Nightfall

Cal ran forward after a transformation that turned him into a large hellhound like demon looking thing, which amused the Fisher to no end. In this state, Cal passed the Fisher and initiated the fight with others soon joining in. As the battle raged two greater demons appeared; Epsil's smaller one and then the Fisher's larger one that was double the height of Epsil's. The fisher strode calmly towards the greater demon as it began to cross the bridge. Several of the smaller demons tried to get in his way. One of them was impaled on the trident and thrown into the air behind him. The remaining four rushed him but when they struck all they hit was air for the Fisher and used his trident to vault over the four of demons. The fisher touched each demon once on the back of the neck before walking away. The demons collapsed as all the water in their bodies was drained out through every pore, leaving behind mummified husks.

The Fisher looked behind him and witnessed the twins finish off the smaller greater demon. The girl looked more injured than her companion who had lost his mask in the fighting. They were an impressive duo. Just then a smaller demon soared across the bridge at the remaining greater demon. It reacted fast enough to avoid getting hit in the eye and the smaller demon struck the greater's arm. The greater pulled out the smaller demon, crushed it, and threw it into the bridge. "The plan is destroy the bridge Epsil! I can make the river rise and collapse the bridge and drown the greater. Or at least knock it off it's feet." He called out to Epsil. The greater bellowed it's challenge and charged, with the bridge shaking with each step. It lowered it's head to gore the Fisher on it's horns. The Fisher jumped and slammed his trident into the back of the demon's skull. The blow had enough force behind it to cause the greater to face plant and skid along the bridge, sending asphalt flying as it's horns went through the road like a plow.

The greater rose up and threw its head back, sending the Fisher flying. He landed on his back and skidded along on his back,shredding his shirt and losing skin which left his back bloody. The Fisher rolled back on to his feet, kicked off his sandals and let his shirt shreds fall. "That was my favorite shirt man!" The demon had angered him now, and the river responded to his rage. The river roared as it began to speed up, causing the bridge to sway as the water pounded into it. A flood was coming. "You're gonna die mate!" The greater stood up and charge once again. The Fisher snarled back and then the flood hit. Metal screeched and twisted as the bridge collapsed into the raging river.

 

Hasta focused on the flying smaller demons, using his boomerang to break their wings and bring them down to him. Once he got them down to his level, he took them on, one by one. He dashed into punching distance and aimed for the chest, taking down each demon with a single punch that looked and felt stronger than it really was: In reality, he was just forcing all the air in their lungs out at once. Once staggered, he kicked the demon down to the ground and forced air back into its lungs, causing them to rupture. Or, in some rather spectacular cases, caused the demon to explode in the most disgustingly gory fashion. Normally he would have just denied them of oxygen to keep his hands from getting dirty, but the area was too open for him to get that to work. Oh well.

He saw the two greater demons and decided to leave those to the big kids, trying to lure the smaller ones away. As Fisher destroyed the bridge, Hasta proceeded to float around and knock some of the stragglers into the raging waters.

 

The battle brought out a somewhat pleasant version of her. She kept a smirk on her face as she fought with two knives and handguns. She jumped on one demon and pressed a gun under his chin, pulling the trigger and sending his blood all over her. She then reached out a hand and sent four shadows to grab the wrists and ankles of another demon. With a yank of her hand, the demon was dismembered by the shadows.

She couldn't help but notice the twins had their masks off. The guy was somewhat attractive. It was a distraction that enabled a demon to jump on her back and dislocate her shoulder. She snarled in pain and sent a shadow to yank it off of her and popped it in with a groan.

The Fisher decided to force the bridge to collapse, which startled her. She fell in and kicked and thrashed as a demon straggler grabbed her ankle, holding her down under the water. Considering how she had neglected to gasp for air before falling in the water, this was an issue. She couldn't see her knives in the murky water, and couldn't focus enough to warp the shadows. But she wasn't the only one who needed air, and it was the demon who released first, drowned. Her vision was spotty but she was relieved to feel her ankle free, and she kicked up to the surface, gasping and clinging to a floating piece. She was going to punch the Fisher in the balls later.

