Sea of the Shadow; Void and Oblivion

I knew we had to keep moving, the lady had told me to keep moving many times; however my limbs were throbbing painfully from the all consuming cold of the snowstorm despite my thick clothing, as well as from the deep ache in my muscles which had now been subjected to what seemed like an eternity of non-stop running from the now distant crash.

The hand of the lady ahead of me who despite the fact she was wearing a large brown jacket, felt just as cold as the snow surrounding us, and she could barely be seen or heard in the howling blizzard. She constantly pulled me forward, my hand in hers dragging me onward so hard that more than once I fell face-first into the wet snowfall.

‘Keep running Eli,’ she yelled back to me over the howling of the winds, ‘You have to keep running.’ I could not often clearly see her face in the snowdrift; however, from time to time I could catch a glimpse of her long silver hair waving in the blizzard or when she turned to coax me onwards, the deep pools of her green eyes.

A sudden gust again caused me to lose my footing and fall to the ground, this time the fall wrenched my hand from the lady’s before I fell backwards. She turned around to help me then, and for a second between the gusts of wind I caught the worried expression on her stunningly beautiful face and the fear in her eyes. She walked behind me, tugging off the brown jacket and wrapping it about my shoulders. The lady then bent down to my height and whispering soothingly into my ear saying, ‘we have to keep moving, Dear Heart, if it catches –‘

A deafening explosion and blast wave of snow interrupted her kind words, sending the lady and again myself hurtling towards the ground.

It took me a few moments before I fulling regained my senses and found the strength to lift myself up from the snow; I caught a heavy coppery smell in the wind and saw that my clothing was now drenched in red. I turned back towards the source of the explosion, seeking to catch a glimpse of the lady through the snow. I didn’t need to look hard.

Strewn across the snow around me in chunks was now the lower half of the ladies body, the top half now dangled in the hand of a huge metallic giant, dripping large quantities of blood which pooled beneath it. The giants face was featureless, excepting a single glowing blue eye, which turned to stare down at me.

I screamed as its bloody hand reached for me.

-----

Eli Reed jerked forward from beneath the covering of his sweat-slicked bedsheet, face flushed crimson red and dripping as though from fever. His brilliant and piercing blue-grey eyes were now perceivable only through a misty red haze in the dim rays of morning sunlight that had managed to creep through the blinds of the window. For a brief moment, as his mind ran once more through the final moments of his nightmare, Eli had the urge to vomit. Narrowly, he managed somehow to force the bile back down his throat and shuddered visibly from the sickening taste.

“Bad dreams again, Magus?” came a small, young-sounding voice from the doorway. Eli looked across the mattress to the opening on the far side of the room, taking stock of the diminutive figure standing there. Leaning against the door frame was what appeared to be a young girl, barely a teenager in looks and easily mistaken for a prepubescent considering her small stature and tomboyish figure, were it not for a couple glaring inconsistencies that flushed that possibility down the toilet. For one, she had a lit cigarette in her mouth, the grey smoke of which was curling through the room with its reeking odour. Her clothes were also blatantly adult; torn blue jeans, and a black tube-top that revealed her entire midriff and arms up to the shoulder. Her knowing golden-eyed gaze, filled utterly to the brim with thinly veiled condescension was a look that no girl under thirteen on this Earth could possibly duplicate.

Despite her appearance, however, this was no true girl— she wasn’t even human. Beneath the illusory glamour of a pale, perfect human face and shock of silver-white hair was a reptilian creature that would probably be right at home in the deepest bowels of a volcanic hell. Not to mention she was, quite literally, older than dirt.

Eli glared first at the cigarette smoke, before he turned his gaze upon the ‘girl’. “How long have you been standing there, Aethyr?”

”Long enough to line your lungs with carcinogenic gas, monkey-boy” she issued a small, dismissive shrug. “Up and at ’em, Reed. Coffee doesn’t brew itself y’know.”

The half-asleep magus glared menacingly at the cigarette in Aethyr’s mouth. ”I’d hoped you would quit smoking in the apartment… It’s not like you’re addicted and can’t bloody wait until you’re outside to have a smoke.”

