The Good Boy, Bad Girl, Evil Mom and a Little Heart (WOOF)

"Hmmm." As the seconds passed, Jake felt his body get less tense, felt his muscles relax, and without his knowledge, the red energy faded from view. The fight didn't seem to be getting more dangerous, nor did it seem Johanna was on the ropes anymore. In fact, she seemed to be getting better. Her mind must have calmed, focused entirely on the fight. That was good. Very good.

Jake could only smile and step back. Seems he really wasn't needed. Somehow he hated that he had to say those words. Because he really wanted to be here for Ann, but how the fight was panning out, Madeline would get what she wanted, and Johanna would get what she herself wanted. Maybe. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Jake would turn to Thalia. "I don't know about you. But it is starting to look like the fight has cooled, and might end soon." He kept his eyes closed as he spoke, even with his thoughts, his words. He still looked deadly worried.

Now, as long as nothing came at this moment to attack Madeline or him. It did indeed seem to the boy that the fight would be over soon... Of course, there was the chance Madeline could want more, but he couldn't foresee that. But he had rightly calmed down from his tense self, and he wasn't sure if he was really happy about that, or gravely disappointed.

Thalia let out a small gasp and then clapped with excitement as Johanna began to show some clarity in her attacks. Her mismatched gaze shifted to Jake as he said he felt as though the fight was beginning to cool down. “Oh I think quite the opposite is happening. It seems that things are just starting to heat up. We should probably move somewhere safe.” she wasn’t too worried about herself getting hurt, but she wasn’t sure about the boy. That and she knew just how ‘excited’ Madeline could get.

The great demon queen staggered back after receiving a swift knee to the face. She robbed her nose with a large grin. Johanna’s expression had completely changed on a dime. Madeline could tell by the look in her daughters eyes, that the ashen haired thief was finally in a calmer state of mind. It was time to fight back. A sinister dark aura began to form around the proud queen as she lowered her body into a fighting stance. With a light kick off the ground Madeline propelled herself at her daughter with great speed, her metal arm outstretched as she tried to get a hold of the girl.

Johanna on the other hand was not having any of what her mother was selling. She may have once been considered a goddess and an all powerful being, but she didn’t know Johanna. She didn’t know what the girl was capable and it showed in the surprised expression she had when her hand met with nothing but the air.

While Madeline was fast, Johanna’s mind was faster. Synapses fired off and the roof lit up with a series of images, each one showing what Madeline was capable of doing based on the twitches of her muscles as she kicked off the ground. So far Madeline had been on the defensive, but Johanna had a pretty could feel for her mothers fighting style. She saw the incoming charge long before Madeline had even moved an inch. In a brilliant display of athleticism and acrobatics, Johanna leapt over her mother. In mid flight the young girl managed to attach a strand of webbing to the queens back, and using the momentum of her flip, Johanna sent Madeline flying through the air with an over the shoulder throw.

Madeline tumbled through the air before finally stabilizing herself. The very instant that Madeline managed to stop herself, her right arm shot forward, a ball of pure darkness rocketed from her palm. Again Johanna was able to see this attack coming and rolled out of the way before the blast could reach her. What Madeline and Johanna had failed to realize was that the two spectators were in the balls path.

Thalia’s suspicions had been proven right. Without thinking, she quickly jumped in front of Jake and spread her hair out in all directions. She ended up shielding the boy from the blast as it collided with her back. She let out a small *umph* as the sphere collided with her, but that was it. Madeline wasn’t aiming to kill with that blast, and the sun was out in full force so the dark blast had lost most of it’s strength by the time it hit the tiny demon.

“THALIA! Are you ok? What about the boy? You’re both ok right?” Madeline sounded genuinely concerned. The last thing she wanted to hurt the little demon. She was quite fond of Heart. And of course she had to make sure Jake didn’t get hurt either, lest she earn her daughter’s ire even more.

Jake glanced at Thalia, hoping that her words were not to be true. This fight going on longer was about as painful for him to watch as it was to feel, the feeling of standing by and doing nothing. But while he still stood there, Jake turned his head to watch the fight and boy was it getting better. "Oh," Was all Jake could manage as the two kin fought each other, faster now.

Jake was a bit surprised by Johanna, and how she was able to keep up with all this, his eyes were good at catching fast movement, had gotten better because of the many, many fast beings he had met, and while the two were not as fast as them, they were still certainly fast. Which made this fight more intoxicating to watch, and him more fearful one wrong hit could hurt Johanna more then she would be prepared for.

