but Flash now had the means to bring her down. Running after her, he scooped up the antidote and threw himself into her as she rose in a daze.
"You... You are only human!" Adagio cried, fighting with the last of her strength to stay upright. "An inferior creature..."
"And you're a soulless monster!"
They struggled, Adagio still had some fight left in her, but Flash's resentite knife sticking into her heart was sapping anything she had left. All she could do was grab him at the wrists and push, but he would eventually overpower her and jam the injector into the side of her neck. She seized up as the antidote flooded into her system, only able to let out a choked gasp as Flash took his knife and stabbed her again, then again, the power swirling through and around her dispersing as she was cut open by the demon nullifying blade.
Around them, the orbs of the Elements of Harmony faded, and their bearers came free from their entrapments, gently lowering to the ground around the edges of the roof's crowning platform. Flash didn't give them attention, at the moment, he was focused on the woman who'd made himself his nemesis.
"No... I will not be defeated!" She screeched, squirming in Flash's grip as he pulled his knife from her one last time, leaving her to fall onto back as she bled profusely from her front. "Not by you..."
"You already are."
"How? How..."
Flash just watched her apathetically as she fell silent, feeling an immense catharsis from his act of violent justice. The glow of Adagio's eyes began to fade, her skin lightened in tone, and her struggling weakened. The cure was reverting the effects of the virus, she was succumbing to her injuries. Her hand still weakly scratched at the floor, but she couldn't lift her arm, she only stared up at the void in the sky above, at the edge of the demon world that was just out of her reach.
"Your first mistake..." Sunset said, taking her sword back and rejoining Flash as the battle died down. "Is that you assumed humans are weak. Your last mistake was that you thought you were any better."
After a moment of catching his breath, Flash looked up at the beam tearing the two worlds apart, then down to the Devil Sword sticking halfway out of the slot in the ground.
"So how do we close this thing? Just pull the sword out, right?"
"I guess." Sunset said. "You want to do the honors, o slayer of evil? I'm gonna go check on our friends."
"Yeah, got it." Flash nodded, and reached out into the bright white beam to take the Devil Sword from its resting place, pushing past the two amulets that magically levitated around it.
"Not yet!"
Out of nowhere, Adagio's hand violently gripped his wrist and pulled him to the ground. She grabbed the Devil Sword and pulled it free, but also took up the amulets surrounding it. They joined together, back to back, and as they did they released yet another blast of illumination that corresponded with the two golden and blue lights dueling above them. A magical swirl surged out from the joined amulets, and with a loud lightning-like crack the lights in the sky went dark. Following, two figures could be seen descending from the sky. The two dueling sisters above had very suddenly lost their powers.
"You're too late, the ritual is complete... Now, the power of both Sisters, Light and Dark, shall be mine!"
Magic surged around her broken body again, releasing a pulse that pushed Flash back before he could stop her. She wielded the Devil Sword high over her head, both sister's energies beginning to flow through it, and it began to transform. From a rather plain broadsword, the Devil Sword once known as the Corona's Edge became a much larger weapon, with a wide blade and an oversized hilt in the shape of the Light Sister's signature sun spokes. It was huge, burned brightly with golden flames, and as Adagio held it in both hands, her body began to restore itself. She did not just resume her previous form though, instead her features shifted into something worse.
Somewhere past the perimeter of the castle the bodies of Celestia and Luna rained down like twin meteors, the two sisters remaining intact as they crashed into earth, but shaking the ground and making a huge cloud of dirt and dust that was visible from the top of the tower.
Above them, the rift to the demon realm opened further, and the light beam at the tower's centerpoint widened, widening until it took up more of the floor. Shielding his eyes, Flash only got a glimpse of Adagio's transformation. He saw rough, scaly skin, eyes that changed shape and glowed a brighter red, and two wings that pushed through her coat, which was starting to merge with her body.
She didn't have the Elements of Harmony, but she now had something that was perhaps far stronger. The powers of the Two Sisters combined.
With the light blasting the area, Adagio was but a silhouette that slowly rose up into the clouds, ascending, and taking her transformed sword with her.
"Awaken!" She called up into the void, in a powerful, echoing voice that made Flash's legs grow weak. For all of his ability, he was still unable to stop her.
"Devil Sword Daybreaker!"