”You can hope all you like… you could also sodomize yourself with a rusty garden-spade if your so inclined— both are about as likely to occur.” she said dismissively, taking the thin cylinder from her mouth and tapping it gently so that the dissolving tip of burnt ash fell to the wooden floor.

”You’re such a poet, Aeth.”

The silver-haired girl smirked, then sighed theatrically. ”Ahh, all this talent and yet I can’t brew a decent cup of coffee… so get your ass in gear Magus.”

”Remind me later to hunt down whoever decided to appoint you as my ‘parole’ officer, tie them to a chair and then beat them with freaking oranges until their skin is yellow and green, scary little dragon girl.” Eli dragged himself out from beneath the heavy covers and made for the dresser situated against the wall.

What a wonderful way to start the day…

-----

That charming little gutter-mouthed layabout was Aethyr; exactly what she is I’m not entirely sure, but for the last decade she’s supposed to have been keeping watch on me for the Magi Conclave— a bigger group of amoral, secretive, self-absorbed and power-hungry spell-slingers I’ve never encountered. Pretty much all she ever does is drink my coffee, stink up the corridors of our shared apartment, then lie around the house being surly and melancholy. Why? She won’t tell me… the last time I tried to find out, she near bit my hand off— literally.

Beneath that façade of a cute human face— an illusory glamour made with such ease of skill, it boggles my mind at times to think how she manages it— her appearance is distinctly inhuman. Her real skin is dark grey and almost black, and all her features have a draconic caste to them, as though she were some kind of half-human dragon hybrid— which for all I know might be the case, some experiment of the Magi Conclave or the descendant of a human and a transformed dragon from back when they were still common enough around the Earth. Her body is scaled, she has a pointed tail. She still isn’t very tall; no more than five, perhaps five and a half feet in height. She usually keeps her long black wings pulled in close behind her or wrapped around herself like a cloak so as not to bump someone and spoil the illusion of being a normal person. She has powerfully muscled legs which are double-jointed like the hind legs of a quadruped. Her real eyes are a golden, reptilian and utterly alien, her nose slightly stubby and her ears larger and rounder than a human’s would be. Her hair is still pretty much the same in either form. On more than one occasion she’s threatened to gut me if I cross her— the last of which was when I confiscated her smokes… I still have the claw marks…

Fortunately, I rarely interact with her except at the apartment. She never follows me to work— though how she’s supposed to ‘monitor’ me for the Conclave if she’s never around, I haven’t the foggiest clue.

-----

Eli left the apartment about an hour after waking; the chill morning wind swept down the almost deserted street with a gust that sent Eli's long brown coat ruffling against his long, jean-clad legs. Eli was tall, with an athletic build that came from regular exercise and physical labour. His face was handsome and matched his twenty-nine years of age. His hair was brown, cut short, with a stubble of facial hair present around his mouth and jaw. Today, he wore his favourite enchanted coat in addition to his concealed shield bracer and force rod tucked into the inside of his heavy outer garment— not that he was expecting any immediate trouble; but like most magi, he was almost paranoid about being prepared for any possible eventualities. He wore a small platinum disc-shaped amulet borne on a light chain around his neck, a family keepsake and beneath his coat he was wearing a stout, black cotton shirt and grey singlet through which the cold waves of incorporeal air pierced his body painfully. Eli had only just come back to Chicago from a little expedition to Egypt and was still readjusting to the cold— he’d been tracking down some leads on a rare tome containing research notes about the creation of artificial limbs and homunculi— he’d been gone for weeks, so he hoped nobody had needed him urgently whilst he was away from the store.

