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“Do we split up to find them then?”

“We should really stick together, since they tend to stay in close proximity to one another.”

“But we can cover more ground if we fan out, maybe just so far, but close enough that we can get to one another if we need to.”

“I don’t like that idea Damien... One on one the odds are okay, but if the other two show up before one of us do...” her voice fades into silence, the implications of her words clear. “You can transport us quickly remember Kaiya.” Damien reminds her. “The power of the poof.” Jimmy scans the screaming crowd, thinned out now, less people running through the exits. “The power of the poof.” Damien agrees. “Yeah, if they aren't on top of me and I can.” she mutters, still not liking the idea. “Couldn’t you just, poof them here for us to take care of?” Jimmy turns to face her, settling his ice blues on her troubled face.

“I wish, that would make this so much easier. Reavers are... not immune to magic, but very resistant to most types. Something that would kill an ordinary being, will only just injure them.” She nods her heads towards the weapons he holds in his hands. “Those blades are filled with a force from the Underworld, they will burn them enough, it should stop them from continuing their attack.” She pauses. “Should. For a moment at least.”

He nods, but doesn’t get to say more as Damien speaks up. “Hey, it looks like it's pretty much emptied out, we should get in there before they run off. I’ll take over there, Jim you wanna get the middle and Kai over there?”

With a nervous nod, Arcana agrees, and the three part ways, loping off towards their target areas. She pauses at the doorway, carefully pressing an ear to it. She hears nothing. She slips inside, carefully holding the door so the snick of the latch was quieted. She moves to the right, slowly treading, one foot in front of the other, her eyes scanning everything before her. Leftover chaos, was the best way to describe it. The stadium floor was covered in discarded items, from napkins to drink cups, a random scattering of nachos, foam novelty items, pennants, and even a trampled Buckeyes hoodie, torn and forlorn... abandoned in the wake of fear.

Concession stands abandoned, steam still wafting from some of them... food still sitting on the counters, orders never destined to be picked up.

She creeps on, wondering how the boys were doing. Wondering if she would be able to hear them if they needed her. Her stomach churns with worry. What if something happened to one of them? What if they yelled for her and she didn’t know, and wasn’t able to get there in time? She pauses, wavering, maybe she should go back the way she came, not going too far away from them. Maybe she should...

A light scrape has her head jerking over her shoulder.

She sees nothing, as her body slowly turns, muscles tense... and then... A shadow within a shadow, separating itself from a souvenir stand, a red, gray, and white scarf draped across it... a bright cheerful piece on a terrifying creature.

Chunks of skin peeled away, hair matted with blood and dirt, cuts streaking every which way across his body... his face a mask of congealed filth.

And still she recognized him.

She fights off the memories that threaten to flood her mind, shaking her head sharply. She couldn’t afford it right now... she had to be in the moment. Or she would die. She slowly sinks into the ready as the creature makes low snarling noises, tilting his head as he peers at her through vacant brown eyes. His jaw gapes open, revealing a shocking lack of teeth and screams, a bloodcurdling noise as he charges at her, a speed that was not known to the mortal realm.

Arcana barely gets her hands up, the bright read magic sparking to life as she shoots a concentrated force, it connecting when the Reaver was only about three feet away. He jerks, stumbling back with a squall of pain, turning around immediately to come for more. She gets a foot up, slamming a boot into his jaws but still he charges on, sending her toppling to her back.

Shit!

His body lands on her heavily, but he overshot the force, sending him over her as she rolls, scrambling wildly to get to her feet. She hears the snarl a split second before the body crashes into her once more, her hands glimmering as she sends electric currents into him. He howls but hangs on, gnashing his teeth over her. Her hands skid, slick with the blood, She jams a knee up, once... twice... three times, slamming in between his thighs to no avail. She pulls desperately at her magic, putting as much as she can into him, making him back off with a squall as she gasps.

He was more powerful than she expected.

She crawls backwards, managing to get to her feet and flee, headed for the doorway that led out into the seating area. She had to find the others; they could only do this together. A force slams into her back, sending both of them soaring down the stairs, her body jolting every time it slammed into the unforgiving concrete. She bounces, rises, feels her body yanked to the side. She opens her mouth to scream...

“I got ya girl...”

Her wide eyes alight on a welcome face. “Jimmy...” He tosses her a cocky smile before they both look down at the Reaver, who had bounced the rest of the way down the stairs, not having the benefit of being pulled to safety. Beyond him, Arcana saw Damien, on the bright green field, dodging and slashing at another Reaver. “That makes two...”