Seconds later and Madeline made an attack that had Jake surprised. An orb of black like energy formed from her hand and shot out towards him and Thalia. His mind failed to register the fact Johanna dodged it and it was on its way towards them that he didn't move, before it finally caught up and he went to move, a tingle of power shooting up his arms as he did. He stopped however, when a crimson body shot in front of him, hair spread out as Thalia took the energy attack.

Jake paused and stared at the small demon, seeing that physically, she seemed pretty okay. He stepped towards her and reached out. "Are you oka-" He stopped when he noticed his hands, both of them were completely covered in the red like energy, shimmering and dancing, bolts of the red energy seemed to reach towards Thalia and he shot his hands to behind his back. Focusing, Jake felt the power ebb away and when he returned his hands to sight, the red energy had faded away.

"You're right, somewhere safer." Jake spoke, unleashing his wings and scooping up the small demon into his arms before jumping into the air, he'd fly himself and Thalia to a nearby rooftop, away from the one currently being turned into a war-zone, landing and placing the small demoness back on her feet, he'd walk over to the edge of the building so he could continue to watch the fight. "And I'm back to not liking this fight anymore. You might be really durable, but I don't think Johanna is as much. That could have seriously hurt her or worse." Jake complained his thoughts, his hands moving to his arms to rub up and down them, a final mutter of stupid red energy escaped his lips before he continued his watch of the fight.

Thalia gave Madeline a thumbs up as Jake flew her over to the building over. As the demon was placed back on her feet she gave Jake a pat on the shoulder. “You don’t gotta worry about me. It’ll take a lot more than that to put a scratch on me.” Heart then turned to face the rooftop they were previously on. The fight between Madeline and daughter was heating up. Though the view wasn’t as clear from here, Thalia could see what was happening next.

Madeline descended from the sky and plummeted down at Johanna. The teen jumped out of the way just as the demon queen’s metal arm collided with the roof, causing the part of it impacted by the goddesses fist to cave in. For now it seemed as though the tables had turned. Johanna was now the one dodging all of Madeline’s attacks.

“You don’t have to worry. Madeline’s pulling her punches. Trust me I’d know, her and Club train me almost every day….and they do not hold back.” While Thalia may have been trying to put the boy’s mind at ease, there was a strong chance her words were having the opposite effect. That in mind she tried to change the subject. “That thing you do with your hands that makes ‘em all sparkly. What’s the deal with that?”

Madeline pulled her hand free of the smashed cement of the roof and turned to face Johanna. The way she was dodging attacks, it wasn’t natural, not in the slightest. This was beyond superhuman reflexes, there was something else. Madeline needed to test her theory and there was only one way to do that, she’d have to start getting a bit more creative. With a wave of her arm, the demon goddess summoned a shield out of thin air. She grabbed the shield by the rim and began to pace around Johanna. The young girl kept her gaze fixated on her mother. “So that’s how you do it.” she said without giving any more context.

The fact that Johanna tracked Madeline’s every step meant that she had to see the attack coming. With a sinister smile, Madeline winded up and then chucked the shield at her daughter with great ferocity. As the shield sailed in Johanna’s direction, the young thief attempted to do a twirling jump over it. She was about to reach out her hand to web the shield and throw it back at Madeline, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back.

While Johanna was in the middle of her spin, Madeline had lifted her arm into the air and a thin pillar of darkness erupted from the ground and slammed into the girls spine. The impact sent her a few feet into the air.

After being hit the girl had attempted to straighten herself out, but she was met by Madeline in the air. The demon brought her hands together and spiked the teen into the roof. Johanna’s back slammed into the roof but her pain wasn’t over yet. The moment she collided with the ground, Madeline knee came crashing down into the ashen haired girl’s gut, causing her to let out a groan of pain. Johanna’s hands even flew into the air from the impact and in that instant, the demon queen grabbed both of her wrists and squeezed tightly. There was a small crunch sound that came from beneath the girls sleeves, Madeline had crushed her web shooters.

Madeline removed her grip on Johanna’s wrists and pulled her knee from the girls gut and gave her space to get up. “Looks like I’ve gotten your little trick down. And I broke those contraptions of yours. You give up?”

“Go to hell!” Johanna managed to cough as she pulled herself off the ground.