 

Osunat barreled through the lesser demons with little issue, slowing its pace occasionally to rip a few clawing at its back to the ground. It eagerly pounced and tore through the flash of the demons, feeling little fear, and it's predator instinct told it when to strike, and when to start tearing their throats out.

As each demon died, a strange vapor-like trail of black followed Osunat, eventually pulling itself into the Monster's chest, rekindling the red glow seen prior to Cal's transformation. With each death, Osunat seemed to become more aggressive, eager to gain more power from the fallen waste around it. Most impressive of all however, was the effect that came as the greater demon was felled by the twins.

The greater demon, while dead much like the rest, produced a much longer vapor-trail, and seemed to tunnel into Osunat's chest with such force, that it managed to knock the monster down. However, at this time, Osunat glowed a bright white, as it morphed back into Cal, who's eyes were no longer silver, but a deep blue, illuminating his face.

As expected, Cal was nude, but he didn't seem the least bit concerned, nor did he feel the need to conceal himself, although it was evident that no-one had heeded his request to keep his clothing, so Cal supposed his nudity would be the price they paid for their lack of remembrance. “Osunat can't swim Fisher, but I think I have enough power to-- Damn you lost your shirt...” He said jokingly as he spun around, giving a quick punch to an unsuspecting lesser just before the bridge broke.

Slowly, a soft blue light, The center of Cal's forehead began to glow, very similar to his chest, before he became Osunat. Like before, Cal doubled over, the rushing wave above his head as he clawed at his forehead in agony. “Iztelac.” He let out one more quick shriek before a flash of white-light, and the wave covered him.

Not long after, a long, serpentine creature rose from the water. It had blue-silver scales and a single eye. It's was at least 10 feet high, and had a single dorsal ridge down it's back. Iztelac gave an elongated hiss, before launching itself at the large greater, aiming it's large-curved fangs for it's throat.

 

As she was caught by the waist by Epsil and dragged out of the water, she muttered a brief and irritated "Thanks." and stepped away from him towards the Fisher. Disregarding his back injuries, she punched him in the balls like she had promised herself. "That was for almost getting me fucking killed. One of those fuckers held me down in the water until he realized he needed some air too." she snapped, and turned her attention back to the new people.

"I dislocated my shoulder and almost drowned. I'm fine. Just sore." She sounded grumpy, but she seemed a lot nicer to them than she was to the others. "I saw that punch you took. Your mask has a crack in it from it. You alright?"

 

After dealing with some leftovers, Hasta jumped over the river to join the rest of the group, but the sudden appearance of Cal's serpent friend caught him off guard and made him make a less than perfect landing. Thankfully he managed to catch himself just before hitting the ground, softening his fall. He witnessed Anon attacking the Fisher guy and shuddered, rubbing his own crotch. He sat up and brought his knees up to his chest, occasionally sneaking glances at his comrades as he waited for Fisher to finish the deed. It was his kill, after all. He began to play with some weeds that had grown through the cracks in the concrete, that is, until they began to move on their own and grab the poor boy's finger tightly. Hasta quickly pulled his hand away, stood up, and stomped on the weeds, dismissing any weird stares from his allies with a shrug.

 

"I don't have one, and I'm still looking for the right one." She shrugged her not-sore shoulder. "Can I ask what the masks are for? Everyone seems to be wearing gaudy clothes nowadays. You have that guy with the flower shirt that is now in pieces, and now your masks. No one seems to dress appropriately for fighting demons anymore." She glanced down at her tank and cargo pants with a groan.

 

The serpent, though willing to strike the greater dead, refrained – not wanting to use any more souls sustaining its current form. Iztelac lowered itself to the ground as it curled it's head inwards, it's single eye glowing a bright blue. Not long after, a bright light flashed and Cal stood where the serpent's coils once did. He stumbled back a bit, holding his head and trying to get his bearings as he dusted himself off.

Again he was nude, but that didn't stop him from approaching the two masked individuals, still not fully trusting of them. He saw them talking to Wendy Whiner and decided not to intervene on the conversation, but instead, start his own with the pair. He took a few steps when a sudden realization hit him. He remembered seeing Epsil run in the opposite direction prior to his untransformation, and assumed he was headed to get his clothes back. ”EPSIL!! GRAB. MY. GUN!!” He shouted, letting it echo multiple times across the bleak landscape.

