Ww - the coming storm

Moving under it, Leslie drew back her right hand and impaled it into it, hoping to go for the heart.


~


"I....wouldn't....know...." MeidoAlec said, the feathers slowly expanding outward, the spell was finished. Suddenly, an explosion of power flashed through in one nice transformation hidden behind a flash of black light. When it faded a dragon stood where they once had, a giant skeletal dragon summon, with them inside as the heart of it all. It breathed out deep purple and black flames, and where it hit the ground, everything died. The eyes focused directly on Conner, one hoof clawing the earth challenging him.


(http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs31/f/2008/209/f/7/The_Dragon_of_Death_by_Ruth_Tay.jpg)
 
A stray tentacle snapped back and slammed into Leslie as she pierced the thing's heart, As she flew through the air, Hope's eyes widened, and with a snap of his fingers, he caught her with a net of light.


"How did you....." He started, as the beast sunk into the starry background, into the depths of space.


~


Conner's eyes widened. He gulped, and started blazing in black flames.


"I'm not afraid of your little pet!" He yelled, launching himself at it's chest.
 
The dragon flamed out fire in a wall, right in front of Conner. If he wasn't smart and went through it, all that would come out on the other side would be a skeleton. "I know....I don't...want you to be..."


~


Leslie closed her eyes tightly, the thing had a huge kick, and she was fairly sure something broke. Leaving his question un answered, she grinned at him, showing how much she actually cared for the man who she viewed like an older brother.
 
Conner flared his nostrils.


"DON'T LOOK DOWN ON ME!" He roared, going straight through the purple flames, covered in his own black ones.


As he passed through, his Umbralus Fuego form started to flake off, and he looked a tiny bit afraid, as he flew at Alec's dragon of death, his own power slowly fading, a futile last attempt to fight the inevitable.


~


Hope sighed, and his net of light surrounded Leslie, healing her wounds.


Then, they were outside, where Vent had left his body. Hope sat up, and tested his limbs.


"I'm..... I'm back." He said with a smirk. He glanced up, and saw Vent and Marco opposing Despair, and yelled up a them.


"C'mon! You two should be more than capable of dispatching such a worhtless opponent!" He said with his smirk.
 
Leslie raised an eyebrow an Hope for a moment, before shaking her head, smirking. The demon fading back into sleep, leaving her to herself.


~


"I....wasn't...." The voice was grinning. The dragon lowered it's head to match it's spot with Conner, before opening it's mouth wide, revealing in the back of it, none other than a portal to hell on the worst level.
 
Conner's eyes widened, and for a split second, they went from the feral red to the original deep brown.


He looked into the dragon's eyes, and then mouth, and the red returned, full force.


"I'll be back, Alec. I won't he back for Vent though." He said calmly, relaxing as he fell into the dragon's mouth, and was taken to Hell.
 
MeidoAlec sighed, as the dragon closed it's mouth, slowly it started decaying to they just fell out, by the time she hit the ground, Alec was once again holding the crystal in her hand power drained almost completely, "You'll be back, eh?" She giggled a bit, "I'll be looking forward to it....."
 
: Marco nodded at Vent ::


Marco:"thanks, dude..."


:: he looked back at Despair ::


marco"get ready!? who do you think you're talking to here!?"


:: he launched off Vent, doing a backflip above despair, landing behind her ::


Marco: "Vent, keep her busy, i've got an idea!"


:: he pulled out a small knife, and sliced his wrist, letting the blood magic flow ::


Marco: "Absorbtion... demon of gluttony!"


: a glutton-demon appeared, attatched to Marco's right arm, it leapt foreward, latching to Despair's aura, draining it faster than she was re-gaining it from the portal ::
 
Vent nodded, and shot forward, blasting lightning at Despair as she closed the distance.


Despair suddenly vanished, appearing beside Marco.


"Trust me," She spat. "Your greed cannot outweigh my own. To use a sin, you must know and be one with it." With that, she grabbed the Glutonny demon, and drained it of all her power, and a sliver of Marco's before a blade of wind blasted her back.


"Stop with the dumb tricks, Marco!" Vent yelled as he rocketed past, going after his master. Why was she doing this?!
 
:: Marco's glare turned to Vent ::


Marco: "Dumb tricks!? at least i'm doing something different for once!"


:: he glanced at Despair ::


Marco: "Vent... do you know the spell "eternal flame"?"


:: he summoned a ball of purple flame to his palm. ::


Marco "there is a reason i dont use this anymore...."


:: he looked to the flame in his hand ::


Marco "its the only spell i'm afraid to use... of course... Connor has surpassed me in every aspect of this spell... but that dosent mean i can't use it"


:: he slammed his hand down, surrounding Despair, Vent and Marco in a dome of Purple flame ::


Marco: "these flames are controlled by my own will... it will only burn you... and Hope"


:: he pulled out his knife ::


Marco: "say... care to see another trick?"