Jake just continued to frown, with Thalia's words making him frown more. He knew that, he had to know that. As he thought before. Madeline was a Queen. A ruler of a realm. You didn't go that far being weak. Of course she was holding back. If Johanna figured that out, she'd be the most angry out of everyone here. Cause Jake was just unhappy with the situation as it was. But then, Thalia asked him something. A change from his asking her things. Of course, it was about the stupid energy that wouldn't leave him alone, worse now then it has ever been before.

"I don't know what you think of my strength. But I'm on comparative levels to Ann... The sparks. The red energy. It makes it so one punch from me.. It makes me, very, very dangerous. But to use it, breaks the body part that is covered in it.. So I can hurt or kill things that normally would laugh down at my normal strength. But I suffer for it. Badly. And lately... It keeps turning on and I don't even realize. Which just makes me a walking bomb." He looks at his hands, clenching them into fists before turning to Thalia.

"But despite that pain, I will use it. And if Madeline does anything to seriously hurt Ann, I will not be afraid to use it on her..." Jake slightly hesitated as he finished his sentence, for it wasn't just him and they who was hit by him that suffered. The resulting force from his attack tended to cause small earthquakes, shatter nearby buildings and blow nearby people away. So he endangered people passing by, his own friends whenever he used it. Such a dangerous power, a great cost, for what could be considered so little... Just one attack.

He'd turn back to the fight, hand still clenched as he watched it unfold, and it seemed he had turned at a bad time, for Johanna was in the midst of an attack, when Madeline used her shadow like powers once more to attack her from below. It was cheap, Jake thought, to use such a power deceptively and he hoped Johanna could recover from it, but just then, Madeline was in the air and sending Johanna back to the roof, soon followed by a jarring knee from Madeline.

At that, he couldn't watch anymore, and he jumped from the spot, quickly rising into the air and landing back on the rooftop he had left mere moments ago. Just in time to see Johanna's web wrist be gripped, his only assumption that Madeline removed Johanna's greatest tactical ability in this fight. He walked towards the two, not realizing his right hand was now covered in red energy. "Ann, you've done enough. It's over. Please." He also looked to Madeline, hoping the war goddess was done with this fight. No matter how much she held back, Jake feared that the war goddess was still using more strength that Johanna could handle, and that many attacks at once...

Thalia seemed confused by the boys description of his power. She’d never heard of such a thing. He seemed to place a lot of faith in it as well. If he thought he was going to interfere in this fight he was wrong. Or rather, Thalia was wrong, as Jake left the safety of the root top to return to where the fighting was going down. Thalia let out a sigh and teleported across the way as well. She attempted to reach for him, to pull him back before he did something he’d regret, but it was too late. Madeline and Johanna both looked in Jake’s direction but both held totally different expressions.

Madeline had a large grin on her face. The boy was pretty fearless to try and demand anything of Johanna. And just what did he think he was going to do? Johanna on the other hand held her gut where Madeline’s knee had been residing just moments earlier. Her glare should have been all that she needed to tell Jake to stay out of this, but she felt she had to say the words for him to. “It’s over when I say it’s over.” she turned her attention back to her mother before spiting blood on the floor beside her.

Though Johanna didn’t seem to be anywhere near the level of strength Madeline expected a child of hers to have, it was nice to see the unwavering determination to continue fighting. Combat was like a drug to her, and it seemed the same was true for Johanna. Madeline was willing to press her daughter, to pull out whatever strength she had laying within her. She was also intrigued to see what Jake’s reaction to Johanna’s decision to keep fighting would be. She shot him a glance only to be called out by her daughter.

“Hey! You keep your eyes over here. Not on him. We’re not done here!”

Madeline looked to Jake one last time before holding her arms out in her daughter’s direction and shrugging. “You heard her. Nothing you can do about it.”

Thalia slowly drew closer to Jake. She was worried he was going to do something foolish, and she didn’t want to see him get hurt. Neither of these kids knew what they were dealing with.

Jake stared down at the girl, who after demanding him to leave, spit fricking blood out. The look on his face said it all. He was pained. He wanted to listen to Johanna, he wanted to give her what she wanted and what she wanted was to keep fighting. But this. This didn't seem like it was going to end well the way it looked now. However... He wasn't stupid. As much as he knew his red energy could solve issues, this wasn't such an issue that could be solved, not because he didn't think the red energy would do anything, but because it would cause trouble with him and Ann.