-----
The immense, towering light was visible from the furthest end of the castle, where Twilight Sparkle held her katana blade barred with Spike's claws, fighting her own beloved assistant off with the last of her stubborn will. Starlight Glimmer had rejoined the fight as well, and the two of them were slowly wearing away at Twilight's resolve. Nothing felt right anymore, and with two people she once called family trying to stand in her way, she didn't know what to think.
But all three of them came to a pause as the light in the sky heralded the coming of the underworld, as the rainstorm softened and parted as the blood red clouds became wrapped around the gaping hole in the sky.
"The gate to the demon world... It's... It's open." Twilight whispered, just loud enough for Starlight to hear.
"Yeah, take a good long look." Starlight replied, her metal fingers pointing angrily as she verbally struck her mentor over the head with guilt. "You threw everything away, and this is what you got in return for it! Was it worth it?!"
Twilight took a weary step back. She didn't strike Starlight or Spike. She no longer had the will to, she could only stare at the open hole in the sky, paralyzed with terror.
The world was about to end, and it was her fault.
She gave Starlight a trembling reply.
"No. No it wasn't."
-----
Sunset gathered up her friends as fast as she could when the beacon of light erupted into the sky. They were all weary and dazed, just waking up from being held unconscious for so long. They seemed to have a general understanding of the situation though, even as they weren't awake during their time in captivity. Each of their demon halves filled in the memory gaps on their own accord, having little conflict with their hosts.
"What is she doing?" Flash called, seeing Adagio's form rising far into the clouds and disappearing through the void above. "How do we stop her?!"
"I'm gonna have to go up there," Sunset said. "Into the demon world. Sorry Flash, but you're not gonna be able to come with me. Doesn't matter how tough you are, being around that much concentrated demon energy would kill you in minutes."
"Don't worry about it." Flash said. "I should stay here and get everyone else to safety."
Sunset gave a nod. "That's more important, anyway."
"Hang, on..." Flash reached down, and then held out his rocket launcher for Sunset to take. "Take this. I met my old commander in the Siren base, it was hers, but she didn't make it out. Give Adagio my regards."
Looking over the weapon, satisfied, Sunset smiled, but still held reservation. "You sure? This might be a one way trip if she doesn't doesn't go down fast."
"Positive." Flash nodded. "Just take good care of it. I'll want it back if we do see each other again."
"You got it."
"Sunset..." Rarity spoke up from behind them. "Are you sure you don't want our magic?"
"No, not necessary," Sunset held a hand up. "As long as Adagio doesn't have it, she can't shut me down. She'll have to fight me at my full power this time, no cheating. Plus, if you run into any other demons on the way down, you won't have to hide behind Flash."
"Yes," Rarity said, somewhat downtrodden by this reply. "I understand."
"Hey, whoa- What's this about a one way trip?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm shutting that portal no matter what," Sunset replied. "If I can't beat her, I'm sure as hell not letting her come back through."
"What about our date?" Fluttershy's soft, brave voice came out. She seemed a bit less reserved than usual.
"And we were supposed to see a movie!" Pinkie Pie added, her hair now returned to it's fluffy, bouncy state.
"Yeah, and..." Rainbow Dash started, but cut herself off with an intense blush. "My... next show?"
To Rainbow's response, Applejack's eyebrow raised in a knowing fashion, the way it always did, but she too softened as she threw her own piece into the ring. "And you know I'm gonna wanna catch lunch with ya again."
"I ask because we care about you, darling..." Rarity said. "If our magic would help your odds, we want you to take it."
The others all sounded their agreement.
Still, Sunset shook her head. "Sorry, no can do. It might be different if I wasn't going alone, but if she beats me, then she'll have your magic again, and I'm not risking you guys for that. And no, you're not coming with me. Magic gets unstable over there, and you guys just reunited with your demons. You need to avoid fighting if possible."
That was enough to convince them, if disappointing.
"Don't worry about it, though!" Sunset let a confident smile show through. "If this is it for me, then know that you're all my very best friends. The best anyone could ask for. You're all worth it."
After hearing that, Fluttershy suddenly jumped forward and gave the demon hunter a hug. Then, Pinkie Pie joined her. Then Rainbow, and Rarity, and Applejack.
"Come on, Flash!" Rainbow called. "Don't be that guy!"
He too would join the group hug.
And with all of them smiling, they shared that moment together, until Sunset had no moments left to spare. When they pulled away, Flash led her friends back down into the tower, and Sunset faced the beam of light shooting up into the portal to the demon world. She was alone, but she had the support of her friends- and Flash's rocket launcher- to back her up in the coming battle. To herself, she spoke, walking towards the great shining pillar.