:: he licked the blood off from when he cut his wrist, but thanks to heealing magic form his "ultimate form" even some of his "permenant" scars were gone, and that fresh cut was healed in seconds ::


:: he thrust the blade into the ground, and he summoned another blade ::


Marco: "we COULD keep fighting, but you know as well as i do, that if we fight to the death, that growing portal will consume all of us, and you will be overloaded with power without an outlet... unless you get first-class sacrifices... thats what we are is'nt it?... thats what al this lead up to, is'nt it!?"


:: just roll with it, i'm giving Despair a motive, trust me... ::


Marco "i read about it when i was at my place in New york, before i met that other girl, Katie... its a rite of passage into godhood, where one magister would have a source of unlimited power, like a portal to the underworld, and several sacrifices ready to be used... but the risk is insane, the timing has to be precise, if she kills us too soon or too late, the portal will pump her full of power with no way of controlling it, and she'll explode with the force of at least 30 nuclear warheads!"


:: he grabbed onto Drusilla again, by now he was by Vent's side ::


Marco: "or am i wrong?... is this just for kicks? just a test of skill? revenge?... come on, spill it out!"


:: he threw the other blade into the dome of flame, where he assumed Despair still was ::


Marco: "if i'm right, grab that blade, if i'm wrong, grab the blade i dug into the ground first... we can't hear you over the flames, but i can feel both of those blades like they were my hands..."


:: although marco kept going on, he was actually leading to something :
 
Despair smiled.


"Marco, you've come a long way. You've seen that some conflicts cannot be ended with violence. And Vent, you've become strong, and found what the meaning of true strength is. Hope himself has grown as a person, coming to see others as people, not just pawns." Despair started, in Olivia's voice, as Vent gulped, and returned to normal.


"And that's why you three will make the most excellent sacrifices for my ascension to godhood!" She suddenly bellowed in Despair's voice again.


'I'm sorry, Vent and Marco. I couldn't control my other half as well as I wished. Behold what you become if you abuse Umbralus, Vent.......' Olivia's voice spoke telepathically to them.


Coming from the fire, Despair shot at Vent and Marco, holding both daggers. Vent's eyes widened as she narrowed in on Marco.


His green eye flared into a yellow color, and his canines lengthened. Claws sprouted from his fingers, and his skin went black, and aura of darkness surrounding him.


He stepped in the way of Depair's charge, catching the daggers, but not with enough force. One drove into his shoulder, the other into his hip, even through his hardened skin. His Shadus Umbralus was his physically strongest form.


Grunting, Vent twisted his arms, and gripped Despair's shoulders, a grin on his face.


"Now's the time for whatever fancy plan you've got, Marco!" He let out in pained voice.
 
:: the daggers turned to smoke, Vent's wounds weren't even there anymore ::


Marco: "its over..."


:: from his back, a massive black figure emerged, it was a huge lich, cloaked in black, in one hand it had a book, bound in human flesh, with a pulse still in it, in it's other hand was a scythe ::


Marco: "that dagger i had for "no" was a little trick... on the inside of the handle was a contract, by touching it, you signed it... Despair is now my slave... bound by a contract with death itself..."


:: Death bought it's scythe down on the portal, in one slice, it was closed ::


Marco: "of course... thats not all..."


:: he looked up to leslie ::


Marco: "Leslie's contract has been re-written... it is now my life that is bound, not hers, and Despair is an extra price..."


:: death opened it's book and Marco's body went limp, his spirit emerged from his shell ::


Marco: "and now... Despair..."


:: Death reached out it's arm, and bought the scythe down on Despair ::


Death: "the deal is done, there is no resistance..."
 
Vent reverted back to his normal form, and looked pissed.


"Marco, why?! Are you stupid!?! I could have helped, there was no reason...... No reason to die....." He exclaimed as he went from furious to somber.


He couldn't do anything at this point.


"....... Dammit all." He spat under his breath, wiping his eyes.


"I'll find a way to bring you back, dude." Vent said in a low voice, giving Marco's spirit a thumbs up.


~


Hope's eyes widened.


This was an unexpected development.


~


Despair moaned in agony.


"NEVER, NO STUPID CONTRACT COULD HOLD ME!" She bellowed, as she was sucked towards Death anyways.


"But it could hold me." Came Olivia's voice. Despair suddenly took on an aura of kindness, and Olivia's persona shone through for a moment.


"Vent," She started, in a sweet tone he remembered as the tone she took when he had done well. "Keep training. Don't fall victim to it's nature." She explained, tossing him a small ring.


His eyes widened, having turned from Marco's spirit and catching a ring on pure reflex.


"What's this?" He asked, looking at it.


"It was my wedding ring." She said sweetly, smiling for Vent a final time with a wink and a quick glance at Alec.


Vent went beet red.


Olivia chuckled, and her hand took the hand of Marco's spirit.


"Let's go." She said with a small smile.
 
:: marco nodded ::


Marco: "righty-o"


:: he reached his hand into Olivia's spirit, pulling out despair ::


Marco: "i think you need to be taught a real lesson"


:: chains appeared, binding Despair all over, stripping all power from her spirit ::


Marco: "Hey vent, send Leslie my love, and you treat Alec like a queen, you hear?"