After, he finished making his way over to the masked pair and leaned himself on a bit of rubble that was about his height, seemingly not ashamed of his current state. ”Geez, is there a draft out here or what?” he said jokingly as he gave a sly smile. ”Apologies about the nudity, but It's just something you'll have to get used to around me – in other news, if you see anything you like, let me know. – Except you, you're a bitch, and maybe a little racist to undead, transforming, wolfmen.” he was being sarcastic of course, but what else did he have to do until Epsil came running back with his dirty laundry and double-barreled problem-solver? If he was naked, he may as well crack jokes about it, although he couldn't help but wish his companions were a little more attractive, but so far, such romantic ventures would wait for someone more open-minded.

 

Fisher waited as those who had fallen in climbed out of the water. He had hoped his part of the bridge would have fallen in too but the supports on his portion of the bridge were just a bit stronger than the rest. Epsil walked over and gave his condolences about the loss of the shirt and skin from the brief little battle with the larger greater. "At least I still have my scarf!" was the Fisher's only response. Anon was not as friendly and made it clear that she was not happy about nearly drowning. She went to punch him in the balls, however he moved so that he only got hit in the thigh. "Sorry Anon," Fisher said. "You can punch in the properly later, I just don't want to be sore when I go try to kill the greater." He rubbed the spot where he had been hit as a bruised formed.

Cal emerged from the water as himself, and completely naked. The Fisher gave a playful and meaningless whistle as the shape-shifter emerged from the water. "Thanks for your help mate. And thanks even more for respecting my kill. I started it so I feel it's only right that I finish it." With that Fisher removed the scarf from around his neck and revealed a set of gills. He could breathe, and fight, quiet well underwater. "I'll see you guys in a few minutes then." Fisher ran towards the edge of the broken and leaped off. His swan dive was gorgeous and he entered the water with hardly a splash to mark where he had entered the water.

The greater demon was struggling a little bit to stay afloat in the raging water but it was still strong enough to keep it's head up and avoid drowning. Fisher used the water around him to speed himself up and he rammed full speed into the greater demon's chest, his trident leaving a deep gash which began to bleed heavily when the trident was withdrawn. The water rose up higher as the water responded to Fisher's will which meant that the greater could no longer keep it's head above water. The demon looked at Fisher and they made eye contact. It knew it would probably be dead soon and used the last of it's power to swing it's claws into Fisher; however, the water made its moves sluggish and easy to dodge. The swing left the greater demon wide open to an attack and the man with the trident felt it was time to finish this. He sped himself up with the water once more and buried his trident as deep as he could in the greater's skull. The demon's body went slack and was finally carried downstream as Fisher withdrew his trident. He walked out of the water and began to run back towards the bridge as his battle had taken him pretty far downstream. Just being in the water had made his back a little better. While it would still need to be bandaged but it didn't look as raw as before.

Fisher called out as he approached the group on the bridge. "The greater's dead," he said as he picked up his scarf and wrapped it around his neck to protect his gills. "If anyone knows where a hospital is I could really use some bandages and antibiotics for my back." He also walked over to Anon to speak to her. "You can punch me in the balls properly now. And for what it's worth, sorry about almost drowning. It wasn't my intention to do that. And your welcome for using the water to knock the wind out of the greater demon that was holding you down." He took a few steps back and spread his feet to shoulder width apart to give Anon an easier target. "Just please don't pop them. I do want to be able to procreate eventually."

 

She growled at Fisher for dodging the punch, but at least he justified it. She watched with grumpy awe on her face as Fisher finished his kill. The bastard had gills, he revealed. She should have been shocked, but at least it was more relevant to water and made a halfway decent amount of sense.

Then the bastard came back to truly accept his ball punch. She smirked, and got him hard and square where it hurt. "Not a bad kill. Thanks for coming back. You earned a little bit of respect from me. Don't let it go to your fishy head." She let out a laugh, a laugh that sounded like a bell, and stepped away from him to let him recover.