Taking a deep breath, Jake would look to his hand, where the red energy was formed. Of course it was. Danger seemed to excite it, his emotions, anything even close to worry or anger seemed to make it spike. He shook his reddened hand and focused, letting the red energy vanish, albeit, very slowly, before looking back between Johanna and her mother. "Ann... I want that bloody rematch! So you better not risk anything. Understand?" Jake called out to her, before looking to Madeline. Eyes narrowed with a warning before he began to take steps back, slow steps, till he stepped on hair and he stopped.

Turning to Thalia, Jake motioned to the edge of the building, walking over to get the two demon kin space to continue this... Damned fight. "Don't think me too much an idiot. Attacking demon lords is dangerous work, I know.. I tried to simply stop it.. Before it got too dangerous... And I will if it does.. I have too." He seemed to shake a little as he said his words, his voice tight and strained with emotion, but also underlined with deep anger.

Thalia drifted over to the far side of the building with Jake. The two gave the mother and daughter plenty of room to brawl, but if things continued to escalate, they were going to need a bigger roof. “You are a fool indeed. Angering Madeline is not a smart idea. The last demon to do that ended up getting cursed.” the little demon said, clasping the sides of her face as though the curse was some terrifying thing.

As Johanna and Madeline went back to staring each other down. Johanna rolled up the sleeves to her top and removed the crushed web shooters. While Johanna removed the broken tech something came to the demon queen. There was something that had been on the back of her mind ever since she had been in Johanna’s room. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Well actually there are several things I’d like to ask you, if you’d ever give me a damn chance, but what I want to know is….Where’s the shield you stole from the museum?”

The teen gave her mom a shrewd look. “We finally meet after all these years and the first question you want to ask me is where some stupid shield is? And secondly, YOU WENT INTO MY ROOM?!”

“The middle of a fight hardly seems the appropriate time to ask you what your favorite color is.”

“Same with asking me about what happened to some old shield.”

“You’re dodging the question. You lost it didn’t you?”

“No! I uh… I just…How do you even know I don’t have the shield hidden somewhere huh?”

“I found the statues of me, and the sword….A sword that was paired with a shield. I hardly doubt you’d break up a set.”

“Look it broke ok. Why do you even care?”

“Broke? What do you mean it broke? You’re my daughter. That shield should be indestructible in your hands. Was he holding it?” she asked, nodding her head in Jake’s direction. It didn’t make sense to her that an Arcadian weapon in the hands of her daughter would shatter like glass. She had to have some inkling of mystical energy coursing through her right? Maybe that was the power Madeline was sensing. The dark power that was jut begging to be brought out.

“Maybe I’m not your daughter after all?” she said with a smirk.

Madeline shot her daughter a very unamused glance. “No. You’re my daughter alright. We just gotta draw out that dormant power you’ve got in you.”

The confused look on Johanna’s face was all the confirmation Madeline needed, to know that there was something that Johanna didn’t know about herself. Lowering herself into a fighting stance once more, Madeline’s eyes shot wide with glee. “Lets go!” and with those words the mother and daughter were at it once again, this time they both displayed a balance of offense and defense.

Jake laughed out loud to the warning on not angering Madeline, looking to Thalia with a smirk. "Know. My friend told me the same thing almost." Jake sighed, stepping closer to the edge of the building and looking back at the two who were talking now. Seem's Madeline was asking Ann something. "Thing is. I know. Demons are dangerous. I got my arms and legs broken by this demon lord called Malphas in less then second or so." He looked down to the roof, his shoes, pants. His only clothing remaining and not broken, which was starting to become a norm around his situations. Maybe he was a exhibitionist. Not that he'd ever say that out loud, not for Ann to tease him over with.

Rubbing at his broken shirt, Jake folded his wings back inside his skin before proceeding to remove the shirt, bundling the torn fabric into a ball before chucking it to Thalia, mostly out of boredom, maybe she'd chuck it back. They could play catch while a fight went on beside them, wouldn't that be a laugh. "Honestly... I don't care about what this last demon suffered. If I needed to, I'd attack Madeline without hesitation. I'd fight alongside Johanna if she'd let me. Because if I chose to cower in fear each time something stronger then me came along... I'd be a terrible Nephalem.. A terrible person. A bad friend." Jake looked to the Ann and Madeline, to see that the fight was once more picking up. Again his face creased with worry, but he had to have faith Madeline wouldn't dare do anything too serious to her own daughter.