:: he turned around, going into the portal, waving goodbye over his shoulder, soon the portal to the underworld closed behind them, death was gone, Despair was gone, and Marco was dead ::


:: Death came up to Leslie, handing her a contact, it was her own, but her name had been replaced with Marco ::


Death: "the one known as "Marco" has replaced you... begone and live out your retched mortal life"


:: Death left, Leslie was free and Despair was beaten... but the death of marco was only the prolouge to yet another bloodbath... one that will be addressed in the next series ::


________________________________________________________


:: in the afterlife, Marco found himself on top of a huge glacier, the sky was a mixture of all the colours imaginable, and on the top of a small hill of ice, was a small fire, a tree and an old monk, with a third eye on his forehead, a rotten staff and long, tattered robes ::


Monk: "aah, welcome young one..."


Marco"i guess you must be my guide?"


Monk: "in a manner of speaking..."


:: they didn't speak english, yet Marco could understand every word perfectly, even though he had never heard it ::


Monk: "come, sit and tell me your story"


:: marco sat ::


Marco: "well, i was born 18 years, 5 months and 4 days ago to Artemis and Kiki Highland on a private jet over the pacific, of course, the plane was attacked and...."


:: marco continued telling his story, in every detail, and the monk listened ::


_____________________________________________________________________________


:: meanwhile, in Chicago, Kiki, Marco's mother fell to her knees ::


Kiki: "no..."


Maid: "mistress, whats wrong?"


Kiki: "my husband.. and my son... no"


:: she pushed the maid away and went to the top of the stairs, pulling a knif from a hidden compartment ::


Maid: "mistress, NO!"


:: Kiki killed herself, cutting her neck open and falling head-first fromt he upper level of the penthouse, the last of the Highland's main branch... was dead ::


______________________________________________________


EVERYONE FINISH WITH A BIG POST!
 
Vent looked down at the ring, and pocketed it quickly. He rolled his eyes. Olivia could always do that to him.....


Stupid Master, he thought, glancing back at Alec.


He went over to her, tired and a little sore, worn out emotionally and physically. He passed Hope and Leslie, and nodded to Hope on the way by.


Hope nodded back.


Continuing on his walk to Alec, he glanced back but once. It was habit. Hope was behind him. He could feel the pressure he'd always wanted to defeat, the pressure of someone he knew wasn't evil.... Simply in the wrong.


And that was behind him.


As he turned back, he saw that Hope wasn't even watching him leave.


Of course not, he thought, shaking his head and turning back to Alec. That big shot's probably got a million better things to do at this point than pick another fight with me.


Vent continued, reaching Alec, and with a smile, picking her up into a huge hug, pulling her so close he was slightly afraid he'd hurt her.


"You. Me. Alone. Somewhere far away. Tonight." He said to her, a grin on his face.


~


Hope turned to Leslie as Vent went by.


He tried to smile, but couldn't find the energy.


"..... We should leave." He said calmly, resisting the urge to complain about how unfair it all was, about how he could have figured out another way, how..... How.....


There was no use. Hope would find Borghen, and he would continue his grand plan. Somehow he'd been distracted by the false Sincerity, and used in this scheme. But now he was back to his usual self......


Or was he?


He offered his hand to Leslie, and a Teleportation circle of light appeared around them.
 
Sitting up, Alec sighed, before arms wrapped around her and pulled her up into a hug. Laughing lightly, she heard Vent give his request, and how could she deny? Nodding her head, she leaned up and kissed him before sighed, "I'd love that....I really would."


~


Sitting there next to Hope, as he offered his hand, Leslie didn't even look at him. Her eyes were focuses on Marco's body, her thoughts frozen in place, the sound of nothingness becoming overwhelming. Right as she started to crack, two hollow eye sockets rings in bleached skull glared down at her from inside her head, before skeletal hands wrapped around her ankles and pulled her under the ground. Past old graves, tree roots, ground bugs, mole tunnels, fossils, rocks, down till the earth turned to air and the colour faded from everything


Stopping just above the ground, the hands released their grasp and Leslie fell to the ground in front of the Grim reaper. The ragged black cloak hiding a face of rage. Keeping bowed to him, she gulped, knowing what ever Marco did to the contract when he died wasn't good. A jagged whisper spoke, rushed, hurt, filled with power.


"You have tried to betray your nature, you can not remove yourself from my power, girl. I made you. I control yo. Your purpose shall be made clear, and I could choose your next owner, and make them horrid, cruel, to the point where you would wish I never maid you. But I can't do that to my own daughter, can 'Mother'?"


He raised his hand and a body, mumified, stiff, and hollowed to were it should have broken came forth. It looked pained, the eyes rolling all over, the mouth moved, skin cracking and bleeding, "No, Father."


"Right!" Grim said, a cruel smile forming across, showing he had something horrid planned."This means I'll handle you directly once again."


"No!" Leslie whispered before chains shot out of the frozen ground, latching around her ankles, wrists, and throat before pulling her under to the lower level, some place very hot, very red, very dangerous.


"Have fun with my dear friends son. You two will e spending a lo of time together, After all, Lucifer and I arranged for you for him a long time again. And you did have to reasons to be made, o destroy, and to be a birthday present for Damien on his 21st."
 

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