Sleepless N.I.G.H.T.S. [insaney, Shade]

Lessening the intensity of her stare, Mariana leaned her head to the side as he offered his explanation.

“And as for involving myself, I live on Earth, it’s my home, and it’s kind of in between Heaven and Hell. I would think it’s bad to not be interested in things that would affect the place that I live.”

Hmm...that doesn't seem like a whole answer to me.

He went on with a shrug. “And I guess I’m well versed in History, so that’s how I know about Hell.”

She shook her head. "You...really are odd. Especially for a vampire." Not that I seem to ever run into these "typical" vampires I keep hearing about. ...What is a typical vampire, anyway?

"You...really are odd. Especially for a vampire."

Rain glanced at her and grinned, "I think you said that already, Lady Mariana." This was the first time he had called her by her name and 'Lady Mariana' had sort of a nice ring to it. He decided right there that he might just call her that from then on.

He looked at her eyes for a moment before steering his own eyes slightly away from her gaze, "There you go with those suspicious eyes again. Honestly, why would I lie?"

"..."

"Wait, don't answer that."

At that moment, a familiar click met his ears. "Keep your wrists together. Stay in the dark," he spoke swiftly and softly. Mariana blinked, the door began sliding open. Rain was already back on the chair, holding his hands behind the back-rest as if he never became untied.

Terrick stepped in, holding a pistol upright in his hand.

"Hey Terry," Rain greeted him, "how are ya?"

Terrick grimaced, glancing at Mariana for a second before turning back to him, "I'm here for you. The organization has a 'tradition', they torture traitors before execution."

"And here I thought you were going to bring me a cake."

Terrick gritted his teeth a little advancing toward the man in the chair, "I could just kill you right now." He lowered the gun, pressing it against Rain's forehead.

Rain looked up at it for a few moments before his face took that familiar smile, "Take your best shot!"

“I think you said that already, Lady Mariana.”

Her heart went into her throat for a moment. Why had he called her that of all things? Of course, he couldn’t know anything about her beyond the little she had told him, so he wouldn’t know about... Closing her eyes, she shook her head. Max probably hadn’t even called her that. She was grasping at elusive shadows, and it wasn’t healthy.

It’s over, okay? she admonished herself. He’s gone, he’s not coming back, and I've moved on by now. There’s no use dwelling on it.

Rain said something else, but she didn’t hear him, though it had sounded like a question. She opened her eyes to look at him again, though he wasn’t looking directly at her eyes anymore. He must have thought her silence meant something, because he suddenly added, “Wait, don’t answer that.”

The lock on the door clicked, followed by a hissing sound as pressure released. Instinctively, she reached the tip of a wing over her shoulder, but before she could summon Ashriel, Rain’s hurried whisper stayed her. “Keep your wrists together. Stay in the dark.” She had time to blink once before Rain was back in his chair, acting as though he were still bound to it. Though there was a piece of her that wanted the reassuring feel of her sword in hand, she complied with his instructions, slipping her hands behind her back.

A sliver of light cut through the black and widened gradually as Terrick stepped inside, armed, though Mari wasn’t entirely sure why he bothered with such a weapon. Hadn’t they been over this at least once already?

But no, it wasn’t for her.

The demon gave her a cursory look before shifting his focus back to Rain. “I’m here for you. The organization has a tradition.” A smirk played over his lips. “They torture traitors before execution.”

“And here I thought you were going to bring me a cake.” There was that puzzling sense of humor again. Apprehension of it was barely out of her reach.

“I could kill you right now.” Within seconds, the barrel was against Rain’s forehead.

Mari gritted her teeth in frustration when Rain insisted on egging the demon on. Didn’t he know when to quit? He might have been a vampire, but that didn’t mean he could take a bullet to the head without some adverse effects. Her more aggressive side itched to be let loose, longed to plunge her blade straight into Terrick’s back. She could do it right now. He wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to her.

After several silent seconds in which Terrick seemed to be warring within himself, he lowered the gun with an exasperated sigh. “Unfortunately, I can’t. Viral wants to personally oversee your breaking. So, you’ll be coming with me, Seraph.”

He reached around the back of Rain’s chair, and Mari knew what would happen when he discovered Rain was only faking his imprisonment. She discreetly slid a wing over her shoulder, keeping her eyes on the demon. The moment Terrick’s hand disappeared from her view, several things happened at once.

“What the hell?” Terrick shouted.