She looked at the twins. "Nami? Ehhh.... Not my favorite. Better than Anon, I guess. I'd just rather have a name that wasn't shoved on me without a choice. I want my own name. One that defines me. I'll know it when I see it." She shrugged.

 

Cal's tail swished gently as he maintained his leaning position, waiting absently for the return of his clothing – and hopefully, his gun. He wasn't too worried, after what he had witnessed, he was pretty sure the team could stand up to most anything, especially since they managed to take down the biggest demon he'd ever seen. Which reminded Cal to brace himself.

The soul of the large greater was no different from the lesser greater, save being a little longer in length. It pummeled into Cal, easily knocking him to the ground as it seeped into his chest. His eyes, now silver once more now that he was no longer Iztelac, seemed full of light, almost blindingly so as they beamed like flashlights. Cal blink a couple times as he lay on the ground, wearing a satisfied smile on his face. ”That... was good eating.” He took a breath before pulling himself up into a sitting position, and listened to the Fisher speak with the nameless girl. ”I see...” Cal started, watching the girl punch the Fisher in the jewels. ”Well, if abuse is your sign of respect, than I'd wager you gave those demons a hell of a lot of respect.”

Cal looked directly at the nameless girl with an upraised brow. ”So... do you have a spiritual ability? Like, at all? I didn't see anything supernatural in the fight from you. Fisher's got water, Epsil's got shadow... stuff... and the masked ones have fire and ice. Come to think of it – You!” He said looking to Hasta. ”What do you do? I figure we might was well explain our strengths and weaknesses now, so we can better prepare for something like this – you know, properly work as a team.” He pointed to himself. ”You guys already know, I eat souls, and use them as fuel to turn into Monsters – as well as if I go without them, I start disintegrating, as well as being undead.”

 

Hasta shrugged and turned to face the group, with a strong wind accompanying him. Without moving his upper body, he moved his legs up so that he sat cross-legged and floating. "Well? What do you think?" he said, a hint of irritation in his voice. He paused and closed his eyes and brought a hand up to his ear. "I also have pretty good ears. And I can hear a major annoyance approaching." It wasn't a demon; Hasta could hear the younger girl's giggling, although it was separated from the eerie laughter that he was running from earlier. She was still quite away, though: at the speed she was going, the chances of the two meeting any time soon were pretty slim, unless he started heading towards her. And why would he do that, really?

 

"Epsil? No, I have the shadow shit." And with that, two thin shadows reached up and grabbed Cal's wrists, pulling him to his knees before releasing them. Then she messed around with Cal's shadow, making it dance a bit. That part made her smile. Following this, she stepped into a dark alley, and came out seconds later out another dark alley. "It's always fun to so that." she said as she let out a giggle.

 

Cal laughed as he was brought down to his knees by the girl. It was clear to Cal that she had some form of superiority issue, or maybe she was just luck the wolf had no ill-intentions to be laid upon her, or else things would go sour for her very quickly.  ”You're really lucky I'm a mellow corpse.” He said, stopping himself before he said something out of turn. It wasn't like him to get angry – in fact, the entire fight he had never gotten angry, however it was to note that people with no respect for family or display the slightest amount to thankfulness such a place just didn't sit right in his mind – it made him displeased, but not enough to show it.

He got himself back on his feet just as Epsil was returning with his clothes and gun.  ”Ah, I see you heard my message – good man.” Cal quickly and thankfully slipped on his briefs, pants and shoes, while shrugging on his Punisher shirt. He finished by giving an audible 'click' as he snapped his belt buckle into place, flashing his teeth in a smile as he toted his shotgun. Cal took a moment to smooth the fur back out on his muzzle and forehead, before stretching out his back, and giving a quick observation to the surrounding area.

His back popped loudly – Cal responding to the release of tension by giving a satisfied grunt, however his moment of joint-induced bliss was short lived, as he took immediate notice of the twin's absence. Cal's trust sank once more. He knew they had gone away for something – most likely a discussion on the current battle – or worse, a plot to kill the party, and loot their things.  'That's why they wear the masks!'  He thought to himself.  'They use the masks to conceal their identity, so that no-one can identify them as they worm their way into groups, only to rob them blind after slitting their throats...'