To the public, Eli Reed ran a fairly normal antiques store. He did occasionally acquire and trade antiques throughout his research trips to maintain some available stock and keep up appearances— but the stores real purpose was known only to individuals of the supernatural and heroic communities. In reality, the antiques store served as a cover for his Sanctum, his thaumaturgical laboratory. In that miniature magical stronghold, Eli had the equipment and the resources to accomplish most spells and rituals at need, as well as create magical devices of varying type or power and produce various alchemical and magical products and potions. He often provided heroes with a safe haven to recover from their injuries, or to obtain equipment or aid in their endeavours. The Sanctum was protected by numerous magical wards and sentinel devices to prevent magical and physical intrusion by unwelcome guests of both the mundane and supernatural varieties— topping even the apartment within which he lived. When he turned the corner, coming around to the final stretch of pavement before reaching the building that the store was part of, Eli saw something that he wouldn’t have expected in a hundred years.

His Sanctum— practically an impenetrable fort with defences and traps that would give it more protection than the pentagon—had a gaping hole blown right through the entrance. The doorframe and parts of the wall had been gutted. Someone had wanted, or needed, to get inside very badly, and Eli wasn’t particularly eager to meet them.

Eli stood in shocked awe, thinking silently in a single deeply disturbed statement. Bloody… freaking… hell…

The archmagus looked around; usually such damage would attract some kind of attention, even this early in the morning. The streets were practically deserted— what few pedestrians were present were seemingly oblivious to the presence of the gaping hole in the buildings side. Somebody was playing mind games around here and he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to join in the fun. He brought out his force rod, gripping it with a sweaty palm, and returned his attention to the opening.

Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly... bloody hell... that is supposed to me my freaking parlour!

Taking several steps towards the gaping maw before him, he peaked inside. It was pitch black— unnaturally so in fact. He raised a hand and spoke softly a lilting Aria— an incantation.

” Lux lucis adeo meus suffragium , fulsi continuo pro mihi.”
Light come to my aid, shine forth before me.

” Regimen Lumen.”
Guiding lantern.

A small white orb rose up from his extended free hand, drifting to a position a few feet in front of him. Several dozens red-slitted eyes reflected the light back, waiting in the dark. Eli heard a series of low growls and the scratching of teeth and claw.

” Holy—”

Two of the creatures leapt out from the shadow towards him, interrupting his blasphemous exclamation of surprise, jumping on powerfully muscled legs with inhuman speed. Their stringy muscled white arms were extended forwards and had wickedly curved claws. Their faces were a demonic travesty, hairless mounds with six eyes each and slimy rotten jaws. Spittle dripped off translucent needled teeth covered with the half-chewed flesh of their own lips.

” CONTEGO!” Eli shouted at once as their claws reached for him. The barrier of his shield bracer flashed into life, glowing bluish white. As the creatures and shield came into contact, there was a brilliant white and blinding flash that sent the first two creatures flying backwards from where they came. The rest of the creatures seemed surprised and momentarily dazed.

” BLOODY HELL!” Eli turned and ran back down the street. The demonic creatures quickly leapt after him on all fours, across the pavement and climbing along the building walls. They were fast, following closely upon his heels.

What a freaking wonderful day! Eli thought to himself sarcastically, as he ran for dear life.

The train rolled in on a long rail from Montana. The rolling blue skies traded in their majestic clouds for the gray lining and soulless buildings of the big city. The sun rose high through the burned out projects and empty playgrounds of an area of town lost to time and crime. She always knew the east was trouble. Not the romantic kind, the honorable kind; no, this city hid it's villains where you could never find. You always needed to be one step ahead of the large, four legged demon chasing you down the street.

Elaine snapped out of her daze for long enough to catch the image of a young man fleeing from creatures he looked hopelessly mismatched against. Elaine stood strong in her stature with a pair of brown boots that demanded respect. Black tights just above her knees ran into a jean skirt held in place by a belt with two pistols sitting pretty accompanied by a lasso. She left her plaid shirt unopened, sporting an image of Ein from Cowboy Bebop underneath; her loose, black pigtails rested solely upon either of her shoulders laying across a pink and blue bandanna tied around her neck. And finally her trusty brown straw hat cast a staggering shadow over her slanted eyes.

