Niqi glanced around. "And... Where the hell did Reiko go?"
"He headed for the roof." Fabian replied. "Took off right when the fight started."
"B*****d," Niqi growled.
"... I'm going to f*****g kill him!!" Glide roared, slamming his fist into the nearest wall, the blow reducing the stone to a fine powder. "I'll do better, I'll f*****g rape him and then I'll kill him!" He turned his attention to Therali, grabbing the bat god by the throat. "You. Give me your damn pants, right now. Don't say a goddamn word, just do it."
Therali raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, removing his pants and handing them to Glide, leaving him clad in his boxers.
Glide snatched the pants from Therali, pulling them on and stalking up the stairs.
Niqi blinked. "...Well."
...
Glide threw his weapons aside when he made it to the top of the stairs, fire coating his paws. "I hope you realize what a mistake you made."
"You're the one that made a mistake, Myotis." Reiko replied. "Up here, I have the advantage. And up here... I'll kill you."
Glide scoffed. "B***h, please. I bleed liquid death and piss cobra venom. I dare you to try something. I'll knock your teeth so far down your throat, you'll have to stick your toothbrush up your a*s every morning to brush 'em."
"I'm surprised you can still make jokes after what Jason did to you downstairs." Reiko smirked, drawing the nodachi from the sheath on his back.
Glide extinguished his fire, crossing his arms. "You honestly think he got that far? He was dead before he could get his pants off."
"Well, I suppose it's true what they say." Reiko said. "It's impossible to find good help these days."
Glide simply shrugged in response, pulling his vest off and tossing it aside. He reached up, grasping the edge of his cowboy hat and tilting it.
Reiko stepped forward, holding his sword ready, red energy beginning to gather along the blade. He never took his eyes off Glide, starting to circle the younger Varixian.
"Are you gonna attack me sometime this century?" Glide asked, smirking. "'Cause, if not, I'll make the first move."
Reiko lunged, taking a swing at Glide, the sword passing through him. "What the-"
Glide's heel hit the back of Reiko's leg, knocking him to one knee. "This is the Seventh Seal!" Glide snarled, pressing his palms against the back of Reiko's neck.
Reiko dropped onto his stomach, Glide's chains barely missing him. He rolled onto his back, the snapping chain deflected with his nodachi.
"So you've picked up a few new tricks..." Glide muttered. "They won't save you. Magus!"
The sword reacted to his call, rising off the ground and shooting toward him, easily grabbed out of the air.
"I wish I didn't have to kill you, Myotis." Reiko said, spinning to his feet. "We could have ruled over all of creation together, as father and son."
Glide scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Look, Darth Dumbass, it's too late for the 'join me' speech. Now, either you die or I do."
Reiko leapt forward, passing by Glide and landing at the top of the stairs. He hooked an arm around Revan, pressing his blade to the young god's throat. "You're too slow, Myotis. You should've been able to stop me, but now... this one dies." Keeping a tight grip on Revan, he made his way to the edge of the roof.
"Let go of me!" Revan growled. "I'll rip your lungs out!"
"Quiet, boy." Reiko hissed, slamming Revan to the ground and holding him down with a hindpaw, the blade of his sword still pressed to his throat. "I'm going to kill you here and now. I will show all of you that I am deicide made flesh!"
A bolt of lightning struck the back of Reiko's neck, stunning him for a moment and allowing Revan to wriggle free.
"You coward..." Ricky snarled, his eyes glowing white. "How dare you try to kill my boyfriend... I'll kill you..."
Reiko raised his blade, deflecting a lightning bolt back at Ricky, sending him skidding backwards. "You need a reality check, little boy. You can't possibly kill me."
"I can." Jessica smirked, flicking her kukris from her belt and sending them sailing through the air.
Reiko lifted a paw to his muzzle, stifling a yawn. He knocked the kukris out of the air with his blade, the knives skittering across the roof. "Jessie, dearest, do you have a death wish?"
"You're a fool." Glide stated, palm pressed to Reiko's spine.
Ricky nodded, his own paw over his father's. "A complete idiot."
"You were saying, darling? Something about a death wish?" Jessica asked. "Lightning."
"Water." Ricky said.
"And fire." Glide added, his fingertips already burning Reiko's fur. "The offensive trinity."
A short-range fire blast sent Reiko tumbling toward Jessica, who shot him back with a torrent of electricity.