Cal usually had a good instinct when in came to unsavory people, so he figured he would voice his thoughts to Epsil, after he gave his input about what to do next. He listened to Epsil for a moment and considered. But the wolf, feeling a little fatigued, gave in to his mortal tendencies.  ”Well Epsil, as much as I don't need it, I could really go for some rest – especially after the whole ordeal we just went through. I say we find a nice abandoned building and set up camp – We got the masked people who can do fire, so making one wouldn't be so bad – and I'm sure I'd make a great pillow considering how cute and cuddly I am – so I think we should set up for tonight – maybe even make a base of operations. Never hurts to have a central location to flock to if we run into trouble, or go out looking for supplies.”

Cal leaned in towards Epsil discreetly, leaning his shoulder into him, as he led him slightly away from the group.  ”Epsil, a few words.” The wolf started,  ”If you didn't notice, the twins aren't here – they've gone off to unicorn land to... well, I may just be being paranoid, but It's obvious they don't trust us – so I've got a feeling they going to try something, maybe not too major – but I'll bet we have something they want, or else they'd have no reason to either just stick with us like normal people – or just completely distrust us due to our... faculties?” He shook his head, seemingly not sure of the right words to say to properly express himself.  ”Anyway, long story short, I don't like them – I know people are jumpy in the wasteland – but they made a decision to trust us, and then go off to discuss after a large fight – especially after witnessing most of the group's powers – I'd say they're probing for weaknesses.”

 

Anon's kick connected this time and connected hard. Fisher grunted in pain and dropped his trident as he fell to his knees and put his hands around his junk. His forehead hit the ground as he let a hiss of pain from between his clenched teeth. He lay there on the ground until the pain started to subside. He picked up his trident and used it to stand himself up awkwardly. The pain would probably remain for several hours. As he looked around Fisher noticed that Epsil had retrieved clothes for Cal. It also appeared that people were explaining their powers and sharing some other information. "I need some bandages for my back and a new shirt. I also could use a shoulder to lean on and some food before I faint. Causing the flood took a lot out of me and I'll need at least 24 hours of R&R to get back to my peak." Fisher's knees went weak and he fell on his ass and just sat there breathing heavily. "Totally worth the kill."

Fisher slowly stood himself up with his trident again. Every muscle on his body ached, and his groin ached the worse thanks to Anon's kick. "One more thing. My real name is Ampheres. After the son of Poseidon that was a king of Atlantis. Didn't want you guys to get too attached to me just in case I died. It's my winning personality showing through. But please, let's camp somewhere near water. I'd like to sleep comfortably tonight."

 

"I have a place we could camp." she spoke up. " An old office building. It's not incredibly close to the river, but it is next to a lake. I use it a lot, it's very out of the way. I have some food, some bandages. I'll bring Ampy there and get him comfortable then I'll come back and bring you all there."

She walked over to Fisher and slipped under his arm, draping it on her shoulders. "Hold on to your trident, and please keep all hands, arms, feet, and legs down and inside the shadow or else you're going to lose them. Also, no puking on me. It doesn't feel good the first time." And with that, the two dropped into a shadow, and reappeared out of one inside the building. "Home sweet home." she said, and sat him down on an old, dusty smelling sofa.

It looked to be an old office building, with cubicles and a small kitchen where she stored her supplies. She went there now, and pulled out some bandages, a bottle of whiskey, and a cloth before coming over to examine the wound and pour whiskey on the cloth. "This will sting." she said after removing her belt and giving it to him to bite down on. She gently wiped the raw injuries to clean it before she wrapped it all up and stood.

"Alright, I'm going to go get the others. I trust you can hold up here on your own for a few minutes and get some rest, correct?" She pulled off her tank top and tossed it to him, leaving her in a bra and her jacket and revealing her thin, pale torso. Ribs could be seen, along with a black tattoo of some initials on her waist. She was gone before he could object or read the initials.

She reappeared in front of the group. "Alright, line up, one at a time. Those who want to be teleported via shadows will go first, then I'll come back for the rest of you and walk you there myself. Fisher's all patched up and resting, it's all good."