With Madeline picking up the pace and now recognizing how her daughter was able to so effortlessly dodge her attacks, she pressed the young teen against the ropes. Johanna had lost the ability to use her web shooters since her mother had crushed them just moments ago, so using them to maneuver around the rooftop was out of the question. Because of this she had to basically remain in close quarters with the goddess of war. It was not a very fun position to be in. The ashen haired teen could tell her mother was messing with her. She knew Madeline had figured out a way around her precognitive abilities, but still, the demon queen only chose to exploit the weakness very sparingly.

The young thief also knew Madeline was pulling her punches. The blows that Johanna had gotten hit with, were nothing compared to the level of the pain she had been inflicted just a few moments ago. As a mater of fact, her stomach still stung and ached with every twist and rotation of her torso. It was like Madeline had eliminated all of Johanna’s strategical advantages all within a single flawless attack. This woman truly was the devil.

While the mother and daughter continued to have their brawl, Thalia looked on with concern and anticipation. She was worried about Johanna’s safety, but was also half expecting something amazing to happen. Her concentration was severed when she felt a light pat against the side of her head. Her head snapped in Jake’s direction, before she realized his shredded shirt resting by her feet. “What was that for?” she said acting all innocent and cute, all the while sneakily picking up the shirt with her hair. Then with the sneakiness of a ninja she flung the shirt up from the floor and back at the boy’s face.

While Johanna tried to keep a composed look about her, Madeline grinned and smiled with excitement as she exchanged blows with her daughter. Each hit stung more that the last which meant that her push to draw out her daughters sleeping strength was working. Though at this rate, the two would be fighting well into the night. Madeline had to find a way to accelerate the process without hurting her child to much.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself a bit too much. Don’t think I’m going to lose to you.”

“I admire your confidence, but there is no way you win this. Think you’ll find it in your frozen heart to forgive me after I beat you?” the demon queen said, blowing a cheeky kiss at her daughter.

Johanna let out a low groan of anger before going on the offensive. Her body was almost on auto pilot. While she was there and felt the desire to fight, it was almost like she was a spectator to her own fight as well. She felt her body temperature rising with each passing moment and her attacks were coming out faster, almost faster than she could think about them. That being said, this autopilot style of fighting was still nowhere near being enough to bring the queen to her knees.

Despite being pressed by the fluidity of Johanna’s attacks, Madeline was merely waiting for an opportunity to one up the girl, and that came after a punch. Just as Johanna’s hand extended fully, Madeline quickly grasped it and pulled Johanna forward. The girl came to a sudden stop as Madeline elbow made contact just below her sternum. The blow knocked the air right out of the ashen haired teen but the pain did not stop there. Soon after Madeline’s elbow made contact, she pulled the girl’s arm downward. At the same time, the goddess brought her left knee up and slammed it into the girls gut.

Johanna quickly doubled over in pain as she let out a series of gasps for air and coughs.

“It’s over Johanna. Don’t try to get up. You fought well.”

Johanna managed to shift her gaze up from the floor up to her mother. “Don’t you dare.”

The young girl chose to ignore her mother, and slowly struggled to her feet. Her arm wrapped around her gut. Johanna’s mouth hung agape as she continued to take in deep breaths of air. In her mind she knew she was fighting an uphill battle, but she wasn’t going to quit. She refused to quit until she could no longer move. The real question was, how far was her mother willing to go?

Jake heard Thalia retort to his shirt attack in a cutesy way, causing him to glance at her with a subtle shift of his head. She seemed to be looking innocent, almost too innocent. He would have shrugged it off if not for the very corner of his vision, he sighted his shirt coming at his head. He might have missed it if he hadn't glanced the way he did, just barely catching the fabric flying at him

It wasn't an attack, it was a retaliation, a fun retaliation. Jake understood that, his mind understood no threat came from the light fabric flying at his head. But his muscles instantly reacted. Maybe it was the stress of the fight going on mere meters away, or maybe Jake was jumpy. Whatever his reason, his head moved back too quickly for such an attack as a shirt and his right hand shot out, the shirt passing by his head and flying into his hand. All the while his sight shifted to Thalia. Eyes narrowed, before softening. He shouldn't have acted like that. It was just a shirt.

Letting out a sigh, Jake shifted his sight back to the fight. Johanna was all in, offensive without much thought into it, at least, that was what he felt. He hadn't known the girl to be trained in any sort of martial arts, just gymnastics, like him. Of course, that kind of sport did a hell of a lot to enhance your reflexes, something he could attest to for the both of them.