"You interrupted my inner monologue." She spoke in a high voice with a slight twang. She unwrapped her lasso and threw it around the legs of one of the creatures chasing the man. She leaped into position to take the creature to the ground and hogtie the demon, with it's face away from her body. She spun away from the subdued creature and quickly drew out her pistol and fired at a shot at each of the creatures to try and repel them. Her bullets flew threw the air and presented a barrage of cover for the two. "We should probably look for somewhere a little more stable to continue...living." She maintained the twang in her accent and projected it more than usual during the last word. As the snarl of a demon came from the basement she pushed the rounds of her pistol out to see she was empty. "Like, now." Her phony accent dropped as she turned and grabbed his wrist to grab him. "I have no idea where I'm going. so If you would like to lead that would be lovely." Her accent had more problems keeping up with her conversation than the poor man behind her.

Walking down the street, Dr.Everyone peered at buildings. Ever since him and Pain fought, his laboratory and a good chunk of Chicago had been burnt to the ground.

"Not that one, no, nope, that would never do. Oh please! Are you kidding me?"

His rather negative review of possible new laboratory locations was interrupted by the sound of gunshots. And the sound of..animals? Either way, these things didn't usually happen anymore. Criminals had moved on because Dr.Everyone owned crime in Chicago. Only one might dare come into his city. A superhuman.

"Looks like a rookie hero got them self mixed up in the wrong town. I'll have to sort them out."

He took off to the sky, and flew towards where he saw a pack of animal-like creatures chasing two people down the street.

"That woman seems familiar. Perhaps it will come to me later, but now, I have havoc to wreak."

He flew down to the ground and touched down behind the creatures. Definitely creatures, not animals. Dr.Everyone, now knowing what they looked like, morphed so he too looked like one of them. he raced past the rest and flew into the air, landing in font of the two. And he spoke.

"Woah woah woah. Where is the fire? Oh here it is! Inside me!"

Dr.Everyone, looking like one of the creature, breathed fire at the two.

"Like pigs to the slaughter."

Today was a chilling morning.Something Sean liked way better than the warm ones anyway.Just another day of looking for something that even he didnt what it was.With the hood of his tattered jacket up he walked through the mostly empty street.Well empty except for a few pedestrians,and a man being attacked by."wait a minute what the hell are those things!"He exclaimed a bit too loud.Tightening the grip on a large water bottle he held in his hand.They were some strange demons or whatever they are.Then there was this girl tying one of them up,and a demon burning some of them up lie they were nothing."maybe I can join in on this"he wondered unscrewing the cap off of the water bottle.Followed by a thin stream of water shooting from the bottle at one of the creatures only across the street from him.Hardening into ice only a few inches fron its head.Peircing its skull and causing it to fall down.Before returning to liqued and returning to the bottle.
"Well thats one down i suppose"

Eli wasn’t sure where the Asian in the cowgirl get-up had come from— but he wasn’t about to look a gift-horse in the mouth under the present dire circumstances. There appeared to be about a dozen creatures in all that had pursued him before the teenage girl let loose a barrage of gunfire with her pistol, causing the creatures with withdraw back several metres back towards the gaping maw in Eli’s sanctum and alternatively groan or snarl their rage for several moments due either due to the injuries inflicted or in fear of the sudden gunshot noises.

"We should probably look for somewhere a little more stable to continue...living." the girl said in an accent like one from an old western movie. Eli at this point was rather flummoxed— and a little impressed— by her sheer audacity in confronting a batch of Naegling demons with a mere pistol— not to mention hog-tying one with her lasso. The creatures weren’t very tough, and were as stupid as tree stumps— easily startled— but they had a tendency to ignore bullet wounds that weren’t head-shots and keep on coming once they got over their initial fright. Decapitation was usually the most effective way of killing the little bastards.

The girls pistol began clicking, indicating that it was empty of ammunition— she emptied the gun and spilt the spent casings onto the pavement. "Like, now." The girl had now lost the western accent which had apparently been an affectation, and talking pretty much normally— although her voice was edged with concern. She grabbed his wrist and started to pull him along. "I have no idea where I'm going. So If you would like to lead that would be lovely."