The inhuman screech of the original Reaver coming back up the steps towards them has them stepping forward to meet him, Jimmy ducking the outstretched arms to land a sharp blow across his belly with the blade, sending up a puff of smoke and the rank stink of putrid, burned flesh. The screech rises to a fever pitch as the Reaver swings at Jimmy, who nimbly keeps one step ahead thanks to Arcana pelting the beast with small blasts of magic and fire, distracting him just enough for Jim to get repeated cuts with the burning dagger.. With a snarl he backs off, then, trailing smoke behind him... runs?

Towards the call of the other Reaver... down onto the field and Damien.

“FUCK!”

They were going to do it that way, pluck Damien off as a pair then turn their attention to Jim and Arcana.

Pack.

They give chase, hurtling over the barrier as Arcana screams a warning to Damien, but too late. The Reaver is on him, and the two take him down to the ground, his body disappearing under a mass of tattered flesh and clothing.

Dark, nearly black magic flickers between her hands, a ball forming with jagged streaks of energy running through it. She shoots it off, knowing she hadn't had the time to make it strong enough, only hoping her aim was true.

It was, sending one Reaver off of Damien and making the other look their way, just long enough for him to jab the obsidian blade into its neck. Squalling it grabs at the weapon, clawing at it as it burns, glowing a deep green as smoke billows forth. Damien lies prone as they reach him, Arcana moving to cover him from the Reaver getting to his feet, dropping to her knees and laying healing hands on his body. Jimmy grabs for the chain around his neck, the golden nugget glowing brightly as he pulls it out, and leaps for the injured Reaver. With the speed and strength of two men, he lands blow after blow, stabbing one into the other side of its neck, using the second to slice swiftly, the creature's cries reduced to a gurgle as a flood of steaming, tar like substance pours from its gaping throat.

The second Reaver snarls, hovering back, watching the demise of its packmate. “One down.” Jimmy says, pulling the blades free, and tossing one to a now healed Damien. “Where's the other fucker then?”

A screech.

“What timing...” Damien drawls as the three go back to back, the third Reaver appearing on the scene, standing well over six feet tall and built like a linebacker. He falls in with the other, and the duo begins to circle, like a pair of grotesque, zombified sharks. “Are you both good?” Arcana whispers. Their affirmative nods has her lifting her hands, calling on her powers once more, igniting them with the crimson glow. She had to be careful, she didn’t have an infinite amount of this one, it took a lot of strength to maintain. By unspoken agreement, they all launch forward, Damien and Arcana to double team the newest nemesis, and Jimmy to face off with the other.

All hell breaks loose, unholy screams and the sound of fists and weapons connecting with flesh and bone. Damien and Arcana charge the Reaver, who flings an arm, knocking them both off their feet, not even noticing the slash across his arm. Damien flings a dagger from the ground, getting it directly in the Reavers eye, making him snarl, swinging blindly as they crawl away. Arcana glances over, seeing the other Reaver nail Jimmy with a hard hand, it screams, lifting its arm up and around his throat. “No!”

::POOF::

She removes him from its grasp, placing him directly behind the Reaver. Its reaction would have been comical if her foot hadn't been grabbed, and she was pulled across the grass, kicking out to zero effect. Then Damien is there, leaping onto the Reavers back, blade working furiously as it rises back up, releasing Arcana to try and toss the man off.

She pelts him with another fiery blast, taking out his other eye. The Reaver spins wildly, getting hit from all sides by shots of magic, fire, and the burning blades, until Damien rears up and slams them as hard as he could into the Reaver’s skull. It freezes, standing for a long minute until it tumbles sideways to the ground. Damien lays prone next to it, breathing hard. Arcana is about to turns to see Jimmy, coated in all kinds of fluids, dispatch the last one with a spurt of thick goo.

She falls backwards, staring up at the clouds trying to catch her breath as Jim comes and drops to a crouched position beside her. “That wasn’t so fuckin’ bad.” she slants him a glare as Damien’s hand pops up, flipping Jim off to a low chuckle.

Damien pushes himself up to an elbow. “Nice venue for your next show.” Arcana stares, then looks around at the corpses of the Reavers. “Yes, lovely... Lucky there weren’t any civilian deaths, at least where I was.”

“I didn’t see any.”

“Me neither.”

“There's that, at least.” she says, accepting Jimmy’s hand to get to her feet. “I think you were right Arcana.” She frowns at Damien. “What do you mean?”