But sport trained reflexes only did so much when compared to a being possibly hundreds of thousands of years old and calling themselves a goddess of war, and soon enough Madeline made her move, easily breaking though the defense that was never there and winding Johanna with a elbow, quickly followed by another gut hit, this time with the goddess's knee. Jake winced at what Johanna must have been feeling, most certainly thanks to her previous hit she took there. He even heard Madeline tell the young woman to stop this time. But of course, Ann wouldn't, too damn stubborn and Jake wasn't sure how far she'd go till she stopped.. And he didn't want to see that. "I can't stay here any longer." Jake stated, looking to Thalia. "Just.. Let me do this, trust."

Taking a deep breath and not waiting for a reply, Jake walked towards Madeline and Johanna, knowing the ashen haired girl would see him if she took the time to notice, and hopefully she'd see the determined look on his face that could match her go away. Cause this time... He wouldn't. "I know me interrupting this is getting old... But Ann. If you won't quit." His eyes shifted to Madeline, and he relaxed into a stance. One could tell it wasn't exactly professional, and would only really help to balance, but it was the best combat stance he had, one he had picked up from Sammy in a way, seeing him fight. "Might as well let this pigeon help the spider. And I am not taking no for an answer. So puff that chest, ignore the pain and get ready. We got a war goddess to punch."

Jake stared hard at Madeline, his feet ready to move, a torn shirt loosely gripped in his right hand. He was half naked and ready for a fight. No matter what the spider told him off with, he was determined to end this one way or another, and if he had to get his ass kicked to do so. So damn be it.

The tiny demon hunter let out a small giggle as she tossed the shirt back at Jake. The happy demeanor of the two quickly changed however, when they turned their attention back to the fight at hand. A gasp escaped Thalia’s lips before she then cupped both her hands over her mouth. Madeline may not have been using her full strength, but she was systematically removing Johanna’s ability to fight with each hit she landed. It was a lesson Thalia had learned well. Madeline’s ability to spot her opponents strengths, and then eliminate them was what made her so effective, and why she was heralded as a goddess of war.

Thalia’s gaze shifted as she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye, and heard Jake speak. She reached a hand out to stop him, but found herself stopping just short of doing so. He was a stubborn boy. Johanna was a stubborn girl. There was no way this was going to turn out well for either of them. *Why can’t people just listen to me for once.* she thought to herself as she watched Jake approached Johanna and Madeline once again.

The demon queen stood tall and looked over her hunched over daughter. “You’re in no condition to continue fighting, no matter how much you want to. Just quit. We can always do this again when you’ve recovered.”

Johanna glared at her mom. The look was all Madeline needed to see to know that no matter what she said, the girl was going to ignore her. It was the euphoric sensation of battle that was doing this. The ashen haired girl craved battle because it was in her blood, but she did not know how to fight, or when to stop. On top of that the powers that would have helped her, were nowhere near being awoken. It looked as though Johanna was going to say some sort of smart ass retort, but her concentration shifted to the approaching spectator. “I thought I was clear. I don’t need help!”

The ashen haired girl struggled to stand straight up. The movement of her abdominal muscles caused her to wince. She knew she was in no condition to keep fighting. Her mother was to strong. Just what she expected from someone who had ancient civilizations carving figures in her honor. Still, despite the apparent uphill battle that she knew she couldn’t win, she wanted to keep fighting. She wasn’t trying to prove anything, she wasn’t trying to act tough for her mom or Jake. No she was still fighting because she couldn’t tear herself away from it. She felt another twinge of pain as she attempted to inhale. This pain was something she didn’t want to see Jake going through. She knew he’d try to go all out, she knew he’d try to use that power of his, and she knew that Madeline was no way comparable to a decrepit water tower. The boy was going to get hurt, and Johanna couldn’t have that on her conscious, especially when she knew he was only butting in because of her.

“I swear it’s like you’ve flown into too many windows head first or something. This isn’t your fight!”

Madeline arched a bow at the boys intrusion into the fight. Ever since she had laid her sinister eyes on him, she knew he wasn’t normal. He had a similar dark aura surrounding him, much like her daughter. She was curious to know what kind of power the boy was hiding. And judging by the look on his face and his tone of voice, no matter what Johanna or her said, Jake was determined to join in this fight.

“The more the merrier!” she said with a wicked smile.