”Bloody-flaming brimstone… this is doing wonders for my persecution complex.” the mage yelled sarcastically, before he raised his foot-long force rod towards a batch of the little freaks that had regained their nerve and were again fast approaching. He briefly shut his eyes for an instant, gathering and willing his prana into the magical evocation focus, causing the spiralling patterns and runes upon its surface began to glow a eyrie sapphire blue which grew to envelop and dance around Eli like miniature sparks of lightning. When Eli opened his eyes, they shone brightly, radiating power and revealing a glimpse of the energy held in check within him.

”VI PERCUTERE!” the magus snarled, eyes briefly increasing in intensity as the power of the magic drove through him. The air in front of the rod rippled, as the rod generated a ‘force strike’—a spell producing a wave of pure kinetic energy that drove through the cool morning air as little more than a barely perceptible shimmer. The surge of kinetic energy raced across the pavement back towards the approaching demons— re-aligning the vector values of every particle it encountered and driving before it a mass of air careening back towards a one of the unsuspecting demons. When the wall of force slammed into the creature there was an audible crunch as every bone in its body was immediately shattered and it was slammed backwards into one of its fellows like it had just been hit by a truck moving at 200 miles per hour.

”Take that you slimy, drooling little fiends!” Eli shouted back towards the little monsters before taking off with the girl back down the street. The nine or so remaining demons— not counting the one all tied up— barely glanced at their fallen comrades before renewing their pursuit, screeching in anger. ”This way!” the man shouted, tugging the girl along for a few steps before letting go so she could keep her balance. It was only a few blocks back to his apartment— if they could make it, the wards would be more than able to keep the little monsters out— assuming that whatever was responsible for the hole in his Sanctum didn’t also show up to lend them a hand.

The two runners barely made it halfway past one of the blocks before they were presented with another challenge. One of the demons had apparently flown and dropped down right in front of them. What the heck… Naegling can’t fly… at least nobody ever told me the little pricks could fly! That’s cheating!

"Woah woah woah. Where is the fire? Oh here it is! Inside me!" Announced the creature as it set down, its voice mocking them menacingly before it let loose a belch of condensed flame upon the mage and his female companion. Intense red-hot fire rushed towards the pair, driving away the cool sensation of the early morning and replacing it with sweltering heat.

"Like pigs to the slaughter." Eli barely had time to renew the effect of his shield bracer by shouting out the command word. ”CONTEGO!” The bluish-white orb leapt back into existence, encasing the pair in a protective sphere of light that immediately shone white and blinding once the hot flame impacted its surface. Eli gritted his teeth as sweat began to bead down his face from the effort of maintaining the spell— the fire the demon was producing was unbelievably intense, rapidly draining his store of energy— it wouldn’t be long until the shield failed and the pair would be roasted alive.

”That’s it… the universe really is out to get me today. Say… cowgirl… now would be an absolutely awesome time to reload that gun of yours… please tell me you’ve got more ammo for that thing!”

The nine other demons were catching up behind the pair whilst they were being held in place by Dr. Everyone in demon form. Seconds before they reached the barrier being projected by Eli, one of the demons in the lead had a spike of ice driven right through its skull, causing it to fall to the ground dead as a doornail. This timely assistance went unnoticed by Eli, who was to busy trying to maintain his shield and prepare himself for another spell.

”If you could lay down some more cover fire through the shield… anything… that would be fantastic! Try to distract the demon whilst I cast a spell.” Eli shut his eyes and began to mutter a lengthy incantation in Latin in order to produce the desired magical effect. Through his mind, magical images, spell-forms, symbols and the arrangement of forces were being processed in order to prepare his body for the performance of the magic.

“Gaia ... Terra Spiritus, da mihi posse ducem venti frigora hiemes tua!”
Gaia... spirit of the Earth, give to me the power to guide the frozen winds of thy winter storms!

“Avia a glacialis testor o procedere furor hieme…”
From the glacial wastelands I charge thee to come forth oh fury of winter…


Eli needed time— if he couldn’t produce the spell before he ran out of energy, they’d likely be dead.