"Sister of Light, huh? And here I thought she was an average demon slaying principal. Looks like I've got some big shoes to fill."
Nothing left to do here. Sunset stepped into the light, looked up, and felt herself being pulled towards the void, beginning to float through the sky against gravity until she met reality's border. There was one last song and dance before this show wrapped up, and Sunset wouldn't miss it for the world- this world, or the underworld.
"Oh well. Time to pick up where Celestia left off."
-----
Somewhere on the edge of the Everfree Forest, far from the opening of the demon realm, two siblings lay defeated in a smoking crater. The rain falling on them was cold, wet, uncomfortable, and the younger of the two was curled up and shivering on the ground, unable to move. The other, older and more collected, stood weakly before her sister with one hand offering aid, while the other barely clung to a pistol.
"Celestia..." The woman whispered, her blue hair masking her eyes, and her dark bodysuit soiled with mud and dirt. She looked up at her sister, meeting just as messy, faded pink hair and a similarly earth-stained bodysuit of white. She did not take her hand. She crawled forward and reached for one of her own pistols.
"Luna, come here..." Celestia's voice shook. After all of their fighting, it was finally over. The fate of the world was in question still, but their battle had come to an end. Neither had their powers anymore, they were now both mortal again. "You're hurt."
"Yes, hurt, and tired, sister..." Luna managed, dragging herself along the ground. "Tired of anger. Tired of hatred. Of jealousy. For so long, hurt... is all I've felt, all I can ever remember feeling, all I am."
Celestia did not interrupt her, but trembled as she watched her sister's hand reach closer to her own pistol.
Was she going to attack again?
"I just want... want..." Luna's fingers just barely reached the gun's handle.
No, worse.
With what strength she could manage, Celestia kicked the gun away from Luna's reach. Her younger sister promptly fell flat and let out a loud, choked sob.
"I want this to end!" Luna cried, reaching out and grabbing Celestia's ankle with desperate hostility, but when Celestia raised her pistol on her, she fell still, only looking to her older sister's eyes with a grief stricken look written across her face. "All there is for me is pain..."
"Luna..."
"Please, end this..."
There was so much pain in those emerald green eyes, pain for which Celestia herself was largely responsible, and now those same eyes were begging to be relieved of that pain. Her own sister was asking for capital punishment, to be executed at the hands of the person she wronged.
"I don't want to hurt-" Luna choked up again, breathing deeply and swallowing heavily as she came undone. She spoke slowly, and on shallow breath. "Hurt you... or the world. Look at what I have done, done to the world we vowed to protect..."
Luna took a deep breath, and an unbearable shivering wracked her body.
"I destroyed it..."
Another pause for breath.
"You are the better of us, 'Tia. Better for this world. But this world is ending..." Luna swallowed again, while Celestia still stood in uncertainty. "I don't deserve another chance, sister. If this world will survive, it does not need me in it."
Celestia's lip trembled, and her pistol sight wavered.
"There is only one way... One way to ensure that my pain does not become another's."
In the rain, the two waited, waited for their end, still holding each other's gaze as the Sister of Light once more looked on at her kin defeated. With the twitch of her finger, she could extinguish a millennium's worth of grief, of wrongdoings, of tragedy and heartache, but with that same twitch she would also extinguish a millennium more of joy, happiness, of memories of her closest living relative, the last family she still had.
The one person who stood with her against the world.
"You're right," Celestia finally said.
The one person she traded for the sake of the world.
"There is only..."
The one person she never meant to hurt, that she would do anything to reconcile with.
"One way."
The one person she loved more than anyone else.
Luna's weak voice whispered against the rainfall. "End my suffering."
She closed her eyes, but as her entire body shook Celestia cast her pistol aside, dropping to her knees and scooping her fallen sister up into her arms. She held her close, so close, but in a stunned silence Luna did not resist. Instead, she returned the embrace, holding her sister tightly, still desperately, but her face looked hopeful, even if that hope was only a faint reflection of Celestia's own.
Celestia waited a thousand years to see her sister and would wait a thousand more to see her sister well, if that's what it took. She would wait through the end and rebirth of the world. She would not only extinguish her suffering, but in its place she would also rekindle their sisterly love.
While the sky broke apart above them and the clouds began to bleed, both sisters just held each other in close, much needed comfort for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"I will, sister. Your nightmare is over."