Chapter CX: Whomping on Demons ~Kyanosa

Josh, Kaye, Kyanosa, and Mazzic (in alphabetical order) stood in a small alley next to the building above which they had come to earth. Since nobody trusted Kyanosa with it, Mazzic considered it a weapon and thus couldn't hold it without critically tapping himself in the noggin, and Josh just overall preferred knives to spoons, Kaye was holding the spoon, which Kyanosa had carried out of the wrecked cafe because he had nothing better to do. And the Spanish for Dummies book. As a side note, Kyanosa had switched personalities partway across the street, and was sitting away from the others muttering to himself.

Josh sat down on a trashcan. "Okay, so we've regrouped. Now what?"

Kaye was reading intently and Kyanosa hated everything, so Mazzic answered. "You know, we never did get to eat. What's the likelihood that you've found the Cook power without us knowing it?"

Kyanosa glared back in reply.

Kaye spoke without looking up. "I think we can hold off for a bit. The longer we aren't looking for the Creation Weapons, the further ahead of us Vole and Jadea get. They don't need to stop for food, right?"

"Comparatively rarely. They'll be good for however long we're stuck here."

Josh sighed. "I wanna book like his."

Kyanosa managed a slight smile. "So would bookies."

"Anyway, what's the likelihood that they'll attack us again instead of looking for the weapon?"

"Probably higher now that Vole has an idea of Kaye's power signature."

Kaye winced. "You act like it was my fault."

"It wasn't mine."

Mazzic spoke up. "So, anybody have any productive ideas?"

Josh leaned against the wall behind the trashcan. "Well, if they can sense energy like that, what's to keep them from heading right for the Creation Weapon now? All we have to do is follow them and cave their skulls in a second time."

Kyanosa shook his head. "No, listen next time. The power of the Weapon would have to be used in their presence for them to get its signature. Unless we've accidentally activated it thus far, they don't have a clue where it is either."

A voice spoke from above them. "No, but we know where you are." Vole and Jadea landed from somewhere above, one on either side of the group. Vole had the entrance closer to the street, next to Kaye and Mazzic, and Jadea took the other end, hitting the ground not quite ten feet from where Kyanosa was sitting. He quickly jumped up and shifted into an Archangel, combining Sword with Wing, and Josh pulled out a dagger and nimbly hopped from his perch, both facing Jadea. Mazzic shifted into his fighting clothes, which I'm sure everybody remembered form, his profile. Everybody was really looking forward to the customary witty banter, but they had all used their best lines in the cafe, so they launched right into the fray.

Remembering their last fight, Vole charged straight at Mazzic, but right before hitting him, chucked his bo at Kaye. In the small quarters, there wasn't time to pull out an effective spell (especially since she was already working on a shielding one), and the impact sent her into the wall. Mazzic took his opportunity and decorated Vole's head with some lovely five-finger designs, but when he chanced a kick, Vole blocked it, and they went into a DragonBall Z-esque exchange of blow, with neither being able to land a hit against the other's dodges.

Josh and Kyanosa fared similarly. Exhibiting much better swordsmanship skills than the others realized he had, Kyanosa lunged for Jadea and almost landed a healthy stab, but she jumped, so he missed and planted his sword into a wall. She came back down with her blade pointing downward, anxious to see what color human lungs were, but Josh handsprung upwards and crashed his foot into her jaw. She flipped in mid-air, pressed her feet against the wall, and came right back at Josh, who was working on a landing. He did block her first attack, but her second knocked the dagger from his hand, and the third would have dealt damage had Kyanosa not flapped up and parried it with his now-free sword.

Kaye muttered something and healed herself enough to stand up, watching Mazzic and Vole desperately trying to wail on each other. She formed her trusty semi-magic barrier around Mazzic, which caught both fighters off guard. Mazzic grinned and quickly tore his glove from him hand, using the split second of extra time to charge up a Tiger Claw. Vole hopped to the side, grabbed his bo, and threw it at Kaye again, but she ducked, and the bo traveled down the alley and hit Kyanosa in the back of the head. He promptly passed out. The combination of extraordinary circumstances left Vole temporarily dumbfounded, which gave Mazzic his perfect opportunity. His wrist generated a massive beam of red energy with an image of an attacking tiger superimposed over the leading edge, at it traveled directly through Vole. He grabbed his chest in pain, but since Josh did as well, Mazzic and Kaye turned their attention to the other side of the makeshift arena.

Josh was bleeding from a not-pretty gash on his chest, having finally taken a hit from the nimble Jadea. He blocked her next few slashes, but the only reason her next stab didn't connect was because Mazzic jumped in, grabbed her ankle, and swung her into the side of a Dumpster. Kaye started working on Josh while Mazzic gave Kyanosa a nice kick and watched Jadea again. She jumped at him, leading with her sword, but he slid to the side and dropped his elbow onto her back. Proving a Twilighter fetish for projectiles, she threw her katana at him, watching it with glee as it spun though the air and with dismay at the handle landed nicely in Mazzic's hand. He tossed it to the side, but accidentally spun it again and cut his upper left arm. This moment was all Jadea needed to shove her shoulder into his face, grab her sword, and swing again, but again it met the dagger of a very well Josh.