Bullets dropped from a compartment in her unbuttoned shirt into her hand. They slid through a corral she made with her fingers and into a spinning chamber. Say… cowgirl… now would be an absolutely awesome time to reload that gun of yours… please tell me you’ve got more ammo for that thing!”

The herd of demons she tried to keep at bay lunged toward them furiously. Elaine smiled as she stood at the back of her spell slinging partner. A new adversary joined the fray, but this one possessed something sinister about him. The pack of demons seemed feral and beastly, snarling from their grotesque mouths and slobbering their foul stench upon the ground. But this creature spoke, with irony in his rhetoric, and intelligence in his voice. This demon must lead the other creatures.

A spiral of flames engulfed the duo, but the flames she felt came from the sides of her body. She looked her head back to see her partner holding back the flames. He made a plea to her, and see viewed the rock and the hard place to see where she could work her magic.

She smiled and spun towards the pack of demons twisting her body to put her chest perpendicular to the two groups. The vectors adjusted as she aimed one pistol down the path of the charging demons and the other at the fire-breathing creature. Eli did his best to keep her shielded from the vortex of flames and her situation became dire. Twelve bullets needed to eliminate eight demons and a large creature that commands the others. She simultaneously fired off three bullets from each gun towards their targets. She turned her aforementioned guns towards the pack and released two more bullets from her right hand and three from her left, emptying the six shooter in her hand.

Time refused to help her in this fight, so she lined up the one shot she contained and fired the bullet towards the creature's head. It spiraled towards the vehement creature, passing dangerously close to Eli's ear. A weight seemed lifted as the empty guns lay in her hands.

Dr.Everyone leaped into the air and morphed into a nat, dodging the bullets. Then he flew towards the two, hovering above the shield. Yelling, his voice appeared to be a normal talking level.

"You shouldn't have come to this city. It's mine, you here? Too late to leave now. You shall die."

He then began to emit fire at the shield from his tiny nat body. It wasn't much, but the concentration of the flame caused it to be super hot.

"Give in to death. It shall be your release into nothingness. Every one of you I kill brings me closer to my goal."


"Heroes and humans, all the same. They believe in a God who will save them, stop them from me. And theirdeluded belief in an afterlife. The only joy I feel is killing, people feel my pain, the look in their eyes as they wait for their God to save them, the last bit of light that dissappears as they die and realize thereis no after. Only unconciouse darkness. Killing these too though, they aren't anyone special. Their deaths shall fufill nothing but keeping the city clear of petty criminals and heroes. Why does everyone come ti Chicago?"

Dr.Everyone lacked a moral code. Actually, he does, but it is rather a guide for him on what NOT to do. No telling what he would do to the pair if they didn't escape."

“Hi chums its your pal David Daark here in the….well I dare not say lovely but I am in Chicago on the latest stop in my LIVING DAARK tour of Amerika….”
There was a frenzied whispering in his earpiece and it then Dawned on Daark he had made a mistake

“Sorry America it is so hard getting used to the lands of this world. Why in my own world places were simpler such as Celtis and The freedom states….seriously what the hell is a Canada and how hard can I avoid it….”
More whispered frenzies

“On behalf of the network I apologise to the peoples of Canada….I know it must suck living there and me telling you it sucks does not help your situation sorry….ohh look there’s a brawl going on…let us take a closer look and see if I can save the day!

Whilst the fire-breather avoided the gun slinging cowgirls expert aim, the true demons were for the most part far less fortunate. Six of the remaining creatures slumped to the ground as the heavy lead bullets impacted squarely in their craniums— leaving only two of the marauding creatures remaining alive. Those two, seeing the fates of their companions rapidly began to reconsider their chances. It took no more than a couple seconds for the pair to turn tail, climbing up the side of the adjacent building in order to make good an escape of their own.

The split effort of maintaining his shield and diverting energy for an attack was almost too much for the magus to manage. Eli’s shield was on the precipice of failure under the barrage of Doctor Everyone’s small, yet powerful beam of coherent fire and heat— and his rechannelling of his internal energies for his counter-attack Ice spell was also decreasing the energy left available for maintaining the shield. Arms outstretched towards the heavens, Eli yelled out the final portion of the Aria that would complete the spell.