“I think they were here as a distraction, but from what? I think someone meant for you and I to come here, and maybe get hurt or killed. They just didn’t count on us having Jimmy here too. When have you ever known a Reaver to be among all these people, and not kill any at all?”

“Never...” she admits, not liking where this was going.

“And you know who it probably is and why...”

“Yep.”

“What’s he talking about baby? Who?”

Arcana looks at Jimmy. “A game of chess between the Gods and Goddesses... and we are the pawns.”

To Be Continued....

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“You know Savannah, I’m aware that when you see a camera, your first instinct is to go into performance mode, but shit... I expected you to be able to pop the dick out of your mouth long enough to talk to it.

Did you even remember you had a match or were you too busy on Tinder or CasualX to even notice that you were indeed, scheduled to perform on the show that you signed up for? Are you going to make it to the arena? Oh, how silly of me, of course you will... fresh pool to play pick-a-dick in after your loss in the ring to yours truly.

Ah well, I can say that you are proving to be everything you always have been.

Nothing.

I must admit, I was a bit of a fool... I actually thought, for a brief moment, that you might show up for the start of this hype cycle, even just to prove me wrong. That my words would draw you out and light some kind of fire in you to show that you actually want to do this, that you're serious about this, that you were actually in this match to try and win it. But no, instead you just kept right on par with how you always are... and that is nonexistent. But maybe you’ll decide to show up from the dark recesses of whatever alleyway you’re strolling and do something this week?

I doubt it.

As for you Ronnie... all I have to say is, what the fuck?

You taking lessons from Savannah over there? Not bothering to do shit in your very first match doesn’t really show a good foot forward, now does it?

Is this the cockiness that I read about? You are so confident you said fuck the hype cycle and decided you couldn’t be bothered to do jack shit within it? You think that you are above having to do promos with the rest of us? Perhaps you think its beneath you... I don’t know.

What I do know is that I'm pretty damn disappointed in the both of you.

Maybe Ronnie, you saw the card and are under some stupid impression that you were going to just wander down that ramp, beat us women folk and stroll back up victorious, easy peasy and all that rot. That might have worked had it just been Savannah in there with you, she might have been distracted by your strapping size and the lights gleaming off your head, wondering if other areas were just as hairless...

But not with me around.

I doesn’t seem that either of you are taking this anywhere near as seriously as I am, and what that translates to for me... is that both of you are going to get your asses handed to you. Savannah, you are over there... as shitty as your turn up numbers are... as a tenured member of this federation, and Ronnie... you are brand fucking new. BOTH of you should be giving this your all. But it doesn’t seem that either of you are even close to being as hungry as I am for this.

This isn’t a game or pass time for me like it is for you Savannah.

This isn’t something I think my cockiness can carry me through Ronnie.

This is my fucking career, and I have goals that I want to achieve... and you two? Are absolute disgraces. I have to waste my time with you two pieces of trash on Saturday, when I could be focused on better, actually furthering myself instead of just handing out a bunch of Ls to the ones who really don’t want to be here. The ones who don’t care about making anything of themselves. You don’t make your name facing jokes, and clearly that’s what you two are.

Jokes.

But nobody is going to be laughing when they get a taste of the Talisman or Enchantment... one for each of you wastes of roster space.

Unfortunately, I do have to spend my Saturday night taking some trash to the dumpster, so that’s what I’m going to do. It doesn’t matter what either of you try, it is clear that I have more grit and determination than both of you do combined... and add to that, while I might be making light of both of you... I’m also not looking by you on the off chance you might have a good day. I am training my ass off, focused, not willing to take the slightest chance that this will be a loss for me. You might not, but I want more. I want more than to be the curtain jerker to open the show. I want the spotlight, and I want the chances to win the gold and if that means tearing up the lazy lumps to get the attention of any of the GMs, then so be it.

You two, will merely be the first sacrifices on a long list of people who are destined to fall under me. Just names added onto my list as I start my climb to the top, easily forgotten ones at that because let's be real... do people gloat about their wins over you Savannah?

Nah... it would about the same as celebrating being able to open a peanut butter jar. Anyone can do it.

People just slide that into some dark corner and forget about it, because it is hardly to be considered an accomplishment. And as for Ronnie, well... sorry to say this but beating someone in their first match, who doesn’t bother to try all that hard to make his presence known... yeaaaahhhh nothing to write home about either.

I should just NK Special your asses... but I can’t.

I guess all there is left to say is I will see the two of you on Saturday... maybe one or both will speak up between now and then. Better late than never.

But it won't stop you both from going down in flames.”