Ashriel formed in her hands before he finished his sentence, and she flew at him, slamming the pommel hard into the small of his back. Having caught him off guard, she had enough time to shove him toward one of the walls. The darkness enveloped him, and without thinking about it, she grabbed Rain’s arm and tugged.

“I don't think we want to stick around here for much longer.”

He watched Mariana form the sword and slam the pommel into Terrick’s back. The demon stumbled forward and became enveloped in the darkness.

Right after, she looked down at him and tugged his arm.

“I don't think we want to stick around here for much longer.”

Rain stood up and brought his arms forward. You didn’t have to do that, he thought about telling her, but then dismissed it from his mind.

“Alright, go on ahead.” He smiled, she looked up at him. Rain moved toward Terrick and quickly searched him, taking out the card for the door. Mariana seemed to realize what he was about to do and had moved out of the room.

There was a click and the door began sliding. Rain watched from inside the room as she turned around to the sound. He smiled, waving at her as the door passed over. “Take care,” he said softly, the door making another click as it closed.

Rain turned around, looking into the darkness of the room.

“Terrick, I think I know what you are now, so you can take off that silly pretty-boy mask, now.”

A gunshot rang out, echoing repeatedly in the small, metal room. Rain had easily ducked the bullet and moved to one side, keeping his eyes on the man with the gun.

“So, what do you say?” Rain grinned.

He was furious. He wanted blood spilled. And he wanted it spilled now.

“Terrick, I think I know what you are now, so you can take off that silly pretty-boy mask, now.”

Anger seethed just beneath his skin. Not only had the little upstart fallen bruised his ego by catching him unawares, but now this other insignificant ant thought he could protect her somehow by locking the two of them in the cell. Seraph might have thought he knew what he was dealing with, but he was only scratching the surface.

The pistol was useless to him. After taking the one shot and seeing his opponent dodge it quite easily, the demon knew this wasn’t a human he had on his hands. At last, he could finally shed this worthless human shell and reveal his true power—a power neither Seraph nor the angel could ever have guessed he possessed.

Tossing the gun aside like last week’s garbage, he chuckled in the shadows when Seraph asked him to drop the mask again. “I wonder if you truly understand what you’re asking of me.” He paused, and then a malevolent smile spread across his face. “The man you know as Terrick does not exist. I am Mastema, one of the Verdugos, the Infernal Executioners. You will not live long enough to regret provoking me.”

The demon’s gaze hardened, and he roared, ripping through the spiritual cloak he had worn for far too long. Hellfire that seemed to emanate directly from him seared away his simple clothes, revealing loose black pants and a blood-red, silken shirt, the sleeves ending about three-quarters of the way down his arms. And he traded shoes for bare feet. His blonde hair lengthened to his shoulder blades, the same hue of his shirt bleeding slowly down from roots to tips. Though his eyes remained the same color, they seemed to gain even more of a icy glare. His frame filled out considerably, the muscles rippling under his skin becoming more pronounced, and his nails grew longer and became sharper. But the most drastic piece of this transformation were the four leathery wings that burst out of his back.

After stretching them for a second, he lifted slightly into the air, a fresh gleam in his eyes. “Ah...I thought I would never get out of that stinking human flesh.” He flashed a smirk down at Rain and called his weapon to his hand in a blaze of Hellfire—a four-foot glaive, with wickedly curved and jagged blades on both ends of a thick, solid-black shaft made of some strange metal and etched with hellish runes. “If this is the way you want it, I’ll deal with you first. The angel won’t prove to be much trouble, I can assure you. It won’t be long before I’ll drag her screaming to Cocytus to present my Master with his long-awaited prize.”

* * * * *

The moment the door closed, Mari realized too late what Rain had done. No amount of pushing, shoving, or jiggling the door-handle was going to get her inside to help him.

The idiot... I told him Terrick was a demon. Why does he insist on...?

Her thought tapered off. Was he trying to protect her? She shook her head. That was complete nonsense and the result of hasting decision-making. They would stand a better chance against the demon together rather than separated.

Why do men always think they can handle everything themselves?

A reverberating roar sent a chill through her bones. Something was going on inside that didn’t sound favorable. The smell of smoke slipped through the small cracks in the door to tease her nose. The metal beneath her hand was rapidly becoming warmer. Yet, she still felt Rain’s presence clearly inside, so nothing had happened to him.

Ugh...sulfur...