“Extollens deplector unguibus tuis frigida…”
Rise up and claw down with thy cold talons…

“His erumpere frigidum ulciscoribus inimicos tuos…”
Unleash upon these foes thy frigid reprisal…

“Evocationis Remedio es…”
Art of Evocation…

“Uiam Interitus…”
Way of Destruction…

“COR HIEME!”
HEART OF WINTER!


A brilliant shockwave of cascading blue light washed over the street, accompanied by an immediate and increasing drop in the ambient air temperature. Each second, the temperature was continuing to decrease several degrees and would continue to do so until the region reached lethal arctic temperatures near to -90 degrees Celsius— several times what would be needed to freeze and kill anything present, human or otherwise. Seemingly out of nowhere there came an inrush of fog and freezing moisture-heavy air, obscuring vision and making it almost impossible for anyone to see more than a few feet— blowing down the street and between the buildings in a miniature blizzard-like gale. Every surface was becoming slick with dampness, rapidly hardening, growing, and on the way to becoming cocoons of ice. The winds were becoming increasingly painful to withstand, until hale and knife-like shards of ice would form and slice through anything in their path. In less than a minute, anyone who failed to flee and remained within about a hundred meters of the spell’s epicentre would likely freeze to death if they weren't impaled by wind-propelled ice shards in the growing death-trap. The storm would last for a few minutes before the energy within the spell was spent, causing the conjured ice and water to quickly fade away into non-existence.


“NOW! While they can’t see where we’re going… this way—” Eli grabbed the girls arm and pulled her onto the asphalt and across the street towards a small alleyway between buildings, now hidden by the storm. His shield was at critical and if exposed to the full fury of the storm it would fail entirely— hopefully they would be out of the blizzard before then, and far enough ahead of Dr. Everyone to make it to his apartment unmolested. The whole time he was running, Eli was silently cursing his stupidity in leaving behind his fire staff at the apartment and his mana jewels; if he had them on hand, he wouldn't be so hopelessly outmatched.

"Do they think their clever? The coldest temperature in the world won't stop me! And as for this blizzard...."

Dr.Everyone morphed into a bat, as to use it's echolocation. To combat the cold however, was a bit harder. He conjured up flame o stay within him and warm him, so as to not succumb to the powerful cold.

Dr.Everyone had to shout to be heard over the powerful winds, which sounded to be alive and more focused. "YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME! YOUR LITTLE MAGIC TRICKS WON'T SAVE YOU, ONLY BUY YOU TIME. YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!"

Dr.Everyone began to emit the echolocation sound-waves. This would go towards the direction he was facing, and would bounce of objects and form a picture. He turned in all directions and listened. Down street, hit building, lamp post, building. Then, it came back as two objects. He send another set of waves in that direction. They were farther away.

"I have you now."

He tried flying towards them and found he could fly slowly, the winds power. The snow didn't help either.

"How could I stop these winds and snow? Hmmmm,......perhaps a discharge will do the trick."

He summoned fire, and condensed it into a very mall ball, while also willing it to fly out in all directions. He did this until the internal temperature was 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the molecules were moving fast enough to make it fly out at high speeds.

"TAKE THIS MOTHER NATURE!" He said, as he stop commanding the ball of fire. It flew out in all directions, melting snow and slowing the winds a bit of the force. Dr.Everyone rode the shockwave towards the direction of the two. He thought perhaps he'd get lucky and the discharge would hit them. But no such luck. It dissipated, leaving Dr.Everyone right behind them. The snow and winds were back already with full force.

He morphed into a rhinoceros, horn pointed towards the pair.

"Come quietly, and perhaps I'll kill you quickly. Struggle, and you'll suffer before slipping into non-existance."

