Disclaimer: The name Ken McKay belongs to Robert Frezza. The name Kane Fletcher belongs to Johanna Linsay. The name John Hawk belongs to Simon Green. The character of Roger McClintock and the Bronze Battalion belong to David Weber and John Ringo. All Sailor Moon references and characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, TOEI, Kodansha & Pioneer.
Andeis still stood, spear at ready. Her hair had been almost completely charred off. Her beautiful white dress, a reflection of the pale perfection of her once unflawed skin, was stained in red and black. Only her eyes remained untouched by his flame, her beautiful, flawless eyes.
Draco Soul charged his flame once again.
His attacker proved to be the wizened old Mrs. Flannigan, the weak, half crippled, somewhat senile Mrs. Flannigan. "What the hell?" he muttered.
Mrs. Flannigan had contorted her body in an impersonation of a spider crawl, her eyes never blinking. "You never were eager to please the teacher, boy," she hissed. "Now, it's time for your punishment." She took a powerful leap that left Damien skittering to the side. By the time he'd regained his bearings, she was coming right at him again.
Damien's fist lashed out of it's own accord, connecting with the fragile-looking face of the old lady, but instead of hitting with the sickening sound of something wet breaking, it hit with the sound of his fist meeting solid metal. Damien felt all of the bones in his hand shatter, before the entire arm went numb.
Mrs. Flannigan actually cackled, an old-fashioned witch cackle.
"Dammit!" somebody shouted, just as the old lady was knocked to the side. Hawk entered Damien's vision just long enough for the Hellspawn to spot a maniacal grin pass through Hawk's features for a moment. Hawk dove after the old lady.
Someone grabbed Damien's good arm. He punched toward his new captor in response with his bad hand. Kane ducked the blow casually, but let go of Damien's arm. "Woah! You don't want to hit anything with that hand just yet."
At those words, the feeling started to return, a searing burn along Damien's blood vessels through his arm and chest. Damien could feel all the blood draining out of his face.
"Shit," said Kane. "Yo! Rog! Finish it up! This kid's about to faint!"
Faint? Like Hell!
The room started spinning.
"We need those doors opened, now! Roger?!"
Why was everything dimming?
"Kid? Damien? Don't close your eyes! Wake up!" Slap.
Damien forced his eyes open. Kane was crouched over him with an eerily concerned look on his face. "Wha's wrong wi'..."
"Just don't close your eyes. Keep them open. Trust me you don't want to pass out in here. Roger?! What's the hold up?"
Everything started to fade again.
"Dammit! Hawk get that fucking door open! Damien?! Damien, listen to me. If you pass out, you will die. Die as in dead for good. Now, wake up!" He was slapped again.
Dead? Damien forced his eyes open once more. This wasn't the way he was going to go. Faint like a girl and then *pblt!* Nothing. Like Hell!
"Open the door!" This was from somewhere on the stage. It had to be Roger. "All of you get out! I'll be there as soon as... I finish here..."
"But, Rog-" Hawk began in protest.
"Do it! Now!"
Hawk and Kane hefted Damien to a semi-standing position and hauled him out the door, like luggage. They dropped him at Ken's very confused feet and slammed the doors shut again.
"Where's Roger?" asked Ken.
Kane ignored him, to get Damien's attention. "Kid, you can pass out now, if you want to."
Damien didn't and he didn't really feel like he was going to anymore. Clarity returned to his thoughts and his vision focused. His arm felt like it had been run through a meat grinder, but at least the numbness had worn off. He pushed himself up, propping his back against the cement block wall. "I think I'm okay now." A coherent phrase. Now, he was getting somewhere.
"Where's Roger?" repeated Ken.
Hawk nodded toward the closed doors. "Where do you think? Egypt?"
"He's got Ice-er... Ms. Artisa all to himself," said Kane. "It was a promising fight."
"What about-"
"We got the rest," said Hawk. "It's just... Ms. Artisa in there with him. We had to leave. He could only drop the er... y'know for so long and neither one of us could carry this ogre ourselves. By the way, how's your face?"
Ken tentatively touched his blackened nose. "You broke it, asshole."
Hawk laughed.
The whole situation was too much. Damien cleared his throat. "What in Satan's Unholy Name is fucking going on here?" Silence. "You're all friends? Your gangs haven't so much as agreed on which side of the hall to walk on and you're all buddy-buddy. I want some answers."
Kane sat down. "Can you wait for Roger to finish?"
"I think my arm's about ready to melt. Do I fucking look like I can wait?" It came out as calm as Damien could manage. He remembered what happened to the last guy to freak out in front of Hawk.
"You won't have to," said Ken, pushing away from the wall. "He's done."
A moment later the doors crept open. Roger fell through them, but Ken was there to catch him.
"She got away..." said Roger before he promptly passed out.