The cell, and now the entire hallway, reeked of the rotten-egg stench. Here it was. Terrick was pulling out all the stops. No. She knew now that he wasn’t Terrick. Mastema... The name vaguely tickled her memories, but she had never directly confronted him. Though, infamous stories about him and the other members of the Verdugos had tested the courage of even some of the more stout-hearted angels.

Why send one of them? And why after me? Laen’s words, heard what now seemed ages ago on the rooftop, echoed through her mind. I’m the most vulnerable...

Pain seared her body as the door suddenly exploded off its hinges out into the hallway. She was slammed into the opposite wall and pressed there by—her eyes widened—Rain’s body. Mastema had him by the throat, but his rage seemed to have blinded him to Mari’s presence for the moment.

Quickly, she vanished and reappeared hovering overhead. She wasted no time in gathering holy energy into Ashriel’s blade and then slicing it in mid-air to release a swath of white light down at the demon. The attack collided with its intended target, producing a howl of pain and the smell of burning demon flesh. As a result, the Executioner dropped Rain and stumbled backward down the hallway several feet. But Mariana knew all she had done was inflict a scratch that only served to enrage him further. He was like a wounded bear now—if a mosquito bite could be called a wound.

Mari landed next to Rain and put her hands on his shoulders, looking him over. “Are you hurt badly?”

“…I am Mastema, one of the Verdugos, the Infernal Executioners…”

Blah, blah, bl—Wait. Verdugos, huh?

‘Terrick’, who was supposedly ‘Mastema’, began to change right in front of Rain’s eyes. He seemed to radiate hot air; the whole room began to feel like an oven. His hair lengthened and its colour changed to blood red, as red as his shirt was becoming. His figure became a little larger and more muscular. His nails extended and seemed to become sharper. Right after that, four large, bat-like wings burst out of his back.

“Ah...I thought I would never get out of that stinking human flesh.”

In a flash of fire, a massive, black glaive appeared in his hands. The shaft was lined with Hellish runes while the blades looked jagged, designed to rip rather than cut.

“If this is the way you want it, I’ll deal with you first. The angel won’t prove to be much trouble, I can assure you. It won’t be long before I’ll drag her screaming to Cocytus to present my Master with his long-awaited prize.”

Mastema spun the weapon in his hand and grinned, opening his mouth to speak again. But before he could, Rain cut him off.

“You aren’t done talking?”

The Grim Angel sat casually on the chair that he was tied on to just before. He grinned at the being in front of him. He knew the name, ‘Mastema’ and the Hellish Executioners, ‘Verdugo’, but he never met one in person. And judging by the way this one talked, any little thing would irritate the hell out of him.

“Really, Terrick, you should know that I don’t care about what you are. You’re…full of hot air and I’m wondering when you’re going to just float away.”

Rain smiled his usual smile.

Mastema roared and flew forward, grasping Rain by the neck and slamming him into the door. The door gave away right after and they flew out into the hallway, slamming him hard into the opposite wall. But something was cushioning him; his eyes moved down, glancing Mariana’s hand before she disappeared from behind him.

I thought she would have left by now!

Mariana appeared above the two, hovering for a little while, charging her sword with power. She swung the blade in mid-air, sending a blast of white light that seared the demon’s back.

Mastema howled in pain and dropped the Grim Angel. He stumbled backward, letting out another roar of rage.

Rain began to stand up, rubbing his neck lightly before moving his hand to wipe the corner of his lips, in case any drool had come out while he was being strangled.

“Are you hurt badly?” Rain felt the warmth of her hands on his shoulders, but he didn’t turn to her yet, his eyes were still fixed on the Verdugo.

“My pride is probably damaged,” Rain smiled, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll survive.”

He turned to her, still smiling, “Here’s a small tip, though. When you swing your sword, cut the target first and then try firing the magic from the sword into the wound. Sometimes it works better that way.”

He took no time to look for a reaction from her, turning back to the Verdugo who was just a little way down the hall.

“You introduced yourself, and now it’s my turn.”

Rain put his hands in his pockets and watched as Mastema twirled his Hellish glaive once more.

“Rain Seraph.”

The Grim Angel’s figure suddenly blurred as it moved swiftly around the demon, reappearing right behind him.

“And I’m going to be the one who sends you back to Hell.”

With that, Rain spun around quickly, lifting his foot and slamming it hard into Mastema’s cheek. The demon collided with the wall, cracking the concrete.