Sean watched in mute interest.The man the creatures were after was a skilled migic weilder.After all it did take power to create an ice storm like that.Though the man attacking them seemed undaunted by the unnatural storm. He apparently was not the only one who had thought to take advantage of the large amount of snow to run.After all that fire weilding man seemed a bit too dangerous at the moment.Taking advantage of any confusion caused by the storm he followed after the mage and the girl with him.If he had any chance of survival it was with those two.Also he didn't want to freeze to death in that storm.With the little visiblility he had Sean followed the two.
"Hope this doesn't get me screwed over anyway"

Elaine and Eli were about two-thirds of the way down the narrow alley between buildings when Dr. Everyone touched down as a rhino, his brutish animal form blocking the far entrance with its leathery-skinned width. In this spot, they were most of the way out of the blizzards range and protected from the dangerous ice shards that were beginning to form— though they were still buffeted occasionally by strong, freezing winds that seemed to seep right into their very bones.

"Come quietly, and perhaps I'll kill you quickly. Struggle, and you'll suffer before slipping into non-existence." the Rhino mouthed maliciously towards the pair.

Eli smiled, before breaking into mocking laughter. ”Oh please… stop with the cliché villain dialogue before I bust something, will ya? Oh God… is there some kind of manual that they hand out to these dopey, evil bad-asses full of horrible puns and one-liners? The magus snickered again before raising his force rod back towards the approaching rhino as it moved into the alleyway out of the storms fury.

”Here’s my counter-offer; turn around and never appear before me again… and I won’t break every bone in your body. You’ve seen a fraction of what I’m capable of, and unless you wish me to carve up your body with a demonstration of my full capabilities, don’t try my patience any further.” Though he was almost completely drained and seemingly in a disadvantaged position, Eli spoke with absolute confidence that what he said was the truth. Dr. Everyone had no way of knowing just how weak Eli presently was, or whether or not he was bluffing.

Eli stood waiting patiently for Everyone to make a move.

The demon seemed unphased by any of Elaine's attempts at slowing him down, but allowed Eli the time he needed to blast the creature with his sorcery. Blistering winds swept from up her collar and chilled her skin to a shriveling quiver. If nothing else to her credit, she removed an annoyance of demon creatures from their path. Elaine started up her shivering legs and thrust herself away from the blizzard winds that swept through the alley. She took a step on Eli, but turned to see the creature turn into a bat and begin to spiral fire.

She ran behind Eli and did her best to reload while running, keeping her eyes locked on her guns and the back of Eli's shoes as they came up into view. "You thinkin' of relocating this shindig somewhere a little warmer, hun?" The accent she used so often returned to her voice. "I don't mind a little shiver, but this is...Shit!" Her accent died on the last word, as the bat morphed into a rhinoceros that spewed ultimatums. "Come quietly and you'll die quickly?" The formation of the question perplexed her. "Don't ultimatum's usually have an up-side? You only offered negatives..." She cleared her throat and noticed she spoke in her normal speaking voice before dropping a twanged, "...Pardner."

"I care not who you are or what powers you posses, your a hero. You have stepped into me city. Death is the only way you'll be leaving, and it doesn't currently seems like you'll be taking the express flight."

He turned to the woman.

"Om yjs world full of evil, negatives, and despair, why would I give an up side? Dear child, I am a realist. Based on your friends imaginative claims, and your naive and ignorant ramblings, this will be quite easy."

Above them, a fiery storm cloud was forming. Chicago had already seen this cloud before, and it had destroyed almost a quarter of Chicago last time.

"Now choose. Death, or a quick death."

"Death or a quick death"He wondered to himself.Either way it was death all the same.Apparently that man had a high opinion of himself.A bit too high for even his taste.Closing his eyes he concentrated on any water in the area."Hope this works in a storm like this"He half prayed.Extending his reach till he felt a respones.An immense amount of water rushing to him.More and more water rushing till it formed dozens of large circles rotating around his body.He had to at least have a pools worth or two."This will do"He smiled."Maybe we have a small hope of not being deep fried"He said as the water condensed into tiny shards of ice.Numbering in the thousand to ten thousands."Hey you suck on this"He yelled as the shards of ice launched at the fire man at high speeds.Enough to punch through even metal.