Then time crashed back to normal. As Brandt reached for the rifle in his shoulder holster, Lucca dove to the side, her hand scrabbling for the pistol that lay so very close. As Brandt pulled the heavy gun out of its holster, Lucca managed to get a hold on the water-slicked grip of the pistol, and rolled over. They both aimed at the same time. They both fired.

The two bullets ripped through the air at speeds well past sound, and crossed the equal distance in less than a second. Brandt's bullet flew forward, and Lucca cried out in sharp pain as she felt a lightning bolt streak up her arm. She thought she'd been hit, but remembered the power of the gun, and realized she wouldn't have had her arm anymore, had she been hit. The bullet had come close enough to feel the air ripple as it passed by, doing no damage, but the energy surrounding it seared her skin in a straight line, leaving an instantly cauterized, and painful, scar.

Lucca's bullet hit Brandt underneath his rib cage, and went through at an upward angle, until it lodged in a muscle in his back. He grunted in pain, and fell to the floor, his gun clattering down and sliding a few feet away.  He died without another sound. He had been a Hellbound, but he'd never really been much more than human.

Lucca winced as she sat up, unable even to grin at her victory. It had been hard earned, but she'd used up most of her energy. She was tired. She still had her magic, but that was taxing on the body and the mind, and she didn't know if she was up to it. She still had her pistol, but her Wondershot was out of energy for the moment, which meant that if she were pressed into battle...

Her back stiffened. Now that she was no longer hidden by the capsules, demons of all shapes and sizes had surrounded her, blocking off all escape routes. She took a deep breath. "Damn," she muttered, and struggled to her feet just as they pounced.



Same Time Period

Janus cried out in pain, real pain, as his wife slapped him across the face. No, not my wife, he corrected himself. A thing in my wife's body. And for that reason he'd been trying to avoid any seriously damaging spells, but he didn't have many defensive spells to begin with, and fewer still dealing with physical attacks instead of magic. Which meant he either had to kill her, or avoid her until he could figure out something else to do. Not very easy when you're surrounded by demons.

He'd figured out that in close combat, surrounded on all sides by demons, Lucca's speed didn't mean a whole lot, but her strength did. It was much greater than Janus' merely human strength. And Janus' staff was good against her, but it meant nothing to the demons that surrounded him. Janus' nose was bleeding, there were marks on his face and arms of claws, and he kept having to spit up blood. But he wouldn't give up. It wasn't in him.

Lucca suddenly rushed forward and grabbed her husband by the shirt. Effortlessly, she lifted him off the ground. Janus gritted his teeth as best he could, trying to keep his wife from knowing the truth, that as she watched helplessly, her body was killing him.

"Please," she begged him, "Defend yourself, Janus. I can't break free of the chip, and you can't beat me unless you start using some serious magic!"

Janus shook his head as best he could. "I... can't. I won't kill you."

Tears were streaming down her face as she swung Janus around, slamming him into a wall. "Janus, you'll die!"

"I can live with that," Janus replied. He smiled, or tried to. It looked more like a grimace. "Sort of."

"Very noble, father," Schala noted aloud, surprising the two of them. Neither of them had noticed her come to stand behind Lucca. Lucca's expression of hope differed from her body's tense readiness to turn and strike her daughter. Schala continued, "You would die so that she may live?"

Janus looked at her sadly. "She's my wife, Schala. And your mother. A world without her wouldn't be worth living."

"Please, Schala," Lucca begged. "Kill me."

Schala considered it. "I have a better idea." And she snapped her fingers.  Instantly, Lucca's arm dropped Janus. In another moment, they were hugging each other tightly, as they both realized Lucca was free. Schala continued, "This is my last gift to the two of you. Enjoy it. I only regret that I shall not be there with you to treasure it."

Janus and Lucca looked towards her, only to find empty space where she'd been a moment ago. But before they could wonder about that, the demons, no longer held back by Schala's presence, charged the two. Or four. Janus and Lucca were surprised to find Christina and the other Lucca at their side, poised for battle.

Silently they all assessed the odds. Earlier there had been too many demons in too dark a setting to count, but now that their respective battles had whittled down the numbers, their numbers were closer to fifty, perhaps as few as thirty. Thirty against four. At best. And their backs were literally to the wall.

The Travelers and demons stood still as stone for a moment, measuring each other up. And then, on some unseen signal, the demons charged, a collective roar rising from among them. And the four Travelers prepared to defend themselves.

"Some days things wouldn't go right if you paid them." -Owen Deathstalker, Deathstalker Honor

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