OoC: So, yeah, I powerplayed just slightly. But since I ran this by you beforehand, I think you'll be okay with it. :3

IC:

A tip? He wants to give me a tip? Mariana rolled her eyes, not really caring if he saw her reaction or not. I already knew about that “tip,” anyway. I was being cautious and waiting to see everything the demon is capable of before rushing into close combat.

The kick to Mastema’s head sent him flying into the wall, tossing chunks of concrete across the hall. But Mari wasn’t the least bit surprised when he stood fluidly to his feet and lashed out at Rain with a calculated strike to the shoulder. Yet, the vampire was easily able to dodge the attack. It wasn’t...teleporting that he was doing, though it certainly looked like it. What was he doing?

Whatever it was, it was making Mastema livid. He might have been comparable to a wounded bear, but he was having trouble swatting the persistent mosquito. Rain was back beside Mari now, and she spoke with a sense of urgency. “We have no room to maneuver in this hall. We need somewhere more open.”

The Executioner leveled his glaive at the both of them, red light playing over the bladed ends. The energy in the small space shot skyward, and Mariana knew this wouldn’t turn out very well if they just sat there. Unfortunately, she barely had time to throw up as strong a shield of silvery light as she possibly could around herself and Rain before Hell’s gaping maw was opened.

Hellfire exploded in a gigantic wave, hungrily speeding down the hall straight for them. Mari’s holy barrier took the brunt of most of it, but even drawing on the vast reserves of the Argentsigna’s power, she couldn’t hold it for very long. With a cry, she was tossed backward as the shield broke and the remaining flames licked her clothes and skin. Landing in a heap beside Rain, she glanced up to see they were all the way back at the end of the hall, next to the elevator.

Mastema was moving toward them now in a surge of muscle and beating wings. They were cornered here, unless... An idea struck Mari, and she sliced a hole into the elevator doors with a highly-concentrated burst of lunar energy. The hole was large enough for her and possibly Rain to fit through, but it would take some squeezing for Mastema to make it. Of course, he would have no problems shredding the doors himself, but any amount of time he was stalled was precious.

Peering out into the shaft, Mari noted with satisfaction that there was no elevator present on this floor. She turned to Rain and asked, “Can you fly? Levitate? Anything?”

“...No,” he replied, and she detected a slight hint of frustration.

She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. “Come on.” She hooked her arms beneath his shoulders and slipped through the hole she had made, ascending the shaft with Rain in tow as swiftly as she could. She prayed with all her might that the demon would be delayed long enough for them to reach a more favorable area in which face him.

Looking up was the only thing that could keep him from feeling like a blushing ragdoll. Mariana had pulled him close, hugging him to her tightly as they sped up the dark elevator shaft. From time to time, there came the small buzz of electric lights as the two flew past them. Each time Mariana beat her wings to gain another boost, he felt a cool breeze sweep over him. Rain glanced at her, but she was also looking up to see where she was headed and not down or at him. For that second where he brought his eyes down to her, his hair swept across them partially obscuring his view. The strands of black remained in the way of his eyesight as he looked up again.

Down below, seemingly from the depths of hell itself, came a disturbing and echoing crash. Metal rung upon metal as the doors to the elevator were literally ripped out and thrown down the shaft. With a roar that reverberated off the walls of the narrow shaft, the beast flew up after them, seemingly powered by another burst of bright Hellfire. The fire clung to the walls and rolled, biting and burning everything it touched. Mastema swung his weapon around in circles, causing the malleable red-tipped orange to swirl in contorted circles around him.

The elevator shaft then became like an oven. Licks of fire spurted up beside them, as if they were just floating over an active volcano. The heat caused a single bead of sweat to softly roll down Rain's forehead. He glanced downward and lifted his feet a little, fearing that embers might catch on to his shoes or clothes. A small smile formed at the corner of his lips.

"Raincakes." Although it was funny, he didn't like the sound of it.

They passed another set of lights. This time it was reflected off of a drop of sweat that ran down Mariana's neck. She probably couldn't take anymore; he was probably heavy and she could probably fly faster than this. As far as he was concerned, he was dead weight. So why was she so insistent on helping? After what she had explained to him, about the Argentsigna and all, wouldn't it be better for her if she just...left him behind?

Gently, he put his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Let me go. You'll fly easier without me."

He had said this as if he were speaking it into a lover's ear; soft, pleasant and reassuring. At least, he thought it was reassuring. When he leaned away, his lips curved into a small smile as Mariana lowered her head to look at him.