Kyanosa woke up right after the kick, and looked around, trying to regain his senses. When he got ahold of what was going on, he quickly hopped over to Vole, glared at him, and activated his Copy power. Vole looked up and blanched about as much as a green guy can before Kyanosa-Vole clenched both fists and brought them down on his head. He then ran back and tried to jump over his group, but due to his lack of experience with Vole's body, faceplanted and slid into the fight. Everybody jumped back into groups, with Kaye, Josh and Mazzic on one side and Jadea and Kyanosa-Vole on the other. Kyanosa-Vole knelt down to give the impression of a fighting stance, took a step forward, and elbowed Jadea in the stomach. Taken totally off-guard, she doubled over, and Kyanosa grabbed the back of her head and embedded it in the ground before reverting to his normal form.

He looked at the others and grinned. "We should go. I'm pretty sure there's a big body of water in that direction, or at least that's what I saw from the rooftop. Fewer people can get hurt there." Kaye nodded, extended her wings, and took to the sky. Kyanosa was about to do the same before remembering that he couldn't nearly carry both Mazzic and Josh, and instead went for the helicopter. He was familiar with people hanging from his ankles, so that's what they did.

As they traveled, however, both Vole and Jaded collected themselves, and were now following them quite intently from the ground, hopping over any people, vehicles, and buildings that happened to get in their way. Eventually the six reached the water on the west side of Montevideo, and Josh indicated towards a long empty stone pier, on which the Spectrummers landed. The Twilighters stopped at the end of the pier closer to the city and slowly advanced, making sure nobody tried anything funny before they had a chance to pound on them.

Mazzic went into a fighting stance. "Well, we're in the same position as before, except now we can't leave."

Josh spun his dagger and smiled. "Actually, now it's a four-on-two battle instead of two two-on-ones. Much higher likelihood of backup on either end."

Kaye went over her element powers in her head. "And two of us can fly, so we can circle around and surround them if need be, or even attack from above. This place is better for distance fighting."

Kyanosa hummed, then turned entirely bright red as he activated his Cinder power. "Also, I think we've seen most of what they have to offer, but all of us still have attack we haven't used yet. Kaye and I have more powers, Mazzic's only used one Steel Hands attack, and Josh hasn't even started a combo yet. We have surprise on our side."

Vole twirled his bo and watched the others. "I think we should try this time."

Jadea grinned and readied her katana. "I was at least hoping to leave them with some sense of dignity."

With that, the two groups charged each other.

Kyanosa's and Vole's fists met each other for about half a second before Vole pulled his away, blowing on the singed skin. Kyanosa smiled (or at least his eyes looked like it; his facial features were nearly nonexistent) and gave Vole a few quick kicks, leaving burn marks where they landed, and shooting a stream of fire into his chest. Fed up, Vole rushed Kyanosa, grabbed him by the shoulders, and, ignoring the pain surging through his arms, tossed the human from the pier. I believe I forgot to mention that it was a fifty-foot drop. My bad. Kyanosa just managed to deactivate his Cinder power before hitting the water, so he lived, but since his wings wouldn't work while they were wet (don't ask how he knew that, or he might tell you), he was at a loss in how to get back up.

Mazzic and Josh were trading shots on Jadea, with Kaye providing backup with another green shield. The demon was not in good shape, with her every attack being blocked, and so felt it an advantage when Vole smashed his fist into the side of Mazzic's head. The latter grabbed the end of the pier before he fell over, shoved himself back up, and headbutted Vole in the...well, in the head. Kaye left Mazzic and Vole to their male bonding and watched Josh, who was dodging most of Jadea's attacks on his own. Suddenly, he reached out and smacked Jadea upside the head. While she was busy marveling at the fact that anybody would slap her, Josh spun around and clocked her with his elbow, punched her with his other hand, then ran past her and kicked the back of her knee. He tried for a dagger jab, but Jadea blocked it with her katana and spun back around, angry, or at least she was until Vole threw Mazzic across the pier and right into Josh, which sent them both sprawling and nearly over the edge.

Vole walked up to them and laughed. At his point, a hook attached itself to the end of the pier, and Kyanosa shot upwards, using his Grappling Hook as momentum for a vicious headbutt. Unfortunately, he caught Vole right in the chin and dropped to the ground. An unphased Vole picked him up by the neck, forcing Kyanosa to hold onto his wrist with both arms lest his head be removed by the weight of his body. Kyanosa glanced around for help, but Josh and Mazzic were trying to simultaneously recover and untangle their limbs, and Kaye had her hands full blocking Jadea's myriad blows, so he was left to his own devices.

