Finishing the Job

This is joint-written.

“Watch this, I’ve got an ace up my sleeve.” Glide grinned as they approached the Eastern Cross, the same guard standing outside the gates.

“I have an urge to slap him and yell ‘Yes, I am a human! How was your nap?’, but I have a feeling that would ruin whatever you were planning,” Ambree said, smirking.

Glide waved a paw, walking over to the guard and striking up a conversation with him. “You’ve heard of Gensuma, the Demon King, right?”

“Uh, yeah...” The guard answered hesitantly, taking Glide’s katana.

“I heard he got into a brawl with a Crusader when he first came up here.” the Varixian said.

The selkie nodded. “Yeah, and?”

Glide smirked. “And I also heard... he lost.”

Niqi played along, taking off her katana and pulling out her knife to hand to the guard. “Makes you wonder how he got to be Demon King anyway, if he failed like that so early on.”

“Yeah.” Glide grinned. “I bet all the strong demons are still below.”

“Silence, you insignificant little speck!” The guard roared, a pillar of fire enveloping him.

“... Jackpot.” Glide said.

Ambree took advantage of the fact that the demon was completely focused on Glide, dropping to the ground and sweeping his legs out from under him.

Glide yanked his arm from the sling, energy already gathering along it. “Break down the walls...”

The demon was already struggling to get up. Niqi shoved her foot into his throat, trying to keep him down. The demon, apparently not ready to be defeated just yet, grabbed Niqi’s leg and twisted it, sending her to the ground. It struggled to get up and run away a second time.

“Hit the deck!” Glide snapped, slamming his fist into the demon's stomach. “Yami Tatsumaki!”

Ambree fell down beside Niqi, who was still on the ground because of the demon.

A black tornado exploded from Glide’s fist, shredding the demon and sending the Varixian up into the air. “Whoa, this is the only way to fly!”

Niqi stared up at the tornado. “F**k, Glide, how many off-the-wall attacks have you learned?”

Glide dropped to the ground, landing on his feet. “Quite a few.” He grinned, tucking his arm back into the sling.

“I don’t understand why you went so pale when you heard who they were. That one didn’t last five minutes,” Niqi said, standing up and brushing herself off.

Ambree got up off the ground as well.

“I just thought we’d have to fight them both at the same time.” Glide said. “I’ve tried before... didn’t end too well.”

Niqi nodded in understanding. “Doesn’t sound good.”

“I’ve got an idea of how we can get the second demon out of the Eastern Cross,” Ambree offered.

Glide glanced at Ambree. “Okay, shoot. I’m all ears.”

“Since I’m not going to help much in the way of fighting at this point, I can serve as a distraction. I’ll offer to take over his bartending position for a while for a couple Drakes, and then you guys can figure out a way to get him out of the Eastern Cross. All I got so far,” Ambree replied.

“You know, that wouldn’t be half bad if we actually had a way of getting the demon out of the Cross,” Niqi responded.

“Gods, why didn’t I think of this before!?” Glide exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

“What is it?” Niqi asked.

“I’m a natural disaster waiting to happen.” Glide replied. “A little tornado might just chase him out.”

Ambree grinned. “Let’s do it.”

 

…

 

Ambree walked into the bar, trying to pull off a confident posture. She hopped up onto a bar stool and laid her arms down on the counter.

“What’ll it be?” the bartender asked.

“Nothing, actually. I’m a bit short on money. You seem to be working a lot lately, so I was wondering…you think I could cover your position, just for a couple of Drakes? I don’t need that much,” Ambree replied.

The bartender paused for a second, thinking. “You know what? Sure. I suppose I could do with some off time. I’ll be back in an hour or two, and then I’ll pay you.”

Ambree shook her head. “Money now.”

The bartender sighed. “Fine. Give me your card. How much do you want?”

“Thirty Drakes,” Ambree responded.

“Thirty? That’s an outrage. I’ll give you ten.”

“Twenty-five. Final offer.”

The bartender huffed. “Fine, fine, twenty-five. Such a rip-off, though.”

Ambree handed over her card and was twenty-five Drakes richer when she got it back.

“You’d better not just leave. I’ll be back,” the bartender warned.

Ambree nodded, and then waited until the bartender was out the door. “No you won’t,” she said to herself, smiling.

“Yami Tatsumaki...” Glide hissed, hidden behind one of the nearby buildings. The dark tornado returned, rising from the ground behind the bartender and chasing him through the gates. “Elvis has left the building.”

“Let’s leave now, too, before someone realizes we’ve taken back our weapons,” Niqi replied, moving to follow him.

Glide nodded, heading for the bar to get Ambree. “You follow that b*****d, I’ll be back in a flash ’n’ a half.”

Niqi nodded, breaking into a run towards the gates.

Glide shoved open the tavern door, rushing up to the bar and grabbing Ambree’s arm. “Come on, I don’t know how long my tornado is gonna last without me in it.”

Ambree stopped pouring the drink she was currently on, instead handing the bottle to the surprised selkie. “On the house,” she said to him, grinning, before dashing out of the bar with Glide.

Glide wasted no time, sprinting toward the gates as soon as he was outside the tavern again. He could see his tornado in the distance, slowly shrinking as it lost power.

Niqi was engaged in a swordfight with the demon. “He didn’t react very well-” she yelled to Glide and Ambree. She had to stop for a moment to deflect a blow. “-when he saw his brother was dead.” The demon was gaining the upper hand. Niqi growled loudly, shoving the demon a fair distance away with her paw. “Kasai!” she yelled, swinging her sword towards the demon. Fire shot out of it as it had before near the inn.