“Let me go. You’ll fly easier without me.”

She almost forgot how to fly. It wasn’t until he had leaned in and put his hands on her shoulders when she realized just how close they were. En route to her ear, his cheek grazed hers, and a tinge of pink blossomed there. Though his voice was only a whisper, it was louder to her than the infernal cacophony swiftly closing on them from below.

He pulled away, smiling at her, and she finally convinced her eyes to abandon her direction of flight. Things seemed to shrink into a tiny bubble encompassing only her and him. She knew she was still beating her wings with everything she had, sweat was still pouring down her face and neck—from both the exertion and the boiling temperature—and a demon bent on subduing her in any way possible was still raging beneath her and rapidly gaining despite all her efforts.

He was right. He was dead weight.

If she dropped him, she could probably out-fly Mastema. She was smaller and lighter than he was. But with Rain in her arms, she would no doubt be caught shortly. She had to let him go. Didn’t she? If she didn’t want the Argentsigna to fall into the Enemy’s hands, she did. Duty and her better judgment fought like rabid animals against her sense of kindness and compassion. You don’t know him at all. Leave him to the demon and save yourself. Save yourself!

She had been looking at him for only a few seconds, her face a smooth mask of contemplation dotted with glistening sweat. She opened her mouth and spoke in a calm tone which surprised her, considering she only had about fifty yards between her and Hell. “Rain Seraph… I have lost one too many people in my life because I stood by and did nothing to fight for them.” Okay, one of those times wasn’t entirely my fault, but he doesn’t know that yet.

She left it at that and glanced upwards once more, a plan forming in her mind. With her keen eyesight, she could tell they were approaching the apex. They were running out of shaft fast, and if they didn’t do something, she would fly straight into the ceiling and have nowhere else to go but either to death or to Lucifer. Unless…

“You could break through the top floor’s doors if you got to them, couldn’t you?”

She wasn’t looking at him anymore, so she didn’t see what sort of reaction he had to her question. “Yes. But Mariana, I can run up—”

As soon as she had heard his affirmative answer, Mari had gathered every last ounce of her vampiric strength and thrown him as hard as she could toward the aforementioned doors. The action pushed her several precious yards back down the shaft, closer to the demon. Mastema, whose primary interest was her in the first place, roared in triumph and beat his wings faster. Mari righted herself in mid-air, still oddly collected despite her obvious predicament, like the prospect of being torn to shreds or enslaved was a recurring situation for her. Before ascending the shaft, she had reverted Ashriel back to the Argentsigna to better grasp Rain. Now, instead of re-summoning the sword, she palmed the crystal around her neck and whispered. “I hope this works well enough.”

A bead of sweat rolled down into her eye, but she blinked it away. Silvery light coated the walls of the shaft all the way from her down past Mastema. The sight gave him pause for only a moment, but that was all the time Mariana needed.

Holy power flooded her body, fed to her directly from the Silver Seal. It invaded her every pore, building like a raging flood restrained behind a dam. The vampire in her didn’t like it. But the angel in her was enough to squelch the loathing and prevent the energy from consuming her from the inside out. Her demon adversary continued winging his way up the shaft, but when she finally broke the mental and spiritual dam, he was met by several large beams of holy light that ricocheted off the now-shimmering walls. The force of the release propelled Mari back upward, giving her enough momentum to put a large amount of distance between her and the howling Executioner.

She hoped Rain had made it.

"Yes. But Mariana, I can run up—"

Rain was cut off suddenly by the tensing of Mariana's muscles. She dug her fingers into his clothes harshly, gripping him even tighter than before. The Grim Angel's eyes widened at this; what was she thinking? Instead of letting him fall, she held on to him tighter. Why was she so insistent on protecting him? Even after what she had said, about having lost too many people in her life... The two of them weren't that close, were they?

"Huuh?"

Suddenly, with her both hands, she pushed him away and then pulled, turning her body at the same time. Her fingers loosened at the last minute as she let him go, literally flinging him upward like an unwanted rag-doll. His feet tipped the wall of the shaft gently as he looked down at the angel. Mariana had her hand on the jewel and after a few seconds, the walls below her became painted in a glowing silver, encasing the beast within. Seconds sneaked in disguised as minutes. The Hellfire crackled, climbing further and further towards the angel. Even the walls became heated, Rain was feeling warmth on the soles of his feet.

Time stopped.