“Oh I can’t watch!” Thalia said to herself, covering her eyes.

"Eh. You're right. This isn't really my fight. But can you blame me? I'm just a stupid hero after all. Arn't I?" Jake called out cheekily to Ann, before focusing his attention back on Madeline. Already he knew that this was a bad move, that this was a bad situation. That he could do whatever he wanted, and as long as Madeline stayed as she was, not serious. He could maybe do something.

But if he used his red energy, he would be risking a hell of a lot. Even a single finger might excite the demonic woman. But the way his red energy was acting up, he wasn't sure he could control it enough to concentrate it like so. But to fight Madeline without it? Required he hit hard, yet keep on the move and not let himself be open, with that in mind, Jake began walking towards Madeline, hands raised, before in a sudden burst, Jake pushed off the ground flung himself at the demon woman, feet low to the ground as he shot towards her. A frontal assault, which everyone would know would be the most stupid thing to do. Only, it wasn't his plan.

Mid his momentum towards the Queen, Jake pulled his right hand back and flung the shirt gripped in it forward towards her face, knowing the small fabric would buy him a second at most, he slammed a foot into the roof to stop his lunge mid way and pushed off it, flipping his body so that he was facing downwards and passing over Madeline, Jake would attempt to reach both hands out for the horns that adorned the demon goddess's head.

Hoping to grapple both of them so that he'd force himself back to the ground while rising both hands, which would lead to flipping the demon over him where he'd slam her on the ground right by Johanna, ready for an attack by the ashen haired girl. Of course, a plan like that required that he made contact with the demon woman's horns, which meant he hoped his shirt did it's job. Otherwise, he'd be an open target if he couldn't recover fast enough, and the war goddess wasn't someone he would think let an opportunity like that pass.

Madeline’s smirk quickly faded. She took a more serious expression as the boy began to pace towards her. Her amber eyes studied him up and down. One detail caught her attention instantly. He was gripping his tattered shirt in one hand. It was obvious that the garment played some role in his plan. When he launched himself at the goddess the smirk returned. He had to know she was a goddess of war. He had to have known that she had just about seen every tactic used in battle against her. The demon queen brought her left arm back and the sword Johanna had stolen from the museum materialized in her hand.

As the shirt flew through the air, she lunged forward, her body low to the ground as she put all her momentum into a stabbing motion. At the same time a fragile tendril shot out of her shadow in an arch aimed right at the airborne boy. She was to low for his hands to grip onto much but maybe a few strands of her hair. Meanwhile she had covered all her bases in one clean move. She cleaved through the shirt in case he had decided to foolishly charge head on, and the tendril was to protect her from an overhead attack.

What Madeline wasn’t really expecting was for Johanna to actually be able to move yet. She had followed close behind Jake. Her spacial precognition managed to alert her to the danger of the incoming stab through the shirt so she slid along the ground, narrowing avoiding getting impaled by the blade. She then swung her left lag in an attempt to sweep the demon queen off her feet. Madeline was knocked off balance by the sweep, but managed to use the momentum of her fall to roll to the side before shooting back up to her feet.

Johanna scrambled to get to her feet as soon as she succeeded in knocking her mother down, but the pain in her abdomen made her quite sluggish to do so. Taking advantage of this, Madeline made a small motion with her right hand and a thick pillar of ice shot up from the ground and hit the ashen haired girl in her already sore gut. The impact sent her up into the air. Madeline then turned to locate Jake who had either dodged or gotten hit by her tendril. Once she had located him, she decided to be a little disrespectful by employing his own tactic against him.

She’d throw the sword with all her might in his direction and would then rush right behind it. In the middle of her dash she’d create a slick path of ice. She’d drop to one knee and slide along the patch while summoning a small shield onto her right arm. Once she was in range she’d swing the shield downwards, looking to take the boy’s legs out from below him.

Meanwhile Thalia sat of to the side peeking through her fingers. She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want her queen getting mad at her, but if she didn’t do something to stop this fight soon, the two teens were going to end up seriously injured. The tiny demon went from peeking through her fingers to biting her nails, this whole ordeal was so stressful, nothing like hunting demons at all.

Like all plans, nothing went to fruition. Her head had ducked too low for him to grab, leaving with with nothing but air, but not only that, he saw a tendril of shadows come at him. Remembering that the shadow like tendrils from Sammy seemed to hurt him more then he had  liked, Jake unleashed his wings and pushed to the side, his main body avoiding the blunt of the tendril attack.