Ricky slammed his paws into Reiko's chest, a jet of water driving the older male into the ground. He then returned to his father's side, wrapping his arms around the taller Varixian.
"Dang, that seemed a bit easy." Glide commented, running a paw through Ricky's hair. "Kinda anticlimactic."
Then came a sound, quiet at first that gradually grew until it could be heard clearly by everyone atop the fortress; dark, sinister chuckling, coming from Glide's father.
"You think that's enough?" Reiko growled, getting to his feet. "Your pathetic little 'offensive trinity' barely scratched me."
Glide guided Ricky behind him, instinct telling him to keep his son out of harm's way. "I'll just have to up the ante." He said. "Ricky," he added, lowering his voice so only the boy could hear him, "if anything happens to me, I want you to run, okay? Get everyone to safety."
Ricky nodded. "You got it, dad."
Glide removed his cowboy hat, dropping it on Ricky's head. "Good boy. Now stand back, this could get... bloody."
Ricky retreated to the relative safety of the sidelines, watching anxiously. You can do it, dad...
Glide slammed his sword down, the blade biting into the ground and standing upright. "Have you met the true Archangel Myotis!? It starts with Absolute Zero!"
His nails quickly grew longer, becoming the mystic metal claws for the first time in years. The transformation didn't stop there, however; his horns grew longer, as well, what appeared to be black steel plates extending upwards to cover them. Black flames burst from his back, taking the shape of a pair of wings, each beat sending a visible gust of crimson wind forth that scorched the ground. Dark energy began gathering around his claws. "This is the power of the Black Abyss..."
"Even if you could kill me, that same power would devour you." Reiko smirked. "You'll die here, no matter what."
"Wrong." Glide replied, dropping to all fours and beginning to crawl toward Reiko, his claws clicking against the roof. "Oh daddy, dear..." He purred, licking his fangs.
Reiko took an involuntary step backward. "Get up!"
Glide smirked, rising to his feet and weaving a spell in the air, beginning to gather light energy. When the spell was finished, the light and dark energy mixed together, combining into a swirling sphere of power. "The reality, the real reality, of this situation..." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Dude, you are f****n' dead in the water." With energy sphere in paw, he darted forward, arm extended.
Reiko swung his blade up, the conflicting energies forcing both of them apart.
Glide landed on his back, the energy sphere still intact. He took a brief second to glance at it; he had come away from the impact with some of Reiko's red energy, which had already begun to mix with the darkness and light within the sphere. Smirking to himself, he kipped up, lunging at Reiko again.
Reiko hopped backward at the last second, Glide's paw slamming into the roof, the energy sphere detonating and creating a rather large hole in it.
"S**t..." Glide hissed, his transformation beginning to wear off. "That would've finished it for sure..."
"Get back!" Briar barked, moving between Glide and Reiko. "I need to take care of some business of my own." He summoned his staff, using it to knock the nodachi from Reiko's paws, the weapon flying over the edge of the roof and down to the ground below. "You think you can take a swing at my brother-in-law and not get what's coming to you?" He asked, using the hooked staff to yank Reiko forward. "Think again." He growled, a closed fist impacting against Reiko's jaw, the Varixian teetering on the edge of the roof.
Briar grabbed Reiko by the front of his shirt, pulling him away from the edge and slamming him down, delivering a swift kick to his ribs. "You're going to suffer... and then you're going right back into solitary."
"That's enough." Glide said. "You've got your revenge, now move so I can get mine."
Briar nodded, dismissing his staff and moving aside.
Glide dropped to his knees on Reiko's back, looping the older Varixian's tail around one paw, the other grabbing the back of his neck. he rolled onto his back, knees still pressed to Reiko's spine, and gave his neck and tail a series of quick, cruel jerks before kicking him off.
"Glide, check the back-right pocket!" Therali called.
Glide nodded, tucking his paw into the pocket, coming up with a pair of handcuffs. Smirking, he used them to cuff Reiko's paws behind his back. "Why the hell do you have handcuffs?"
Therali shrugged. "They come in handy."
"If you guys don't mind, I'll be taking Reiko back to Hell now." Briar said.
Glide shook his head. "No, not just yet." He hoisted Reiko to his feet, then drove his knuckles into the older Varixian's side. "That's a broken rib." He hissed. "And it's only the beginning of what I have planned for you..."