Mariana let out massive beams of white light that bounced upon the walls and rained down on the demon. Mastema let out a loud roar, pain pulsing through his body. But he was persistent; rather than slow him down, he gritted his teeth and pushed himself upward. Even as the force of the attack propelled the angel upward, she was still being tailed closely.

Rain looked around as the bright light from the beams engulfed the darkness of the shaft. He was just across from his objective: the elevator doors to the top floor. He glanced downward quickly, watching Mariana beat her wings, flitting to the ceiling of the shaft as fast as she can. The clock seemed to speed up at this very moment: things began happening fast. The Grim Angel leaped across, extending his leg and delivering a powerful kick to the doors. They proved to be less than sturdy when one side of the doors was ripped out at the force of the blow.

With less than seconds to spare, Rain stood at the edge and extended his hand, waiting for the angel to reach within range. Mariana stretched out her hand and grasped his, grabbing on to it tightly. Swiftly, he pulled her into the room and held her tightly against him, turning around and shielding her against the flames that burst through the open doorway.

She hadn’t been held in so long that she just wanted a moment of peace to remember how it felt. Unfortunately, the warmth running along her skin was not solely the result of Rain’s close proximity. Though she had managed to escape the shaft, the fires were persistent in their pursuit of her. She knew Rain had good intentions by using his body to shield her, but she could better guard them against the flames if she had more freedom of movement.

Sliding an arm around his back, she opened her palm toward the Hellfire and sent a thick jet of water at it, hoping to discourage it from advancing further. While it initially worked, Mari was only able to buy them a few moments of respite. She knew Mastema wouldn’t be halted so easily. Why were they still standing here, together like this? The stench of sulfur was pouring into the atrium they were currently in, but Mariana could still detect Rain’s own distinct scent. She felt heat rising in her cheeks, and she knew that this time it wasn’t because of the conflagration shooting up the elevator shaft.

No! Not the time to be thinking about this!

She pushed a little against Rain’s chest. “Unless we’ve suddenly become invisible, I don’t think standing still right here is a good idea.”

A roar crashed into her eardrums, and she vanished from Rain’s arms reflexively to reappear next to what looked like a door to someone’s office. Calling Ashriel to her hand once more, she held her ground as the Verdugo exploded through the opening Rain had made mere moments ago. The demon ripped the other side of the door away, sending it slicing through the air to crash into the secretary’s desk Mari was standing beside.

It’s like he’s upset about something, Mari thought with a wry smile.

OoC: Bah...my creativity ran dry, so this is all I’ve got for tonight. ^^; I’m sorry that nothing really all that exciting happened. Here’s where you get to be creative!

Rain found himself holding nothing. She was there, right in his arms in one moment and in the next she was across the room. He looked down, in an effort to make sure that his eyes were not being deceived. But he was indeed holding air and looking down at the the light violet carpet that was spread out on the floor from wall to wall. Rain stood up and looked at her with something like a small glare; wishing she would tell him or at least signal him when she was about to do something like that.

His eyes fell on the familiar doors. He knew this room all too well, and he knew what was behind those doors. That accursed phone. Rain knew who was on the other end, it was just so obvious from the time he looked at the crack in the wall.

CRASH!

A silvery door flew past him, the wind of its passing lifting a few strands of his hair and sweeping to the front of his eyes. He spun around quickly, his glowing-golden irises meeting the icy blue glare of the demon Mastema. Hellfire spat out of the shaft catching on to the carpet and attempting to grasp on to Rain's clothes. The Grim Angel leapt backwards as the Verdugo rushed forward, gripping his weapon tightly in one hand and reaching forward with his other, gritting his teeth in frustration as he found that his target was barely out of his reach. Rain grinned at his expression and in a few calculated movements, he kicked away the Executioner's hand and spun around in mid-air, raising his leg and pushing it forward, combining it with the momentum of the spin to connect a powerful kick square in the demon's face.

Mastema roared once more and even more fire rose out from him, smoldering the carpet and blackening the once white ceiling. The lights in the room began to flicker on and off; the wires feeding them were being burned through or melted. The smoke detectors began a piercing protest triggering the water sprinklers that were built into the ceiling. They made no difference; it was like pouring a cup of water on to the sun. The Hellfire kept spurting up out of nowhere, seemingly fueled by the demon's rage. The beast set itself, tightening his grip on the glaive with both hands as fire and water swirled around him; it was time to stop toying around.