“Can you really blame him?” Glide laughed, unsheathing his blade and, surprisingly, slipping his arm back into the sling. “After we slice this b*****d in half, which half do you want? Left or right?”

“Right,” Niqi replied shortly. The demon seemed a bit confused by the dialog. She caught him off guard, dropping to the ground and springing up behind him, shoving her sword into his right shoulder blade.

Glide smirked. “Hold him steady.” he said, raising his blade and giving it a quick downward swing, then repeating the process. A pair of what seemed to be enormous, purple snake fangs appeared where Glide had swung his sword. “Kiss the fatal fangs.”

Niqi did as she was told, holding the demon in place with some effort. She watched to see what the fangs would do.

Glide decided to trigger the fangs with a bit of flair, turning his back on the demon and raising his paw up. He snapped his fingers after a few seconds, the fangs flying forward and piercing the demon’s body.

The demon’s body shook with the impact, and then fell limp in Niqi’s arms. When she laid him down, he seemed to still be clinging to life, spluttering blood and glaring at her. She looked up at Glide. “May I have the honors of finishing this one off?”

“Finish him.” Glide said, sheathing his blade. “I’m tired of lookin’ at his ugly mug.”

The demon’s fist landed a blow against Niqi’s face before she could react, leaving long gashes down her cheek. Fortunately, it seemed to be a last effort. She glared down at the demon, spitting on him. “You really are a b*****d,” she said, before shoving her katana into his throat.

“Unless I’m overlooking something, that should be the end of that.” Glide grinned. “So, where do you gals wanna go now?”

Niqi stood up, walking back towards Glide and Ambree. “I was thinking…if she wants to stay,” she nodded at Ambree, “then she’s going to have to be made official at some point.”

“There’s a slight problem with that.” Glide muttered. “Crusaders need a supernatural power…” He paused for a moment. “Unless…”

Niqi raised one eyebrow. “Unless?”

“Udemae Settouzai.” Glide said. “Skill theft. Well, skill lending, actually... Some channelers are able to do it.”

“Skill lending?” Niqi asked. “As in…I could give Ambree one of my skills?”

Glide nodded. “It takes a massive amount of energy, but I could provide that. Other than that, it’s not very complicated.”

“Hold on a second…” Niqi muttered, trailing off. One of her black spikes shot from her paw. “No, not that…” It was silent for a few moments, and then dark energy started gathering around her in a ball. It lingered for a moment, and then Niqi broke her concentration, sending it away. “It’s a shield, I can tell that much. Must’ve been from the demon I just killed.”

“You wanna give her that one?” Glide asked.

“Up to her,” Niqi replied, glancing at Ambree. “You want it?”

Ambree shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

“Okay, now backpedal just a second,” Niqi said, turning to Glide. “You said that some channelers had this ability. How do we find out if I’m one of them?”

“Another skill.” Glide replied. “The ones that can do it can use more than one pilfered skill at a time.”

Niqi nodded, closing her eyes. She drew the dark energy around her, and then tried to shoot a black spike… “Yowtch!” she yelled, dispelling the shield. She hopped up and down on one foot for a few seconds before yanking the black spike out of the side of her other foot. “Damned shield,” she muttered.

Glide snickered quietly. “Owned. But, at least we know you’re one of them now.”

Ambree giggled slightly.

Niqi hissed at them both quietly before speaking. “Okay, how do we do this?”

“Take her hand.” Glide said, suddenly becoming serious. “And prepare for a hell of a power surge.”

Niqi nodded, moving to take Ambree’s hand, all the bitter thoughts about her gone for the moment. “Ready.”

Glide took his place, standing behind Niqi. “Shetani’s going to assist us.” He said, before the goddess actually left his body, her incorporeal form passing through Niqi. When she emerged, she was carrying a black sphere. There was a short pause, then Shetani bolted through Ambree, the orb gone when she passed through, returning to Glide.

Ambree blinked. “That was so f*****g surreal,” she muttered.

“Ugh,” Niqi groaned, trying to stay standing. “I feel like I got hit by a truck.”

“Your turn.” Glide smirked. “Try out your new power.”

“Right,” Ambree said, chewing her lip. She turned to Niqi after a few moments. “How do you do this?”

Niqi smiled. “Just close your eyes and concentrate. Seek a part of you that wasn’t there before. Then bring that part out in you, slowly…”

Ambree nodded and closed her eyes, doing as she was told. She found the ability after about half a minute. She concentrated hard on it, as if trying to see it clearly.

“Ambree?” Niqi said.

Ambree opened her eyes, surprised to see the dark energy around her. It started to fade quickly. She laughed. “I’ve got a supernatural ability.”

“Yeah, congrats.” Glide said. “It’s time to bring you to the Northern Cross and introduce you to Kigetski, the Head Crusader. You’ll be made a true Crusader, and get your own weapon.”

Ambree could hardly believe what was happening to her. “A human, made into a Crusader. It’s going to shock the world.” She paused, thinking. “Can I make a request, though?”

Glide nodded, already heading north, despite the fact that the suns were beginning to set again. “Sure, what is it?”

Ambree started to walk after Glide, Niqi right beside her. “Once I’m a Crusader,” she could hardly believe the words she was saying, “may we break the law once more? Just so I can say goodbye, is all…”

Glide nodded again. “I’m sure that would be fine.”

Reviews

[KEi]

-midread-
"Elvis has left the building"
WTF?!
xD

-finished-

:D
Niiiiice.
I'm running out of words of praise, and I worry they'll sart sounding shallow, so I'm just gonna grin, if you don't mind.
:D