But his wing caught it, and he hissed as the wing bent back in pain, while also causing him to lose balance in flight, sending him spinning back to the ground. Thankfully, Jake caught himself and landed on all fours, the wings folding back under his skin slowly with with some bruised pain however, he wasn't going to be using them to fly for a while. He looked to Madeline and Johanna just in time to watch the girl be shot into the air with a pillar of ice. How many powers did this fricking demon lord have?

Standing himself up, Jake watched as she flung a sword towards him with a lot of power behind it, replicating the exact move he had done mere moments ago only with a heavy weapon thrown with such force it moved faster then his shirt ever could have done but it also meant she would be along side ready to attack while he was busy with the sword. Had he been slower, Jake would have not been able to avoid such a sword so easily, however, the boy almost instantly dropped back onto all fours with force and speed, cracking the roof with the action. His eyes aimed forward, he caught what Madeline was doing with her ice and apparent weapon summoning powers.

Kicking off his feet, Jake pushed off his hands as his body went into a hand stand and he sailed over Madeline, where he twisted his body back to face her, and readied his fall, feet hitting the ice floor she had made, he pushed his hands to it and used the ice to slide back to where normal roof was and where Madeline had once been. He moved to the left of the ice floor and lunged once more at the Queen, his right hand ready to bring a heavy punch in her direction.

Much to his distaste however, the fist began to form a spiral of red energy over it, forming over his hand and spreading up his arm. Panicking, Jake slammed his feet onto the ground and skidded along the roof towards Madeline, his punch purposely thrown off course and closer to his chest so he could avoid making contact with her. But not wanting to let this movement go to waste, Jake instead would spin his body with the momentum of the punch and lift his left foot, turning his lunge into a skid along impromptu backwards roundhouse axe kick. The foot coming down towards Madeline's neck. If she moved out of the way, Jake would be in for a bad tumble, where the risk his hand would make contact with the roof became very dangerous.

Madeline watched as the boy flipped over her. He was quite acrobatic much like her daughter. Still, this wasn’t the time to be admiring the skill of others. Having missed her mark, Madeline used the momentum of her uppercut to rise to her feet and simultaneously turn around. She was now back on her feet and her gaze quickly tracked Johanna and then the boy. The ashen haired teen was beginning her descent back down to the roof. And the boy was already moving back on the offensive. This two versus one was basically a one and a half on one with how badly Johanna had been pummeled to this point, and that pain was only going to continue.

Madeline quickly took the shield off her arm and chucked it at her falling daughter. The large metal disk would slam into Johanna’s ribs with a hollow metal noise. The impact sent the girl flying a few feet away before she slammed into the ground where she let out a loud gasp. While Johanna’s ribs had taken a pounding previously, the young girl found this most recent attack didn’t hurt as much as the previous blows. As a mater of fact most of the pain seemed to had faded.

Looking up Johanna noticed that Jake was running head on into Madeline. His fist was alight and the girl knew what was coming. She tightened her fist knowing the pain he was going to be in if that blow connected, but to her surprise the boy tried to halt his advance and change up his attack. The awkward motion of it said that the red punch wasn’t what Jake was going for in the first place. This presented a new problem now however. Because Jake had to shift all his wait around after he tried to slow down, he had lost a lot of power behind his kick.

Madeline’s eyes were fixated on the boy. Her eyes lit up with curiosity at the sparking red energy around his fist. She was about to see what secrets the boy was hiding, or at least that’s what she thought till he began to skid along the rooftop. Apparently he didn’t want to use this power. Was he afraid he’d hurt Johanna’s mother? Or was it going to do more harm than good? These questions only intrigued Madeline further. She’d have to try and draw out such an attack again, but for now she had to teach him and Johanna a lesson.

As the boys leg came crashing down, she reached up with her metal hand and caught his leg around the calf muscle. At the same time Johanna attempted to catch her mother off guard. She reached down for the shield Madeline had thrown at her, and decided to return the favor, by throwing it back.

With a thrust of her metal arm she’d throw Jake backwards before shooting a blast of dark energy in his direction. She’d then turn around at catch the shield her daughter threw at her. “Oh come now. I thought it was time to get serious? Surely you aren’t giving it your all.” she said, shooting a glance in Jake’s direction. Her intention was clear, she wanted the boy to attack her again. Maybe this time he’d use that strange red attack for real.