Vole pulled Kyanosa up to his face, letting the latter's feet dangle six inches from the ground. "You bore me, human."

Kyanosa grinned that Kyanosa grin. "Surprisingly, I'm not human either."

"Then what are you? I'll be sure to put it in your obituary."

"I'm unfathomably cute." Kyanosa blew a kiss at Vole and gestured towards the ground. Three small red rabbits were sitting there, looking up at Vole. Vole grimaced and stomped on one. Now, everybody knows how this kind of thing works. The bad guy sees something strange, treats it like normal, and bad things happen to him, right? Now think of what happens when Kyanosa causes that something strange. Then go read his power list and smile to yourself. This chapter still will be here when you're done. Go on.

Back? Alright, let's progress.

The rabbit exploded in a ball of flame, searing Vole's lower leg royally. He squeezed Kyanosa's neck at his muscles tightened, then dropped him to the ground when the pain reached his brain. Kyanosa hit the stone gracefully, then fell over, and pointed at Vole. The other two rabbits nodded, hopped at Vole's chest, and similarly exploded on contact. Vole was really angry (not to mention smoldering) and was certain to launch a counterattack, but Kyanosa's saving grace entered in the form of a black leather glove in Vole's stomach. Josh followed Mazzic's attack with a kick to Vole's head, and sensing that everything was under control, Kyanosa rushed toward Jadea.

The thrill of the battle often makes a person miss very important things. For Jadea, the fact that Kaye's shield was weakening (which didn't really mean that much, since Kaye could still up and fly away) blinded her to the steady thunky noises Kyanosa's iron shoes made whenever they hit the stone ground. Taking a page from Josh's book (figuratively), Kyanosa planned a small combo in his head as he ran and launched into it as soon as he was in range.

"Midoriiro no Murasaki!" Kyanosa smashed his Mirror staff into Jadea's head.

"Ikarichigeki!" He pulled out his sword and swung it hard, knocking Jadea's to the side.

"Ganbatte Yo!" He stuck his yo-yo to her head and swung her around, smashing her to the ground.

"Biiro Ni Hon Onegai Shimasu!" He activated his Fire ability and, when she bounced back up from the impact with the ground, threw a quick flurry at her.

"Boku Wa Namakemono Desu Yo!" He summoned his parasol, took careful aim, and hit it on the ground, sending a star-shaped disc at Jadea. Sight of her was lost in the ensuing explosion.

Kaye calmly stepped forward. "What was that first one called? 'The Purple of Green'?"

Kyanosa, breathing heavily, shrugged. "I only know a few words."

Vole flew through the air, the victim of a hearty throw by both Mazzic and Josh, and landed squarely on Jadea's back. The victors grouped together, rather pleased with themselves. Kyanosa combined Parasol with Mirror, forming the inverted umbrella with which he had tried to kill Kaye a long, long yesterday ago. He pointed it at the Twilighters. "El gatolito come los flores bonitas!"

A quarter-second before he activated the beam, Kaye pushed his shoulder. "Don't tell me you've giving up on the Japanese kick now."

Kyanosa sighed. "Fine. Neko-chan kirei hana o tabemas!"

Instantly, a beam of light shot out of Kaye's pocket, and the spoon flew out and hovered in midair, glowing bright white. It swung over to Kaye's face, then Josh's, before thwaking Kyanosa in the head. It then shot away from the group and over the water before dropping like a rock. Or a spoon.

Vole blinked, looking up. "Was that the Creation Weapon or something?"

The ground below them rumbled, and the water parted in front of them. From the waves rose a large, metal head, followed by a torso and arms, and eventually a set of legs. The whole contraption hopped onto the pier, apparently on its own power, and stood straight up. Kyanosa quickly recognized it as a Gundam; everybody pretty much guessed that it wasn't made of styrofoam. It stood no less than 22 meters tall and was expertly detailed in shades of pink and purple. Upon its head sat two triangular extensions that resembled cat ears, and its face was tweaked slightly to resemble a cat's. Oh, and one more thing - it already had its weapon in his hand. Its weapon was a long, metal rod with four petal-shaped blades at ninety-degree angles to the direction of the rod. There was an opening in the back of its neck, and four ropes with handles dropped form it to where the Spectrummers were standing.

Mazzic and Josh looked at each other, shrugged, grabbed the handles, and were pulled up to the opening. Kyanosa hopped on, placing his foot in the handle and holding the rope (he had seen Gundam Wing, thank you). Kaye followed suit and called up to Kyanosa partway up. "That wasn't anything about a pencil, was it?"

He grinned. "Not at all. I said 'The kitty-kat eats the pretty flower'."

"I'll be sure to remember that one."

They joined Mazzic and Josh at the top, and everybody entered the opening, hoping it was the way to some sort of cockpit. Vole and Jadea stood up, looked at each other, and slowly slid out of sight.